--- title: The Image of Christ and the Resurrection date: 2025-11-10T08:56:00-07:00 author: Matt Bloomfield canonical_url: "https://www.mlj.one/church/talks/the-image-of-christ-and-the-resurrection" section: Blog --- [ ← Church Talks ](https://www.mlj.one/church/talks) Talk November 10, 2025 # The Image of Christ and the Resurrection I gave this talk on March 16th, 2025 in the Snowflake 3rd Ward Sacrament Meeting at the Pioneer Park Chapel in Snowflake, Arizona, per an assignment from President Todd Burk. --- Ultimately, it’s all about Jesus Christ. When I was about halfway through my mission we had a transformative zone conference. As a missionary, you get really good at teaching the lessons. You can recite the points by heart. You teach about the restoration, the plan of salvation, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. At this zone conference, however, I realized we’d been doing something fundamentally wrong. Somehow, we were teaching all the mechanics of the plan of salvation without ever talking about or focusing on what made it possible. We had, inadvertently, left Christ completely out of the picture. A few years ago, President Russell M Nelson introduced a new symbol for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, picturing the resurrected Christ. He invited us to use the full name of the church rather than an abbreviation, thus reminding us each time we say the name of the resurrected Christ. He reminded us to #HearHim and asked us to share our experiences with Christ on social media. He instructed us to, “Let God Prevail” in our lives, giving Christ room in our daily experiences. He implored us to “increase our faith in Jesus Christ.” Is there any question what we need to be doing? Perhaps we, like my former missionary self, are going through all the mechanics of church service and participation while forgetting to realize what makes it all possible. Perhaps, we are leaving Christ out of the picture. — ### What does it mean to believe in Christ? I think it’s useful to unpack the idea of believing in Christ. It is not enough to simply believe that Christ existed. To believe in someone means we trust them - that they can truly fulfill their promises. When we think of a spouse or another trusted friend, believing in them and having trust in them are almost synonymous. When it comes to Jesus Christ, trusting that he will do what he has said he will do is life-giving and transcendent. As we accept him as our source of redemption we decide to follow him and do what he asks of us. Many of us have made covenants with Him. These covenants bind us to him and allow his power to become a resplendent source of strength in our daily lives. This power is real and can lift us in even the hardest moments. We can trust that he will fulfill his promises to us because he is perfect and would cease to be God if it were not so. ### How do we strengthen our faith? In 2021 President Russell M Nelson called faith in Jesus Christ, “the greatest power available to us in this life.” He continued, “Your growing faith in Him will move mountains—not the mountains of rock that beautify the earth but the mountains of misery in your lives. Your flourishing faith will help you turn challenges into unparalleled growth and opportunity. He also gave us a framework for increasing our faith. I would like to share that now and invite each of us to choose one of these points to apply in our lives. - Study. Become an engaged learner. - Choose to believe in Jesus Christ. - Act in faith. - Partake of sacred ordinances worthily. - Ask Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, for help. In thinking of ways to strengthen our faith, President Nelson reminds us to, “not minimize the faith \[we\] already have” “It takes faith to join the Church and remain faithful. It takes faith to follow prophets rather than pundits and popular opinion. It takes faith to serve a mission during a pandemic. It takes faith to live a chaste life when the world shouts that God’s law of chastity is now outmoded. It takes faith to teach the gospel to children in a secular world. It takes faith to plead for the life of a loved one and even more faith to accept a disappointing answer. ### The Resurrected Christ When Christ was killed, it must have been so hard for His apostles. As you read the scriptural accounts it seems that they spent a good deal of time wandering, unsure of what to do. Perhaps my favorite account is that of His appearance on the road to Emmaus. Elder Patricio M. Giuffra shared it this way: Three days after the death of Jesus Christ, two of His disciples were walking along the road to the village of Emmaus, which is about seven miles (12 km) from Jerusalem. They were absorbed in their own thoughts and worries, when they were joined by a stranger. The stranger asked, “What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?” The disciples spoke of the recent events “concerning Jesus of Nazareth.” They believed that Jesus had come to redeem Israel, but He had been unjustly condemned and crucified. They also said that those who knew Christ best were saying He had risen from the dead. The stranger told them they were “slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” He reviewed what the scriptures taught and how Christ had fulfilled prophecy. This filled the disciples with joy. When they arrived at Emmaus, the disciples asked the stranger to “abide with \[them\].” At dinner the stranger blessed bread and broke it. Suddenly, the disciples recognized that the stranger was no stranger at all but the Savior Himself! (See Luke 24:13–32.) He then points out: We may wonder why the two disciples did not know the Savior was walking with them. And yet how often do we fail to understand that He walks with us? Often we are so focused on the challenges, and even the joys, in our daily lives that we do not see that the Savior is by our side. We may not see how He stays with us, strives with us, works with us, and cries with us. Even in our saddest moments, if we take notice, we can feel Him with us and hear His words: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) At times, we may also wander in life. Tragedy and great difficulty in life can force us to re-think our faith. It is specifically in those times that we need to ponder the great promises the Savior has made. Let’s not be like the missionary me and leave Christ out of the picture. Instead, let’s rely on his promises, have faith in him, and put him front and center in our lives. ### **Promises of Peace and Comfort** 1. *John 14:27* – *"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."* 2. *Matthew 11:28–30* – *"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."* 3. *John 14:18* – *"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."* --- ### **Promises of Forgiveness and Mercy** 1. *Isaiah 1:18* – *"Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow."* 2. *2 Corinthians 12:9* – *"My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."* 3. *Hebrews 8:12* – *"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."* --- ### **Promises of Guidance and Revelation** 1. *Proverbs 3:5–6* – *"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."* 2. *John 14:26* – *"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, … he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance."* --- ### **Promises of Strength and Help** 1. *Isaiah 41:10* – *"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee."* 2. *Mark 9:23* – *"If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."* --- ### **Promises of Eternal Life and Salvation** 1. *John 3:16* – *"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."* 2. *John 14:2–3* – *"In my Father's house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you."* 3. *John 11:25–26* – *"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."* --- ### **Promises of Joy and Fulfillment** 1. *John 15:11* – *"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."* 2. *Matthew 5:5* – *"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."* --- ### **Promises of His Constant Presence** 1. *Matthew 28:20* – *"Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."* 2. *Revelation 3:20* – *"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him."* I know that his promises are real, and I know that He loves us. I leave this witness in the name ..