Ah 2 Nephi 9, one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon. I love this chapter and it's really hard to just pick 1 thing about it to talk about here. However, I think I am going to talk about the tender mercies of God.
Yesterday I was asked to teach the lesson in Elder's Quorum which was out of the Gospel Principles manual on the Atonement. The last question I asked them was since the Resurrection was a free gift to all, why is being cleansed from sin not a free gift also, why does it only apply to the repentant? I had them read Alma 34:34 which states that the same spirit which possesses our bodies now will possess our bodies then too. In other words, if we don't want to live a life of righteousness now, we won't want to then either.
Jacob in this chapter talks about the wisdom and greatness of God in this chapter in preparing a way for us to escape the monsters death and hell, or in other words physical and spiritual death. And Heavenly Father in his mercy has given everyone the chance to be resurrected no matter what, because he wants us to be happy. However, he made being cleansed from sin contingent upon our repenting also because he wants us to be happy. He made varying degrees of glory for us, because he wants us to be happy.
I'm sure it pains Him greatly to know that some of His children would choose to live apart from Him, but in His love for us, He has made it possible for that to happen. He understands that the greatest punishment in all of eternity for some of the people would be to force them back into His presence for all time. And it is also the greatest gift of all for some of us, including I hope one day, for myself. However if we are unclean at that day, coming back into His presence will be the worst fate imaginable. If you don't believe me just read Alma 36: 14-15. Alma states that he would rather cease to exist than to just be in God's presence! That is really quite harsh, but it is reality. God, in His mercies, has allowed each of us the gift of choice. We can choose to return to Him or we can choose not to. I hope and pray daily for Him to change my nature so that I no longer desire to do evil so I may take advantage of the greatest gift He has to offer, eternal life. Or in other words, life with Him forever! Until tomorrow.
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