Robert L. Millet, Professor of Religious Education at BYU, discussed the life and work of Joseph Smith in his devotional address, “Joseph Smith and Christ’s Eternal Gospel,” on Tuesday, November 13, 2012. Millet opened by telling of the power and importance of the restoration of the Book of Mormon through the Prophet Joseph Smith. “The Choice Seer Joseph Smith taught us that God our Father has a plan for his children, a program established to maximize our growth and insure our happiness. And yet that fact alone—that there is some divine plan to life—is not as obvious from the Bible as from latter-day scripture. Knowing what we know, we are able to recognize divine design, but seldom can we turn to a specific Old or New Testament passage that speaks with clarity of a plan. How very different is the Book of Mormon!”
The Prophet Joseph, through translation of the Book of Mormon, revealed Christ’s eternal Gospel through clear understanding of the atonement. “The atoning sacrifice is not only timely (for those of us who regularly need its cleansing powers) but timeless. Though the act of atonement would not take place until Jesus suffered in Gethsemane and on Golgotha in the meridian of time, earth’s earliest inhabitants were taught to call upon God in the name of his Beloved Son for deliverance.”
Brother Millet continued by reaffirming the importance of making and keeping the eternal covenants with the Lord. “Because we know that the great plan of happiness is eternal and that salvation in any age is accomplished only in and through the mediation of the Redeemer, we also know that the covenants and ordinances are likewise eternal and unchanging.”
He later discussed remnants of Christ in other cultures and places throughout the world, and what that means for our faith. “Knowing what we know concerning God our Father—that he is a personal being; that he has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as our own; that he is an exalted and gloried being; and knowing that this knowledge was had by many of the ancients—should we be surprised to find legends and myths concerning gods who have divine power but human attributes and passions? Knowing that Adam and Seth and Enos and Cainan and Mahalaleel and others of the antedeluvians spoke of the coming of the Messiah, and that the Messiah would come to earth as a man but be possessed of the powers of a God, is it not likely that they also knew that he would be born of a virgin? Should we be surprised to find pagan traditions of virgin births and divine humans?”
In conclusion Brother Millet shared that “Joseph Smith revealed that Christ’s gospel is eternal. It was delivered to earth’s inhabitants in the beginning. It has been preached through the ages by Christian prophets who knew their Lord and sought to be true to divine covenants and ordinances. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we attend to sacred matters, matters that are ancient and eternal, matters that were discussed and foreordained from before the foundations of the world, matters that will prepare this earth to abide the coming of the King of kings.”
To view his complete address, click here.
University Devotionals are held each Tuesday at 11 AM in the Cannon Activities Center. Previous Devotionals can be viewed or read at devotional.byuh.edu.