Reference: Although it is certain that Moroni understood the sacrifice of the Savior, the language used here reflects John:
John 3:16
16 ¶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Even though the cross does not become a theme in the New World, the understanding that it was the death of the Savior that leads to the resurrection is both part of the prophetic prediction of the Atoning Messiah, and a strong parallel to a cultural understanding of life coming from death. Although we should not suggest that the native Mesoamerican understanding of the transformation of death that leads to life came from the sacrifice of the Savior, it certainly provided an environment in which that conception was well understood.