At this Easter season, we can take joy and comfort in the message of hope and renewal embodied in the Savior's great sacrifice for us and shared throughout the centuries by followers of Jesus Christ.

The declaration "He is Risen" provides for all of us the hope that we may someday shed our biggest fears — death and the loss of loved ones — and are assured by scripture and testimonies that we are destined to partake of the miracle of resurrection when our spirits and bodies are reunited once again.

President Ezra Taft Benson said, "If we live good lives on earth and keep the commandments of the Lord, life on the other side of the veil will be glorious. The Lord described it as paradise — a place where there is much joy and happiness instead of worries and heartaches. But as beautiful as the spirit world is for those who are righteous, life does not endlessly continue there. In time our spirits must be joined again to our bodies to obtain complete joy" (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 16).

That the Savior underwent the pains of Gethsemane and Golgotha on our behalf is sobering indeed. He declared, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

President Gordon B. Hinckley has remarked, "None of us fully understands the Atonement. I think it is beyond the comprehension of any man, but we know something of it, and we know that as a result of it all will be resurrected from the grave, and that those who walk in obedience to His commandments will be given the opportunity of going on to eternal exaltation. Nothing can compare with that. All of us are going to die someday, but that won't be the end. We'll go on living, because Christ broke the bands of death for each of us" (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 554).

This reassurance, spoken by today's Church leaders and reinforced throughout the centuries, assures us that if we obey Christ's teachings, keep His commandments, are of service to others and our family, we too can enjoy the blessings of eternal life.

The Savior's early disciples were often confused when He spoke of the kingdom yet to come and the mission He must fulfill. But after the implementation of the sacrament and Christ's resurrection, they went forth renewed in purpose.

"These are the words which I spake unto you , while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

"Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

"And he said unto them, Thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

"And ye are witnesses of these things" (Luke 24:44-48).

To the Nephites, the Savior admonished: "And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you . . . Therefore hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up — that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed" (3 Nephi 18:16, 24).

This then is the promise to those who follow the Savior: resting from our labors for a season, and a reuniting with loved ones and eventually a reunion of body and spirit.

Until that day, the Savior has declared: "Behold, I say unto you that it is my will that you should go forth and not tarry, neither be idle but labor with your might — Lifting up your voices as with the sound of a trump, proclaiming the truth according to the revelations and commandments which I have given you. And thus, if ye are faithful ye shall be laden with many sheaves, and crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life" (D&C 75:3-5).