[237] III Nephi xi, 1-17. See "Jesus the Christ," ch. xxxix.
=17.= The ancient scriptures, then, are plain in declaring that Christ came upon the earth to do a work previously allotted. He lived, suffered and died, in accordance with a plan which was framed in righteousness for the redemption of the children of Adam, even before the world was. Equally important and explicit is the word of modern revelation through which the Son has declared Himself as Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, man's Advocate with the Father, the universal Redeemer.[238] Let us consider a single citation from the many revelations concerning Christ given in the present dispensation:--"Listen to the voice of the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose course is one eternal round, the same today as yesterday and forever. I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, even as many as will believe on my name, that they may become the sons of God, even one in me as I am in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that we may be one."[239]
[238] See Doc. and Cov. vi, 21; xiv, 9; xviii, 10-12; xix, 1-2, 24; xxi, 9; xxix, 1; xxxiii; xxxiv, 1-3; xxxv, 1-2; xxxviii, 1-5; xxxix, 1-3; xlv, 3-5; xlvi, 13-14; lxxvi, 1-4, 12-14, 19-24, 68; xciii, 1-6, 12-17, 38.
=18. The Extent of the Atonement= is infinite, applying alike to all descendants of Adam. Even the unbeliever, and the heathen, and the child who dies before reaching the years of discretion, are redeemed by the Savior's self-sacrifice from all the consequences of the Fall.[240] It is conclusively proved by the scripture that the resurrection of the body is one of the victories achieved by Christ through His atoning sacrifice. He Himself proclaimed the eternal truth, "I am the resurrection and the life;"[241] and He among men came first forth from the grave,--"the first fruits of them that slept."[242] Now, the scriptures leave no room for doubt concerning the fact that the resurrection will be universal. The Savior announced to his apostles the beginning of this work of deliverance from the tomb; hear His words, "Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that done evil unto the resurrection of damnation;"[243] or, as the latter part of the declaration has been rendered through inspiration in the present day, "They who have done good, in the resurrection of the just: and they who have done evil in the resurrection of the unjust."[244]