The genius of the Atonement is its universal nature – all of God’s children who come to earth to get a body will be left better off (except for the sons of perdition).

The surprising thing about the Atonement is its simplistic nature – it really isn’t all that complicated or hard to understand.

As previously mentioned, the irony about the Atonement is as follows: even though the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the most foundational doctrine of all Christianity … it is also the single doctrine that is most misunderstood.  

This most likely stems from the following fact:

Even though the Atonement is simple in how it works – or in its structure and mechanics – it remains mysterious and elusive in its application – or how God works with us on an individual bases.  

In short, just as each of us experiences the Holy Ghost individually and differently, so to do we experience the Atonement individually and differently (and hence the mystery or confusion).

But just as the mechanics of experiencing the Holy Ghost are relatively simple and straightforward (keep the commandments, small and simple things vs the spectacular, remember what God has done for us) … so too are the mechanics of experiencing the Atonement.

Once one comes to understand the keys that unlock the Atonement in our lives, the mystery begins to dissipate, and we come to gain confidence in our Father in Heaven as we come to feel of His love for us individually.  

We will continue to expand on the mechanics – and the mystery – of the Atonement over the next several sections:

(1) The Deep Magic
(2) The Widow of Zarephath
(3) Naaman the Leper
(4) Feeding the 5,000
(5) Cain and Abel
(6) David & Abigail
(7) David & Goliath
(8) David & Saul
(9) Saul who became Paul
(10) Woman with Issue of Blood
(11) Law of the Fast
(12) The Power of the Scriptures
(13) The Power of Prayer
(14) Faith, Works, Grace, Commandments, and the Holy Ghost

In short, the mechanics of experiencing the Atonement of Jesus Christ are quite simple. The keys that unlock the powers of Heaven include:

(1) Grace
(2) Humility
(3) The Holy Ghost (the 3rd member of the Godhead)

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The “mechanics” is simply how the Atonement works. The “motivation” is simply why Jesus Christ is bound to us and us to him (the driving force of “divine compassion” that connects us with Him, and why He is so driven to heal us, the help us, and to lift us up). The “mystery” is how the Atonement works in our life individually. A the “magic” is the power by which the Atonement heals and elevates us. And that is why it is so confusing. Heavenly Father is a God of intimate, personal, one on one relationships. We are each His precious jewel that has immense value. How He ministers to me is drastically different than how he ministers to you or to the other billion plus people on the earth today. It is critical that we separate the mechanics of the Atonement (the how) from the mystery of the Atonement (the individualized attention of a loving Heavenly Father to each of us individually), and even further, we crystalize where the magic of the Atonement (the power) originated from.

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Although the key ingredients are simple in principle (the mechanics), they become a bit more complicated when it comes to individual application (the mystery).

It is not so much that the Atonement is a mystery. Rather, it is personalized … probably 20+ billion times (it will be unique for each and every one of God’s beloved children).

Any parent with multiple children will know that what works for one child does not necessarily work for the others. Parenting must be custom tailored to maximize the growth of each unique child … whether one is an earthly parent or a heavenly parent.

When applied, the Atonement will look different for each of us. Although Heavenly Father does not favor or discriminate, He is still personal in His blessings. Jesus Christ tended to minister one by one. And so it is with the Atonement.

Perhaps this is why the Atonement has remained such a mystery for so many for so long. In short … how it applies to me will be different for you. How God works with me and blesses me will be different than how we works with and blesses you. Now multiply that by 20+ billion times. There is no single blueprint that we all fall under.

We are all a unique jewel to our Father who loves us.

It all comes down to Judgement.

Judgement is not about condemning or punishing. Rather it is about optimizing or maximizing.

Consider for a moment a farmer.

It takes judgement to know how far apart to space the seeds to maximize the yield.

It takes judgement to know how much water to put on the sail to maximize the yield.

It takes judgement to know how much fertilizer to put on the field to maximize the yield.

Likewise, it takes judgement of a Father in Heaven who loves us to know how to orchestrate our lives – in companionship with the Atonement – to maximize our progression.

In the scriptures, our Father’s throne has been called a throne of judgement. How awesome is that!