Advent Day 7 - December 7

Moroni 7: 28

For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens.

Yes, I am still making my way through the Advent. Yes, I am quite behind. But I have made a promise to myself to do a blog posting for each of them. (Hopefully, before Christmas.)

For he hath answered the ends of the law...

Christ came to fulfill the law of Moses. Many Christians forget this. He came to answer for our "crimes" or sins. So he "answered" the law by giving his life for us. This was a great and terrible sacrifice He made for us. 

He claimeth all those who have faith in him...

This is a great promise and, though we have responsibilities, there is little He asks in return. Just faith. Not just faith that He lived. Not just faith in His sacrifice. But faith that He will deliver. Faith in things unseen. 

...and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing...

This seems to be one of those chicken-and-egg things to me. Do I have faith in him because I "cleave unto every good thing" or do I "cleave unto every good thing" because I have faith in him. Funny, huh? I'm an opinionated sort of person and sometimes I have opinions that clash with statements from those in authority in or out of the church.  And I usually come back to my test. Is what I am being asked to do or believe in "a good thing"? 

Doing "the good thing" isn't just a way to get back to Heavenly Father. In the end, we want to go back to Heavenly Father because he is "a good thing".

...he advocateth the cause of the children of men...

According to Merriam-Websters on-line dictionary an advocate is:

1. one that pleads the cause of another
2. one that defends or maintains a cause of proposal 
3. one that supports or promotes the interests of another.

I think that Christ would pretty much fit the bill for any of those, but the one that is most pertinent is the first one. Christ pleads our cause - salvation - to Heavenly Father for us. And, as such, our retainer - such as it is - is faith in Him and staying true to our covenants. A small price to pay, really, considering the price He paid.

...and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens.

That is our goal. To dwell eternally in the heavens with our elder brother and our Heavenly Father.

I testify that I have faith in Jesus Christ. That I know that he died for my sins. He died for all of our sins. And by following him, and emulating him, we can return to our Heavenly Father in heaven.

Amen.