The Tree of Life Is a Symbol of God’s Love and Christ’s Atonement
1 Nephi 8:10–12 (see also 1 Nephi 11:8–25)
10 And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy.
11 And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen.
12 And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell said:
“The tree of life . . . is the love of God (see 1 Nephi 11:25). The love of God for His children is most profoundly expressed in His gift of Jesus as our Redeemer: ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son’ (John 3:16). To partake of the love of God is to partake of Jesus’s Atonement and the emancipations and joys which it can bring.”
(“Lessons from Laman and Lemuel,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, 8.)
