Of all the divine helps God has provided for His children in mortality, the strongest by far was His provision of a Savior, Jesus Christ, said President Dallin H. Oaks during April 2025 general conference.
“That merciful and glorious Atonement explains why faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel,” said President Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the Sunday morning session.
President Oaks taught that Jesus Christ’s Atonement “bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead” (Alma 42:23) and it “atone[s] for the sins of the world” (Alma 34:8), erasing all repented sins and giving the Savior power to succor individuals in their mortal infirmities.
“Our part in this divine plan is to trust in God and seek divine helps, most notably the Atonement of His Beloved Son, our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ,” President Oaks said.
President Oaks was one of several Church leaders during April 2025 general conference who testified of the Savior, His Atonement and His “greater love” as Easter approaches.
The Savior’s invitation to ‘Draw near unto me’
President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, spoke during the Saturday morning session about the Savior’s invitation to come closer to Him:
“Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:63).
President Eyring said individuals can sometimes feel close to the Savior, but during life’s difficult moments, they may feel some distance from Him and wish for an assurance that He knows and loves them.
“The Savior’s invitation includes the way to feel that assurance,” President Eyring said. “Draw near Him by always remembering Him. Seek Him diligently through scripture study. Ask through heartfelt prayer to Heavenly Father to feel closer to His Beloved Son.”
Think of it as being separated from a dear friend for a time, President Eyring said. “You would find a way to speak with them, you would cherish any message you received from them, and you would do all you could to help them.”
Drawing nearer to the Savior happens in much the same way, he said.
Jesus Christ’s atoning rescue
As individuals turn to Jesus Christ, He rescues them from the storms of life through His Atonement, said Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the Saturday morning session.
“During this Easter season, our focus is on the Savior and His atoning sacrifice,” Elder Cook said. “The Atonement provides hope and light at a time that for many seems dark and dreary.”
Elder Cook offered three points of counsel to focus on Christ and His atoning sacrifice:
First, “do not underestimate the importance of doing what we can to rescue others from physical and especially spiritual challenges,” he said.
Second, gratefully accept the Savior’s Atonement, striving to exhibit joy and happiness even when facing life’s challenges.
Third, set aside consistent time to faithfully contemplate His Atonement, especially by partaking of the sacrament and attending the temple.
“The Atonement of Jesus Christ provides the ultimate rescue from the trials we face in this life,” Elder Cook testified.
‘A higher and holier celebration of Easter’
During his message Saturday evening, Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said one of many adjustments the First Presidency has announced to help Latter-day Saints focus on Jesus Christ is “a higher and holier celebration of Easter.”
For Elder Stevenson and his family, “adding an intentional spiritual dimension that focuses on Jesus Christ and His Atonement to our celebration has brought a sweet balance to our commemoration of these most holy of all events.”
Easter provides an opportunity to honor both the Savior’s Atonement and His Resurrection, Elder Stevenson said. He affirmed the Church’s doctrine that all who have ever lived will be resurrected, not figuratively but literally.
“I testify that all who accept the invitations from our living Prophet and his counselors to more intentionally commemorate the holy events that Easter represents will find that their bond with Jesus Christ grows ever stronger,” Elder Stevenson said.
‘Easter in Jesus Christ’
Speaking of this bond with the Savior, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles described what “Easter in Jesus Christ” looks like.
“This is Easter in Jesus Christ: He answers the longings of our hearts and the questions of our souls. He wipes away our tears, except our tears of joy,” Elder Gong said in the Sunday morning session.
“Easter in Jesus Christ helps us mend, reconcile, make right our relationships, on both sides of the veil,” he said. “Jesus can heal grief; He can enable forgiveness. He can free us and others from things we or they have said or done that otherwise bind us captive.”
Easter in Jesus Christ lets individuals feel God’s approbation. “Through spiritual transformation in Jesus Christ, we can escape debilitating perfectionism,” Elder Gong said.
“Each Easter season we celebrate, as a symbolic whole, eternity’s great gifts through Jesus Christ — His Atonement; His (and the promise of our) literal Resurrection; restoration of His latter-day Church with priesthood keys and authority to bless all God’s children.”
The greatest of all the Father’s gifts
Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke during the Sunday afternoon session about receiving gifts. Receiving a gift is not passive, he explained, but an intentional and meaningful process that “strengthens the bonds between giver and receiver.”
The greatest of all the Father’s gifts through which all others flow is His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
“All of our Father’s gifts flow from and are activated by the Savior’s willing offering in Gethsemane and on the cross, and His triumphant Resurrection. Jesus Christ, our merciful Redeemer, is the supreme gift from our Father of lights,” Elder Kearon said.
He invited Latter-day Saints to receive another “all-encompassing gift of eternal truth” — the reality that each person is a child of God.
“The question is not whether this gift of truth is real, but whether we will discover and receive it,” Elder Kearon said. “The gift has already been bestowed upon us by the Father. The price for the ultimate purpose of this gift has already been paid by the Savior.”
God’s love and compensating blessings
In the Sunday morning session, Presiding Bishop Gérald Caussé taught that through the Lord’s atoning sacrifice, He will compensate for every inability and injustice if one offers one’s whole soul to Him.
“My dear friends, if you ever feel limited or disadvantaged by the circumstances of your life, I want you to know this: The Lord loves you personally. He knows your circumstances, and the door to His blessings remains wide open to you no matter the challenges you face. …
“When circumstances beyond our control prevent us from fulfilling the righteous desires of our heart, the Lord will compensate in ways that allow us to receive His promised blessings,” Bishop Caussé said.
‘Jesus Christ is the love of God’
Elder Benjamin M.Z. Tai, a General Authority Seventy, also spoke about God’s love. “We feel God’s love when we do things that draw us closer to Him,” he said in the Sunday afternoon session.
He invited Latter-day Saints to pause frequently to remember they are a child of God, pray daily to know who around them needs to feel His love, ask sincerely what they can do to help that person feel God’s love and act promptly on the inspiration received.
“Dear friends, as one who has experienced God’s love, I joyfully witness that the Savior, Jesus Christ, is the love of God,” Elder Tai said. “His love for us is perfect, personal and perpetual. As we faithfully follow Him, may we be filled with His love, and may we be a lighthouse that guides others to His love.”
