Categories: All Articles, Atonement, I Have No Greater Joy, Jesus, Satan
There Was No Other!
I have just awakened from a troubling dream. It was a dream with a message.
In the dream I was an assigned witness for a baptism. The baptizer, a tall man, led a boy into very deep water to baptize him. The water was over the boy’s head. The baptizer and the boy both stood waiting for a signal for the baptism to proceed.
I realized that the boy was standing there holding his breath under the water, and was out of air. I shouted for the baptizer to raise him up, and to get on with the baptism. The boy was desperately gasping for breath as the baptizer, with equal desperation, tried unsuccessfully to keep the boy’s head above water with his left hand while raising his right hand to the square to say the required words. The baptizer’s left arm was not strong enough, by itself, to hold the boy up. I told the man to bring the boy up closer to the edge of the pool so that the boy could stand, and then the baptism proceeded.
Then came questions about the Savior: What if the Savior had not survived childhood? What if the Savior had not been able to do what He did? What if the adversary had been successful in derailing Him from His Messiahship? Could God have sent another?
Then the answer: There was no other! There was no other who could have done what Jesus did. Everything depended upon Him. No other was capable of living a sinless life, nor of enduring what He endured. The salvation of us all depended upon Him.
The scripture says that in His greatest agony an angel came to strengthen Him. (Luke 22:43). How did the angel do that? What could he say? Even that angel’s own salvation depended upon the Savior’s success.
Again the answer: The angel was there saying, “You can do it! Hang on! The salvation of all of us depends on you! Think of us. You’re our only hope. We’re praying for you. Be strong just a little longer.”
And then another question: In the beginning the Father had asked, “Whom shall I send?” (Abraham 3:27).
Two answered. “And the Lord said: I will send the first. And the second was angry.” (Abraham 3:27-28).
The second had a different plan. Had he been sent, could he have lived a sinless life, and would he have been willing and capable of enduring the infinite suffering the Savior endured?
Again the answer: A resounding no! Very obviously he wouldn’t have had the strength. He was already in rebellion. The plan he was putting forth not only was to deprive mankind of their agency, but was a different plan altogether—one that would not require the Savior’s perfect life nor His infinite suffering for the collective sins of all mankind. Under that proposed plan there would have been no agency, no sins to be atoned for, no need for an Atonement, no need for a Redeemer, no covenants, no ordinances, and no exaltation. The plan was all about him.
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, held on to Himself. He held on through temptations and through every trial. He held on through unimaginable pain and suffering lasting for many hours. He held on through rejection. He faced it all alone. He was the Only One who could have done it. There was no other, and He did it!
How deep is your gratitude and mine for what He has so unselfishly done out of His boundless love for us?