Stacy Kudlicki
9/27/07
REL 211 - Ludlow
Jesus the Christ Chapter Reflection
Chapter 3: The Need of a Redeemer
In this chapter, I leanred that as spirits in the pre-mortal world, we were endowed with the power of agency and that we would have the opprtunity to come to Earth and experience complete liberty of choice. We "would be given commandments and laws, free to obey or disobey, with the just and inevitable condition that he should enjoy or suffer the natural results of his choice" (18). Heavenly Father was well aware of the dangers of the plan. He knew that, without a former knowledge of this pre-Earth life, of God, and of man's nature, all of us would eventually spiral down into a spiritual death of sin. This made it necessary that a means of redemption should be provided. We would inevitable sin, but with a savior, we had a means whereby we can make amends and choose to avail ourselves from "the dire effect". Something important that I put together through reading this chapter was that God would not be God (just, yet merciful) if He were to make all men suffer the consequences of naive folly without provision for redemption. Because Jesus was sinless, he did not deserve death. Satan could not tempt him as he had our first parents, whereby causing all men, as sinners, to be subject to death. So when Jesus willingly gave his life, death could not conquer him and he was subsequently resurrected.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
The Foreordained Christ
Stacy Kudlicki
9/27/07
REL A 211: Section 35
Jesus The Christ Chapter Reflection
Chapter 2: Preexistence and Foreordination of the Christ
Several new ideas were brought to the table for questioning in my mind while reading this chapter. First is the idea that Christ was ordained and chosen to be the one and only Savior. But I still wonder why he was chosen so? Was it because Jesus was God’s firstborn Spirit child? Is that what qualified him? I also wonder why Lucifer was “already of exalted rank” (7)? Another new idea to me is that the truth of Christ’s foreordination was translated from prophets to the people through imagery and parables rather than direct statements. I wonder why that is, also? Were they afraid of being stoned to death? I also found it interesting that James E. Talmage points out that Christ says in John 8:58, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” Abraham lived 19 centuries earlier than Jesus did so he obviously was referring to some kind of preexistence. Another reference to the preexistence is in John 17:5 where Jesus is praying to God saying, “O Father glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” These words, spoken by the Savior who knew of his purpose on Earth, indicate that Christ also knew and remembered a pre-mortal life in which he was called to be said Savior.
9/27/07
REL A 211: Section 35
Jesus The Christ Chapter Reflection
Chapter 2: Preexistence and Foreordination of the Christ
Several new ideas were brought to the table for questioning in my mind while reading this chapter. First is the idea that Christ was ordained and chosen to be the one and only Savior. But I still wonder why he was chosen so? Was it because Jesus was God’s firstborn Spirit child? Is that what qualified him? I also wonder why Lucifer was “already of exalted rank” (7)? Another new idea to me is that the truth of Christ’s foreordination was translated from prophets to the people through imagery and parables rather than direct statements. I wonder why that is, also? Were they afraid of being stoned to death? I also found it interesting that James E. Talmage points out that Christ says in John 8:58, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” Abraham lived 19 centuries earlier than Jesus did so he obviously was referring to some kind of preexistence. Another reference to the preexistence is in John 17:5 where Jesus is praying to God saying, “O Father glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” These words, spoken by the Savior who knew of his purpose on Earth, indicate that Christ also knew and remembered a pre-mortal life in which he was called to be said Savior.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Nativity of Jesus
Stacy Kudlicki
September 13, 2007
REL C 211: Section 35
Article Response: Nativity of Jesus
The article chosen for the topic of Jesus’ pre-mortal, nativity, and youth was “Jesus of Nazareth” by Spencer W. Kimball. One of the article’s purposes is to inspire a deeper level of thought and sacredness for the birth of Jesus Christ during the Christmas season by retelling the personal battles Christ endured. President Kimball also, through likening emotions, forces the reader to have an increase of love and respect for Christ through Kimball’s description and comparison of Christ’s thoughts and emotions to our own. Additionally, President Kimball attempts to remind the reader that although Christ’s birth is extremely momentous to each of us, it is how Christ handled the humiliation and rejection and painful suffering that made him such an influential and divine being.
This article was chosen to help others better understand the importance of Jesus’ nativity because it bundles up Christ’s life into one little night in Bethlehem. The article helps us realize that we must not focus too much on mere birth, but glory in the meaning of His life. Although he was small, he understood the big picture. It is a reminder for readers that although a tremendously significant event, his birth was not the difficult example to follow. His birth is not why we celebrate him. It was his selfless deeds, demeanor, and charity for everyone that he challenges us to emulate and to remember every day. As the Only Begotten, Jesus Christ had, even in the pre-mortal world, an adversary who, while in Jesus’ youth, attempted constantly “to destroy this budding Savior”. He faced challenges in all stages of his life, but always overcame them.
