The How and the Why

 To have any measure of appreciation and gratitude
for what [Jesus] accomplished in our behalf, we must
remember these vital truths:
 Jesus came to earth to do our Father’s will.
He came with a foreknowledge that He would bear
the burden of the sins of us all.
 He knew he would be lifted up on the cross.
He was born to be the Savior and Redeemer of all
mankind.
 He was able to accomplish His mission because He
was the Son of God and He possessed the power of
God.
 He was willing to accomplish His mission because
 He loves us.
 No mortal being had the power or capacity to
redeem all other mortals from their lost and fallen
condition, nor could any other voluntarily forfeit his
life and thereby bring to pass a universal resurrection
for all other mortals.
Only Jesus Christ was able and willing to
accomplish such a redeeming act of love.
 We may never understand nor comprehend in
mortality how He accomplished what He did, but we
must not fail to understand why he did what he did.
Everything He did was prompted by His unselfish,
infinite love for us...
As was so characteristic of his entire mortal
experience, the Savior submitted to our Father’s will
and took the bitter cup and drank.
 He suffered the pains of all men in Gethsemane so
they would not have to suffer if they would repent.
 He submitted Himself to humiliation and insults
from His enemies without complaint or retaliation.
 And, finally, He endured the flogging and brutal
shame of the cross. Only then did He voluntarily
submit to death. In His words:
“No man taketh it [my life] from me, but I lay it
down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I
have power to take it again. This commandment have
I received of my Father” (John 10:18)