Without The Sacrifice of Jesus, There Is No Easter (344) - April 4 2026

This Easter program we celebrate the tremendous sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, who became the Ransom for Many according to Matthew 20:28 (AMPC), so that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him (John 3:17, AMPC).

This program covers the following Scriptures from the Amplified Classic version (AMPC): John 3:16-17; Hebrews 1:3; John 6:37-40; 2 Peter 3:9; Jeremiah 17:9; Genesis 3:6; 1 John 3:8; John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Psalm 119:105; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; John 3:1-21; Romans 8:1-2; Hebrews 9:12-14; Romans 10:9; Ephesians 1:21; Romans 6:3-8; Colossians 2:12; Ephesians 2:1-6; Galatians 2:20; John 1:12; Romans 12:2; Ephesians 2:9; 1 John 3:1-2; Mark 10:45; Ephesians 4:8-10; 1 Peter 3:19; Acts 2:24.

Transcript

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) And a very good day to you. This is Pastor Marc Whelan with Touch of God. And welcome today to this Easter edition of the program. And because it's Easter, we will be talking about the great sacrifice that heaven has made for us. And today we begin, of course, and using the amplified classic version of the Bible. John chapter 3, verse 16 to 17. For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world, that He even gave up His only begotten unique Son, so that whoever believes in, trusts in, clings to, relies on Him, shall not perish, come to destruction, be lost, but have eternal, everlasting life. For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge, to reject, to condemn, to pass a sentence on the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him. We see that Jesus represents the Father's nature. We see a beautiful relationship here, that the Father is working with the Son, and the Father sent the Son. And we know, we can understand, that the Son, Jesus, knew that He had to carry out His Father's will, because the Son knew the nature of the Father, and He was the exact imprint of that nature, and He knew what He had to do. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3 says, He, Jesus, is the sole expression of the glory of God the Father, the Light Being, the out-raying or radiance of the Divine, and He is the perfect imprint and very image of God's nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the Divine Majesty on high. So here we see, the Son, Jesus, is the perfect imprint and very image of God's nature. We understand what the Father's will is in John chapter 6. As we read verses 37 to 40, Jesus said, All whom my Father gives in trust to me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will most certainly not cast out. I will never, no, never reject one of them who comes to me. Are we not blessed today that we have someone, Jesus Himself and the Father, open arms, wanting us into their bosom, wanting us to come into them? We did not deserve salvation. We do not deserve salvation. Verse 38, continuing on here, verse 38, For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will and purpose, but to do the will and purpose of Him who sent me. This is Jesus speaking. Verse 39, And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given me, but that I should give new life and raise them all up at the last day. Verse 40, For this is my Father's will and His purpose, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up from the dead at the last day. We know that the Lord does not desire that any should perish, that all should turn to repentance. This is the desire of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 3, verse 9, The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He promises, according to some people's conception of slowness, but He is long-suffering, extraordinarily patient towards you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance. That's all of His creation, the human souls that He has created. So what did we need to turn to repentance from? It's really from our old self, that old self that was born with a heart, that was continually wicked, according to Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 9. As a result of us having fallen when we ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, as shown in Genesis chapter 3, verse 6, we inherited the nature of the one we chose to obey and follow at that tree that day, the devil Satan. We see this in Scripture in a couple of places. 1 John chapter 3, verse 8, But he who commits sin, who practices evil doing, is of the devil, takes his character from the evil one. For the devil has sinned, violated the divine law from the beginning. The reason the Son of God was made manifest, visible, was to undo, destroy, loosen, and dissolve the works of the devil has done. Secondly, in John chapter 8, verse 44, where Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and the Jews, verse 44 says, You are of your father the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires which are characteristic of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar himself and the father of lies and of all that is false. So, you see, we inherited this nature and have had it since birth up to the point where we gave our life to Christ. This is when our old man was finally crucified in Christ on the cross in exchange for the free gift from God of a new man, a new creation, a brand new spirit in us. Second Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17 shows us this. It says, Therefore, if any person is engrafted in Christ the Messiah, he is a new creation, a new creature altogether. The old previous moral and spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come. You see, our life before Christ was not at all what God intended for us. We were lost, walking in sin of various kinds, on a path which was in darkness. The word of God was not in our hearts then, so our path was not lit with his light, according to Psalm 119, verse 105. But our path was lit by a dark light from the enemy's kingdom, keeping us on a path of sin and destruction. And we know from Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse 4, that the devil was wanting to keep us blinded from finding out the truth of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. You see, the devil's heart only contains wickedness. He hates anything created in the image of God. That's us, God's creation. Satan's desire is to corrupt mankind and short-circuit every plan that God had so lovingly established for every soul He had fearfully and wonderfully made. Since those who never end up accepting Jesus, his good news, his gospel, their old nature remains. They do not become born again of water and spirit, but remain born of the flesh. The result is damnation, destruction, and they go to the place that is most like their nature, which is hell, the place of eternal torment. That is unless they receive Jesus as their Lord and their Savior. First Corinthians chapter 6, verses 9 to 10. Verse 9 says, Do you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, misled. Neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality, verse 10, nor cheats, swindlers, and thieves, nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foul-mouthed revelers and slanderers, nor extortioners and robbers, will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God. You see, our fallen nature, our fallen spirit, with its unrighteous and devilish characteristics, which came from being from the same seed of the first Adam, is incompatible with the kingdom of heaven unless we become born again of water and spirit. Let us read from John chapter 3, verses 1 to 21. Now there was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler, a leader, an authority among the Jews, who came to Jesus at night and said to him, Rabbi, we know and are certain that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs, these wonder works, these miracles, and produce the proofs that you do unless God is with him. Verse 3, Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again anew from above, he cannot ever see, know, be acquainted with, and experience the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb again and be born? Verse 5, Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and even the spirit, he cannot ever enter the kingdom of God. What is born of from the flesh is flesh, of the physical is physical, and what is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not, do not be surprised, astonished at my telling you, you must all be born anew from above. The wind blows, breathes where it wills, and though you hear its sound, yet you neither know where it comes from nor where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit. Nicodemus answered by asking, How can all this be possible? Verse 10, Jesus replied, Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet do not know nor understand these things? Are they strange to you? I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, we speak only of what we know, we know absolutely what we are talking about, we have actually seen what we are testifying to, we were eyewitnesses of it, and still you do not receive our testimony, you reject and refuse our evidence, that of myself and of all those who are born of the spirit. If I have told you of things that happen right here on the earth, and yet none of you believes me, how can you believe, trust in, adhere to me, rely on me if I tell you of heavenly things? And yet no one has ever gone up to heaven, but there is one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man himself, who is, dwells, has his home in heaven. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert on a pole, so must, so it is necessary that, the Son of Man be lifted up on the cross. Verse 15, in order that everyone who believes in him, who cleaves to him, trusts in him, and relies on him, may not perish, but have eternal life, and actually live forever. For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world, that he even gave up his only begotten unique Son, so that whoever believes in, trusts in, clings to, relies on him, shall not perish, come to destruction, be lost, but have eternal everlasting life. For God did not send the Son into the world, in order to judge, to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on the world, but that the world might find salvation, and be made safe and sound through him. Verse 18, he who believes in him, who clings to, trusts in, relies on him, is not judged. He who trusts in him never comes up for judgment, for him there is no rejection, no condemnation, he incurs no damnation. But he who does not believe, cleave to rely on and trust in him, is judged already. He has already been convicted and has already received his sentence, because he has not believed in and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ's name. Verse 19, the basis of the judgment, indictment, the test by which men are judged, the ground for the sentence lies in this. The light has come into the world, and people have loved the darkness rather than and more than the light, for their works, deeds were evil. For every wrongdoer hates, loathes, detests the light, and will not come out into the light, but shrinks from it, lest his works, his deeds, his