“Your Promised Messiah,” For the Strength of Youth, Dec. 2022.
Your Promised Messiah
Prophets promised that Jesus Christ would come to bring joy and hope to you.
Families of Bethlehem, by Kelsy and Jesse Lightweave
Christmas is a wonderful time of year. As the Christmas season approaches, we look forward to beautiful lights, festive decorations, and delicious food. Christmas is a time filled with family and friends, songs and stories, and giving and receiving gifts.
No matter where you live, the wonderful and unique Christmas traditions you celebrate have a special spirit about them because Christmas is a celebration of one of the most joyous events in all of history—the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
The Prophets’ Message
Long before the Savior’s birth, prophets testified that Jesus Christ would be the promised Messiah, “the anointed one,” and that His atoning sacrifice would redeem the world from sin and death and open the door to immortality and eternal life.
The life and mission of Jesus Christ have always been the central message of prophets. Abinadi taught: “Did not Moses prophesy … concerning the coming of the Messiah, and that God should redeem his people? Yea, and even all the prophets who have prophesied ever since the world began—have they not spoken more or less concerning these things?” (Mosiah 13:33).
Today, we remember with grateful hearts the birth of the baby born in a humble stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. His birth was infinitely significant because of the things He would experience and suffer so that He could not only save the world from sin and death but also bring joy and hope to you.
Prophecies and Promises
The scriptures are filled with wonderful prophesies of the Savior’s birth and the promises regarding who He is and what He would do for all of us.
Adam was commanded to offer sacrifices as “a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth” (Moses 5:7). These sacrifices “point[ed] to that great and last sacrifice [of] … the Son of God” (Alma 34:14).
Illustrations by Apryl Stott
Isaiah prophesied: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given … and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
Six hundred years before the Savior’s birth, Lehi taught that God would raise up “a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world” (1 Nephi 10:4).
An angel showed Nephi a vision where he “looked and beheld the virgin … bearing a child in her arms.
“And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!” (1 Nephi 11:20–21).
King Benjamin, 124 years before the Savior’s birth, taught about His important mission on earth:
“For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord … shall come down from heaven … and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases” (Mosiah 3:5).
Abinadi declared: “He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death” (Mosiah 16:9).
An angel made this promise to Mary: “Behold, thou shalt … bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
“He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest” (Luke 1:31–32).
Promises Fulfilled for You
When we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, we also celebrate all the prophetic promises Jesus Christ fulfilled through His teachings and Atonement.
The Savior taught us to love and do good to one another. He gave us commandments, and if we follow them, we can feel His perfect love more fully and profoundly and one day receive eternal life. His teachings and example guide and strengthen us in the way we should live.
Then Jesus provided His atoning sacrifice. He willingly shed His blood for the remission of our sins (see Doctrine and Covenants 27:2), offering the gift of repentance and blessings of forgiveness (see Alma 34:15–17; 42:22–24). And by His Atonement, He gave us the gift of immortality. As part of His Atonement, Jesus Christ also “suffer[ed] pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind” (Alma 7:11). He did this so He could personally feel and know our temptations, our struggles, our sufferings, and how to help us.
Always remember that the Savior willingly experienced all of this for you because He loves you. He is your Savior. No matter what you face, He is there to help and strengthen you. Through Isaiah, the Savior said, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: … I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee” (Isaiah 41:10).
On Earth as it is in Heaven, by Justin Kunz
Seek the Messiah
Along with ancient and modern prophets, I rejoice to bear testimony of the birth, life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is the promised Messiah and has always been, and always will be, “the light, the life, and the hope of the world.”1
With Moroni, I invite “you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever” (Ether 12:41).
Let us all remember what our Savior has done for us and love and serve Him this Christmas and always.