“The Reality of the Resurrection,” Liahona, April 2018
Until We Meet Again
The Reality of the Resurrection
By Elder D. Todd Christofferson
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
From an address given at the April 2014 general conference.
Jesus Christ is in fact the only name or way by which salvation can come to mankind.
Illustration by Yajaira Ramos
Consider for a moment the significance of the Resurrection in resolving once and for all the true identity of Jesus of Nazareth and the great philosophical contests and questions of life. If Jesus was in fact literally resurrected, it necessarily follows that He is a divine being. No mere mortal has the power in himself to come to life again after dying. Because He was resurrected, Jesus cannot have been only a carpenter, a teacher, a rabbi, or a prophet. Because He was resurrected, Jesus had to have been a God, even the Only Begotten Son of the Father.
Therefore, what He taught is true; God cannot lie.
Therefore, He was the Creator of the earth, as He said.
Therefore, heaven and hell are real, as He taught.
Therefore, there is a world of spirits, which He visited after His death.
Therefore, He will come again, as the angels said, and “reign personally upon the earth” [Articles of Faith 1:10].
Therefore, there is a resurrection and a final judgment for all.
Given the reality of the Resurrection of Christ, doubts about the omnipotence, omniscience, and benevolence of God the Father—who gave His Only Begotten Son for the redemption of the world—are groundless. Doubts about the meaning and purpose of life are unfounded. Jesus Christ is in fact the only name or way by which salvation can come to mankind. The grace of Christ is real, affording both forgiveness and cleansing to the repentant sinner. Faith truly is more than imagination or psychological invention. There is ultimate and universal truth, and there are objective and unchanging moral standards, as taught by Him.
Given the reality of the Resurrection of Christ, repentance of any violation of His law and commandments is both possible and urgent. The Savior’s miracles were real, as is His promise to His disciples that they might do the same and even greater works. His priesthood is necessarily a real power that “administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest” [D&C 84:19–20]. Given the reality of the Resurrection of Christ, death is not our end, and though “skin worms destroy [our bodies], yet in [our] flesh shall [we] see God” [Job 19:26].