activities, and his conduct be exposed and reproved. But he who practices truth, who does what is right, comes out into the light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are, wrought with God, divinely prompted, done with God's help, independence upon him. That was John 3. Then we go to Romans chapter 8 verses 1 and 2. Therefore there is now no condemnation, no adjudging guilty of wrong, for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life, which is in Christ Jesus, the law of our new being, has freed me from the law of sin and of death. Now that's another great verse. This is the shackles being removed verse. This is you as a born-again Christian, receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior in your life, being set free from this prison of bondage, sin, sickness, disease, poverty, strife, all things not of the Lord. So the question today is, do we want to be set free from all of our sinful nature? Do we want to receive eternal life? Do we want to come to know Jesus and Almighty God the Father, who have loved us and knew of us before the foundation of the world? Only the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross has made it even possible for this free gift of eternal life to be offered to us. Let's look at Hebrews chapter 9 verse 12 to 14 that talks about Jesus' blood. It says, He went once for all into the holy of holies of heaven, not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves, by which to make reconciliation between God and man, but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption and everlasting release for us. For if the mere sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body, how much more surely shall the blood of Christ, who by virtue of His eternal Spirit, His own preexistent divine personality, has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the ever-living God. So you see that the blood of bulls and goats was not sufficient enough to redeem us, to reconcile, to pay for all of our sins, to wash those away, and for us to become in right standing with God. Only the blood of Jesus, only the blood of the sacrificial lamb led to the slaughter, Isaiah 53. The suffering servant was sufficient for humankind to be rescued from a certain spiritual death. But everyone has a free will choice to receive the free gift of eternal life through God, through Jesus Christ, or not. To become born again, to become born of water and Spirit instead of remaining in our old fleshly nature. Romans chapter 10 verse 9 says, because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe, adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. So today, all you have to do, it is not specific words that come out of your brain, it is not a formula, it is a heart posture to finally, once and for all, down tools, open up your heart, receive Jesus, allow Him in, allow Him into your heart, accept Him and confess Him as Lord, focus on Him, turn from any wicked ways, any leanings to sin, turn from those things. Repent means to turn 180 degrees, to turn from them and turn towards Jesus, because Jesus is the author of your salvation. All you have to do is say, Jesus, come into my heart. I receive you as my Lord. Please wash away my sins with your blood. Please create in me a new heart. Wash me, clean me, cleanse me of all unrighteousness as I confess all my sins to you this day. Thank you, Lord, for crucifying me with you on the cross. Thank you for burying my old man with you. Thank you for resurrecting me with you. So that I am now a new creation in you. So you were crucified in Christ. You were buried in Christ. You were resurrected in Christ. And now you are seated in Him. You are seated in Christ, in heavenly places, according to Ephesians 1, verse 21, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, above every title that can be conferred, not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come. Romans chapter 6, verse 3, it says, Are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, so we too might habitually live and behave in newness of life. This is important, this verse, because while we can totally accept that we have been given new life because we were baptized into Christ's death and raised with Him from the dead, we have the ability, the free will, to not live and behave in accordance with the newness of life that God has so preciously paid with His blood for. So we need to be conscious every day that we need to be submitting to the Lord so that we can resist the devil and he will flee, so that we may do the will of the Lord on this earth while there is still time, while it is still day, so that we may be able to give praise and worship to our Lord and become true disciples of the Lord Jesus, spending time in a secret place with Him. Verse 5, For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like this, we shall also be one with Him in sharing His resurrection by a new life lived for God. We know that our old unrenewed self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that our body, which is the instrument of sin, might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin. For when a man dies, he is freed, loosed, delivered from the power of sin among men. Hallelujah! Verse 8, Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. Colossians chapter 2 verse 12, Since thus you were circumcised when you were buried with Him in your baptism, in which you were also raised with Him to a new life through your faith in the working of God as displayed when He raised Him up from the dead. