14 And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth; and that he breaketh the bands of death, that the grave shall have no victory, and that the sting of death should be swallowed up in the hopes of glory; and Aaron did expound all these things unto the king.
28 And they did look upon shedding the blood of their brethren with the greatest abhorrence; and they never could be prevailed upon to take up arms against their brethren; and they never did look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it.
(Alma 27:28)
When Aaron preached the gospel to the father of King Lamoni (1st passage above), he emphasized the power of hope to take away “the sting of death.” Shortly afterward, Aaron promised the king that if he would repent and pray in faith, he would obtain that hope (Alma 22:16).
The king was converted as were many of his people. Those same people, several chapters later, were willing to die rather than break their oath to never shed blood again. In Mormon’s description of that event (2nd passage above), he emphasized that their hope in the resurrection through Christ removed all fear from their hearts and allowed them to face death with serenity.
I love the idea that hope can overcome our fears and can even remove the sting of death we experience. Today, I will sustain my hope, knowing that the pain associated with the difficult things I experience can be lessened or even “swallowed up” in that hope.
The king was converted as were many of his people. Those same people, several chapters later, were willing to die rather than break their oath to never shed blood again. In Mormon’s description of that event (2nd passage above), he emphasized that their hope in the resurrection through Christ removed all fear from their hearts and allowed them to face death with serenity.
I love the idea that hope can overcome our fears and can even remove the sting of death we experience. Today, I will sustain my hope, knowing that the pain associated with the difficult things I experience can be lessened or even “swallowed up” in that hope.
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