During the last week of Jesus’ life, He explained His mission to a group of Greeks in expansive terms:
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
John 12:32
Surely none of His listeners understood the size of the earth and its population, but hearing Him say those words to a group of foreigners must have enlarged His disciples’ perspective about the scope of His ministry.
Shortly afterward, He provided a similar explanation in His resurrected state in the Americas:
I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.
And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—
And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.
3 Nephi 27:13-15
The scope of His mission, in other words, was universal. His assignment was to bring everyone back to God, where they would be judged.
But there’s still more. In 1832, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon experienced a vision in which they learned more about the possible outcomes of that judgment. As President Dallin H. Oaks explained, with only a few limited exceptions, “all the children of God…will finally wind up in a kingdom of glory” (“Divine Love in the Father’s Plan,” General Conference, April 2022).
That’s why, in their description of the vision, Joseph and Sidney spoke of the Savior accomplishing a nearly universal salvation:
This is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us—
That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness;
That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him;
Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him.
Wherefore, he saves all except them.
Doctrine and Covenants 76:40-44
To be clear, Joseph and Sidney saw different outcomes of the judgment, representing the different “mansions” spoken of by Jesus. (See John 14:2; Enos 1:27; Ether 12:32-33, 37; Doctrine and Covenants 76:111.)
One way to think about these “mansions” is that God will bless us with all of the glory which we are willing to receive. As Alma taught:
He that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
Alma 12:11
As the Lord later revealed to Joseph Smith:
He who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.
And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory.
And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory.
Doctrine and Covenants 88:22-24
Jesus made it possible for every one of God’s children to recieve indescribable glory. The purpose of His church, as President Oaks taught, is to “prepare God’s children for salvation in the celestial glory and, more particularly, for exaltation in its highest degree.” In other words, to help us receive every blessing which God offers to His children.
Today, I will give thanks for the universal gift provided by Jesus to all of God’s children. I will be grateful that He brings everyone back into God’s presence, that He makes it possible for us to receive all the glory we are willing to accept, and that He has provided a church to help us learn to receive all of the glory which God offers to us.