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 to 6, And you He made alive when you were dead, slain by your trespasses and sins, in which at one time you walked habitually. You were following the course and fashion of this world, were under the sway of the tendency of this present age, following the prince of the power of the air, that's Satan. You were obedient to and under the control of the demon spirit that still constantly works in the sons of disobedience, the careless, the rebellious, and the unbelieving who go against the purposes of God. Verse 3, Among these we as well as you once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh, our behavior governed by our corrupt and sensual nature, obeying the impulses of the flesh and the thoughts of the mind, our cravings dictated by our senses and our dark imaginings. We were then by nature children of God's wrath and heirs of His indignation like the rest of mankind. Verse 4, But God, so rich is He in His mercy, because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, even when we were dead, slain by our own shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ. Hallelujah. He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for it is by grace, His favor and mercy, which you did not deserve, that you are saved, delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation. And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together, giving us joint seating with Him in the heavenly sphere by virtue of our being in Christ Jesus, the Messiah, the Anointed One. Wow, that's powerful. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 to 6. Galatians chapter 2 verse 20 says, I have been crucified with Christ. Now this is the Apostle Paul as it was with Ephesians. He was writing to the church at Ephesus. Now he's writing to the church at Galatia. He's saying, I have been crucified with Christ. In Him I have shared His crucifixion. It is no longer I who live, but Christ the Messiah lives in me. And the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in, by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Remember that to those of you who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior, John chapter 1 verse 12 applies to you. But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority, power, privilege, right to become the children of God. That is to those who believe in, adhere to, trust in, and rely on His name. That means before we were not children of God. We were children of Satan. That was our old father. Not many people want to talk about that, but it's the truth. Remember that God also wants us to study and accept the Word of God as truth for ourselves. This is what the Apostle Paul spoke about in Romans chapter 12 verse 2, that we should make sure we are no longer being conformed to this world by being transformed by the renewing of our minds, being updated in the understanding in our minds by reading the Word of God, believing what God says about us now that we are born again. We are a new creation. We need to understand this truth and discard what we used to believe. Now you and I and everyone who confesses Jesus as their Lord and who has believed that God has raised Jesus from the dead, carries and hosts the great creator of the universe within you. And this blessed Trinity, our almighty Heavenly Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit seeks to reach through you to the rest of the creation to offer the same free gift of rescue, redemption, and reconciliation. Not because of a person's works, lest he or she should boast, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 9, but because of the deep and enduring love of God, the forgiving parent who wants to forgive their child for their tremendous mistake at the tree in the Garden of Eden and give them a second chance. Our Heavenly Father gave away everything in order to allow you and I the choice to no longer be separated from Him, to become born again of water and of Spirit. 1 John chapter 3 verses 1 and 2. See what an incredible quality of love the Father has given, shown, and bestowed on us, that we should be permitted to be named and called and counted the children of God. And so we are. The reason that the world does not know, recognize, acknowledge us is that it does not know, recognize, acknowledge Him. Beloved, we are even here and now God's children. It is not yet disclosed, made clear what we shall be hereafter, but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall as God's children resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He really is. So to summarize the key event of the Easter weekend, Jesus was crucified unto death on the cross on the day we call Good Friday. Having given His life as a ransom for many, as stated in Mark chapter 10 verse 45. We know according to Scripture that at one point Jesus descended before He ascended. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 8 says, Therefore it is said, when He ascended on high, He led captivity captive. He led a train of vanquished foes, and He bestowed gifts on men. Now Matthew Henry's commentary on this is that Jesus conquered those who had conquered us, such as sin, the devil, and death. Verse 9 says, But He ascended. Now what can this He ascended mean, but that He had previously descended from the heights of heaven into the depths, the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the very same as He also has ascended high above all the heavens, that He, His presence, might fill all things, the whole universe, from the lowest to the highest. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 18 says, For Christ the Messiah Himself died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty, that He might bring us to God.