Thy will be done
Jesus has been our exemplar from the beginning. When God, the Father, in the premortal realms asked who would volunteer to come down to earth and suffer for the sins of mankind, the Savior, out of love for the Father and all of us there, volunteered freely to do all the will of the Father. He said “Here Am I, Send Me”[i]
We shouted for joy when the Savior made Heavenly Father’s plan possible by his own agency to choose to do it.[ii] Heavenly Father’s plan made moral agency possible. No unclean thing can enter the kingdom of heaven. Since any act to disobey Father would make us unclean, we would forever be cast out from Heavenly Father’s presence by an immutable eternal law of justice. But when the Savior volunteered to take upon him our sins so we could become clean again through repentance, we were all for the plan. Satan’s plan sought to destroy our moral agency. He works hard to enslave us and at the same time trick ourselves into believing we are more free than before the enslavement. So we rebel against God, who Satan has tricked us into believing only wants slaves and to force righteousness upon us.
Nothing could be further from the truth. God is ever patient with our follies. His Son paid dearly for the opportunity to erase them from the eternal record, expunge is the legal word here. God himself, said that he would remember our sins no more.[iii] Many poor people making mistakes in youth are trying to get their record expunged so they can get a decent job in the future. Forgiveness after repentance is God’s way of allowing us to make moral choices and learn from them.
The Savior had to make the free will choice again to do all the will of the Father once upon the earth. During his ministry, he told his disciples:
“For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”[iv]
At the very end, when realizing the enormity of paying for all the sins of humanity for all time, he exclaimed in the Garden of Gethsemane:
“And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.”
After his death and resurrection, he appeared unto the faithful, and declared that he had freely given his life for the will of the Father and for us, in obedience to Him:
“I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.”[v]
In our time the Savior has declared to a modern prophet that he is working hard to fulfill his role as Savior and Redeemer:
“Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him— Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life.”[vi]
Not only did the Savior freely commit or covenant to do this for us in the premortal realm, but even under duress, he reaffirmed the commitment and did all the Father’s will at great and infinite cost to himself in suffering and pain. Then we find him clothed with glory remembering to help us day by day in the Father’s presence, working to save all who will come unto the Father in his name and repent of their sins and be saved.
This can be our way to following the savior in all things, to take up our cross and follow in the fellowship of suffering with him for the sake of saving all mankind who will freely commit themselves to do the same. A Book of Mormon prophet after preaching his whole life, the way of the Lord unto the salvation of many, heard the word of the Lord come to him:
“Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.”[vii]
God is not interested in divided loyalties, a double agent, a spy who works both enemies to his advantage. God wants our whole souls, our free choice to give all to him for his glory, the salvation of all His children, and not seeking our own or honor and glory for ourselves. One prophet urges us to:
“And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.”[viii]
Such a commitment of one’s “whole soul” is staggering, but it is done out of love for the Savior and all mankind. Doing so makes life easy, every decision a willful decision to do as Jesus Christ would do in our circumstance. In the Book of Revelations, those in Laodicea who were neither hot nor cold received the harshest condemnation:
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”[ix]
With today’s widespread willfulness to break every commandment, law and covenant such as the marriage covenant and expect no punishment for doing so, one wonders about the scriptural prophesies of judgments to come in times such as ours. Certainly, a loving Heavenly Father wants all His children to come back into His presence safe and sound and has withheld His correcting hand from the earth biosphere way beyond what any reasonable parent would do. He is waiting for the last sinner that can be saved is saved at last.
We all wander as sheep gone astray, but the good Shepherd will seek us out on that cloudy and dark day, pay for our willfulness, our mistakes, our sins, our ignorance of eternal law.[x] All that He asks is a willing heart and mind and for us to make that first teetering baby step towards Him. He will do the rest of the helping, succoring and encouragement.
Saying, praying, and singing, “Thy will be one” done on a universal scale, brings the Kingdom of Heaven down to earth sooner for the millennial reign of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the God of Heaven and Earth.
[i] Abraham 3:27.
[ii] Job 38:7
[iii] D&C 58:42-43
[iv] John 6:38
[v] 3 Nephi 11:11
[vi] D&C 45:3-5
[vii] Helaman 10:4
[viii] Omni 1:26
[ix] Revelation 3:15-17 New International Version (NIV)
[x] Ezekiel 34:12