Christ was foreordained. It was not enough that Christ be willing to be the Savior,
he must also be authorized. This selection and authorization was bestowed in
the beginning in a great heavenly council before man ever left heaven. Thus the
Lord could say to the brother of Jared, “Behold, I am he who was prepared from
the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. . .
.” (Ether 3:14)
Christ was willing. It was necessary that Christ not only be authorized
but also be wiling to be the Redeemer. His agency as well as ours was to be
respected. He had to choose in pre-earth life and re-choose in earth life to be
the willing sacrifice. It was in this willingness that Christ emulated the
perfect love of his Father. Both were willing—one to give a Son, and the other
to give his life. (Messages for Exaltation: Eternal Insights from the Book
of Mormon—For the Sunday Schools of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints Gospel Doctrine Class [Salt Lake City: Deseret Sunday School Union,
1967], 119-20)
