Each week as we partake of the sacrament, we contemplate the great sacrifice the Lord performed for each of us by atoning for our sins. It is sometimes easy to forget other blessings contained in this supreme act of sacrifice.

Indeed, President Gordon B. Hinckley has said of the Savior's Atonement, "I cannot comprehend it all. It is so vast in its reach and yet so intimate in its effect that it defies comprehension. When all is said and done, when all of history is examined, when the deepest depths of the human mind have been explored, there is nothing so wonderful, so majestic, so tremendous as this act of grace" (First Presidency Christmas Devotional, Dec. 4, 1994).

The Atonement is the fulfillment of the human condition. The apostle Paul wrote, "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming" (1 Corinthians 15:21-23).

And the prophet Nephi declared in the Book of Mormon: "Wherefore redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth. Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered" (2 Nephi 2:6-7).

When studying the Atonement, we tend to devote most of our attention to the promise of the remission of our sins. This is, perhaps, because we all must overcome those imperfections we see in ourselves and try to put aside those shortcomings that keep us some distance from the Lord.

But there are other blessings in the Atonement that are equally important, that often get overlooked in our search for divine intervention for our spiritual side.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ brought about a marvelous restoration of the body. The Book of Mormon prophet Amulek declared: "Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised....The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. Now this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame ..." (Alma 11:42-44).

President Spencer W. Kimball, whose teachings and life we are studying this year, said of this part of the Atonement: "I am confident that when we come back with our body again, there will be no aches or pains. There will be no wrinkles or deformities. I am sure that if we can imagine ourselves at our very best, physically, mentally, spiritually, that is the way we will come back — perhaps not as a child or youth, perhaps in sweet and glorious maturity, but not in age or infirmity or distress or pain or aches."

He continued: "The meaning of death has not changed. It releases a spirit for growth and development and places a body in the repair shop of Mother Earth, there to be recast, remolded into a perfect body, an immortal glorious temple, clean, whole perfected, and ready for its occupant for eternity" (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 45).

As we reflect upon both the spirit and body at the time of death, we realize that each has a mission ahead of it until the full effect of Christ's Atonement is realized in our own resurrection.

As we partake of the bread and water each week, let us be mindful that the blessings contained within the prayers are a part of our study and purpose.