In and Through the Holy Messiah

In my personal study lately, I've been studying 2 Nephi 2.  It's been taking me a while.  Because I'm pretty familiar with the chapter, I've been trying to dig a little deeper and see if I can't discover something new in these verses that I love.  One of my favorite verses this week was 2 Nephi 2:6:

“Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.”

I love this verse.  It states so simply and beautifully that Christ is the source of our redemption.  He is the reason that the Plan of Salvation works.  It’s interesting to me that both the words “in” and “through” are used to describe the connection between Christ and our salvation.  

Redemption comes IN the Holy Messiah - redemption comes in His name, it comes in the form of the Messiah.  Christ is our salvation.  We must come unto Him in order to partake - come and be perfected in Him (see Moroni 10:32).  In other words, Christ is full of redemption.  Our salvation is His purpose, His work and His glory (see Moses 1:39), a key part of His identity.

Redemption comes THROUGH the Holy Messiah - it comes by means of, or because of, Jesus Christ.  Christ is our mediator with the Father, the intercessor through whom our Father grants us the gift of redemption.  Salvation flows out of Christ, or through Him, to us.  This imagey is particularly meaningful to me because it calls to mind images of light, and reminds me that Christ is the source of all light.  As Elder Holland said, “It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.”

It might seem a little silly, but thinking about it this way helps me to understand my relationship with my Savior and what I need to do in order to access His grace.  It helps me understand that accepting Christ as my Savior is so much more than saying some perfect prayer or merely achieving the right attitude towards Him.  It is a daily process of coming unto Him, seeking after and cherishing His word, obeying His commandments, and striving to emulate Him.  And the closer I can get to Him, the more His light will shed in my life, and I will be able to experience that grace and truth that He is full of.