180 Years

Why did the Lord restore his gospel and create The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 180 years ago this day? The answer, at least in part, was given by revelation, and is recorded today in Doctrine and Covenants Section 1:



  17 Wherefore, I the Lord, ^aknowing the calamity which should come upon the ^binhabitants of the earth, ^ccalled upon my ^dservant Joseph Smith, Jun., and ^espake unto him from heaven, and gave him ^fcommandments;

  18 And also gave commandments to others, that they should proclaim these things unto the world; and all this that it might be fulfilled, which was written by the prophets—

  19 The ^aweak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones, that man ^bshould not counsel his fellow man, neither ^ctrust in the arm of flesh—

  20 But that every man might ^aspeak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world;

  21 That faith also might increase in the earth;

  22 That mine everlasting ^acovenant might be established;

  23 That the ^afulness of my ^bgospel might be ^cproclaimed by the ^dweak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before ^ekings and ^frulers.

  24 Behold, I am God and have spoken it; these ^acommandments are of me, and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their ^blanguage, that they might come to^cunderstanding.

  25 And inasmuch as they ^aerred it might be made known;

  26 And inasmuch as they sought ^awisdom they might be ^binstructed;

  27 And inasmuch as they sinned they might be ^achastened, that they might ^brepent;

  28 And inasmuch as they were ^ahumble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive ^bknowledge from time to time.

  29 And after having received the record of the Nephites, yea, even my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., might have power to ^atranslate through the ^bmercy of God, by the power of God, the ^cBook of Mormon.

  30 And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have ^apower to lay the foundation of this ^bchurch, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of ^cdarkness, the only true and living ^dchurch upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well ^epleased, ^fspeaking unto the church collectively and not individually—

Taken in sum, I'm left to wonder: Where would we be if it weren't for the full restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the return of his priesthood authority, and the continued leadership of inspired successors to the prophet Joseph Smith? I'm eternally grateful for what happened 180 years ago, and what continues to occur today.

How has your membership in the Church blessed your life? Have you experienced any of the aforementioned blessings, that you would be comfortable sharing in the comments?