As part of the program, this man's brother shared a beautiful eulogy that told of a life well lived, of talents shared with family, friends, and strangers. His pastor, of the Lutheran faith, shared some wonderful memories and a testimony of Christ. It was my responsibility to share a few closing remarks. Earlier in the day I had reviewed the doctrine of the plan of salvation and put together some thoughts on what to share. As the day progressed and the services started, I debated about how much doctrine to share. Going through the process I wanted to avoid giving any offense to those who were in attendance, yet I felt it was my responsibility to share the comforting doctrine. When it was my turn to speak I essentially had, in my mind, rewritten what I would say until I ended back where I had started. I felt prompted rather strongly to share what had been prepared.
Below are the remarks that I shared. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Introduction
Unlike many of you, I did not know
_____________________. I don’t have any
memories of him to share with you. As I
contemplated what to say this evening I thought of the comforting doctrines of
Christ. I thought of the love that our
Heavenly Father has for each one of us.
Some of what I will share with you tonight will be familiar. Some of it may not be familiar. What I hope to share is a message of faith,
hope, and love. When a loved one passes,
we often think of the important questions we all face: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? I hope to share the answers to some of those
questions with you tonight.
The Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ is captured in what we
term the Plan of Salvation, or the Great Plan of Happiness. It includes our pre-mortal existence, “the
Creation, the Fall, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and all of the laws,
ordinances, and doctrines of the gospel.
Moral agency, the ability to choose and act for ourselves, is also
essential in Heavenly Father’s plan.”
The purpose of this plan is allow us to become like our
Heavenly Father by receiving a physical body, living by faith, and partaking of
the blessings of the Atonement.
Pre-Existence
We are spirit children of our Heavenly Father. We lived with him before coming into
mortality. As the Lord told Jeremiah in
the Old Testament:
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before
thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a
prophet unto the nations.”
Creation and The Fall
In order to bring his works to pass, our Savior Jesus Christ,
under the direction of His Father, created the earth. Man and woman, Adam and Eve, were placed on
the earth. They were given commandments
to multiply and replenish the earth and not to partake of the fruit of the Tree
of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
They did, however, partake of the Tree resulting in the
Fall. The Fall introduced spiritual and
physical death. We were promised that
through Christ’s resurrection physical death would be overcome for all. We were also promised that through our
individual choices and the grace of Christ we could be cleansed from our own
sins.
Mortality
As we entered mortality through birth, our spirits were
united with a physical body, which is essential for us to become like our
Heavenly Father who has a perfected physical body. We passed through a veil of forgetfulness and
separation from God. We don’t remember
our life and relationship with God. We
are required to live by faith and to use our agency to bring us closer to God.
Death
Each of us who are born into this life is destined to
die. At death our spirit and body are
separated to await the resurrection. The
Book of Mormon Prophet Alma taught his son the following:
“Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the
resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the
spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea,
the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that
God who gave them life.
“And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those
who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called
paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all
their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.”
Alma 40:11-12
The Atonement of our Savior
In the meridian of time the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was
born to a mortal mother. He lived a life
free of sin and full of service to his fellow man. In the Garden of Gethsemane, and while nailed
to the Cross, he bore the price of our sins and transgressions. He suffered all of our trials, pains, and
sorrows. He willingly gave up his life
for us. His body was laid in the
tomb. After three days he took that body
up again loosing the bands of death, removing the sting of death. Through his Atonement and Resurrection,
everyone born into this world will be resurrected. All those who choose to accept him, his
gospel, the saving ordinances, and will repent, will be cleansed from their
sins and made pure and worthy to return to that God who gave us life.
Resurrection
As the Savior took up his body on the third day and burst the
bands of death, so we to shall have our spirits reunited with our bodies, never
to be separated again. Our Father has
prepared different degrees of glory for our eternal inheritance. The Savior said, as recorded by John the
Beloved:
“In my Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a
place for you.”
John 14:2
We will be judged according to our knowledge and
obedience. Based on our obedience and
the depth of our conversion we will inherit the appropriate degree of
glory.
We are left behind this veil of forgetfulness. We must continue to live by faith. It is our responsibility to hold to the faith
that we have; to keep the covenants that we have made; and to make sure that we
have taken all the necessary steps toward our own salvation. Then, we must endure to the end faithfully so
that we might be reunited with our Father and His son and our loved ones who
have gone before us. Take the time now
to make the needed changes in your life.
Move forward with hope, love and appreciation for a loving Heavenly
Father.
