By the Power of His Word

Today I had the unusual opportunity to attend two sacrament meetings. Whenever this happens, I gladly take of the sacrament twice. It gives me one more chance to ponder the Savior's sacrifice for us, and to renew my baptismal covenants. Today a new thought occurred to me that I thought about during both sacrament services.

When the prayer was said for the bread, this phrase stuck out to me: "O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son...". I usually try to think about the separate aspects of the atonement during the sacrament. When taking the bread, I try to think of His body, and the physical sacrifice for us that brought about the resurrection. When I take the water, I try to think of His blood that was shed, and the spiritual sacrifice He made for us that allows us to repent of our sins. As I thought about the bread, and His physical sacrifice, I felt so grateful for the resurrection. I thought about what a comfort it is to know that even though we will all die, we will also resurrect some day.
I thought about people I know who don't believe in God, and who believe that when we die, that is the end of us. As I thought about my athiest friends, I remembered that these same people don't believe in the creation. They believe in evolution. And then it hit me that to believe in the resurrection, we must also believe in the creation. In the Book of Mormon, Jacob taught:

"8 Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God.
9 For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure? Jacob 4:8,9

The Prophet Mormon also taught,
"16 Behold, are not the things that God hath wrought marvelous in our eyes? Yea, and who can comprehend the marvelous works of God?
17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his word the heaven and the earth should be; and by the power of his word man was created of the dust of the earth; and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought?" Mormon 9:16,17

The resurrection will also come about by the power of God. Just as man was created in the beginning by the power of God, he can also be resurrected by that same power. I do not see how a person could disbelieve the creation story as found in the Bible, and still believe in the resurrection, and vice versa.

I am thankful for the knowledge I have of the creation, and the future resurrection of us all. I am eternally indebted to the Savior for His atonement that bridged these two gulfs of death and sin to allow us the opportunity to live with God again some day. I am thankful for the peace that this knowledge brings to my life.