While reading the article, I was struck with several new insights that expanded my understanding of Christ’s birth, life, and sacrifice. Descriptive words and phrases used, such as “crude manger”, “star-lighted night”, and “looking out into the starry sky as did the shepherds”, juxtapose President Kimball’s experience visiting Bethlehem with that of the shepherds who would have seen the same view. This has the effect of recreating the nativity experience and giving it a real, living value for us today. Quoting President Kimball, I pondered, “Is birth the major event in any of our lives?” There have been billions, even trillions, of people born in this world; Cain, Adolf Hitler, and Martin Luther King Jr. are some examples. But we aren’t called to remember the birth of these people, so much as whether they “have fulfilled the measure of their mortal creation”. Just so, the story of Jesus’ birth is not simply a traditional story to tell at Christmastime, but it is the representation of the perfect life of the Savior of the world. The most thought-provoking points in the article was realizing the exquisite pain and suffering Christ endured as well as the unimaginable, nearly unattainable self-control and love he displayed for all, including those who caused him to be put through such agony. I feel like he is within reach. He is nearly tangible. He lives. His life was not unlike my own, as a human being with human emotions and human temptations. But in the unwavering control and limitless eternal perspective he so fluently utilized, I recognize the infancy of my preparation while I maintain a hope and reliance on the truth of his divinity.
Reference:
Spencer W. Kimball, “Jesus of Nazareth,” Ensign, Dec 1980, 3
September 13, 2007
REL C 211: Section 35
Article Response: Nativity of Jesus
The article chosen for the topic of Jesus’ pre-mortal, nativity, and youth was “Jesus of Nazareth” by Spencer W. Kimball. One of the article’s purposes is to inspire a deeper level of thought and sacredness for the birth of Jesus Christ during the Christmas season by retelling the personal battles Christ endured. President Kimball also, through likening emotions, forces the reader to have an increase of love and respect for Christ through Kimball’s description and comparison of Christ’s thoughts and emotions to our own. Additionally, President Kimball attempts to remind the reader that although Christ’s birth is extremely momentous to each of us, it is how Christ handled the humiliation and rejection and painful suffering that made him such an influential and divine being.
This article was chosen to help others better understand the importance of Jesus’ nativity because it bundles up Christ’s life into one little night in Bethlehem. The article helps us realize that we must not focus too much on mere birth, but glory in the meaning of His life. Although he was small, he understood the big picture. It is a reminder for readers that although a tremendously significant event, his birth was not the difficult example to follow. His birth is not why we celebrate him. It was his selfless deeds, demeanor, and charity for everyone that he challenges us to emulate and to remember every day. As the Only Begotten, Jesus Christ had, even in the pre-mortal world, an adversary who, while in Jesus’ youth, attempted constantly “to destroy this budding Savior”. He faced challenges in all stages of his life, but always overcame them.
While reading the article, I was struck with several new insights that expanded my understanding of Christ’s birth, life, and sacrifice. Descriptive words and phrases used, such as “crude manger”, “star-lighted night”, and “looking out into the starry sky as did the shepherds”, juxtapose President Kimball’s experience visiting Bethlehem with that of the shepherds who would have seen the same view. This has the effect of recreating the nativity experience and giving it a real, living value for us today. Quoting President Kimball, I pondered, “Is birth the major event in any of our lives?” There have been billions, even trillions, of people born in this world; Cain, Adolf Hitler, and Martin Luther King Jr. are some examples. But we aren’t called to remember the birth of these people, so much as whether they “have fulfilled the measure of their mortal creation”. Just so, the story of Jesus’ birth is not simply a traditional story to tell at Christmastime, but it is the representation of the perfect life of the Savior of the world. The most thought-provoking points in the article was realizing the exquisite pain and suffering Christ endured as well as the unimaginable, nearly unattainable self-control and love he displayed for all, including those who caused him to be put through such agony. I feel like he is within reach. He is nearly tangible. He lives. His life was not unlike my own, as a human being with human emotions and human temptations. But in the unwavering control and limitless eternal perspective he so fluently utilized, I recognize the infancy of my preparation while I maintain a hope and reliance on the truth of his divinity.
Reference:
Spencer W. Kimball, “Jesus of Nazareth,” Ensign, Dec 1980, 3
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