An Easter Sunday Talk

The Atonement of Jesus Christ
By Michael L. Clark
A talk for Easter Sunday, given on 20 April 2025 in Worthing, England

In the actual event of giving the talk on that date, I had less time to give the entire talk than I expected, so on that occasion I omitted Part Two as less significant due its being more a discussion of the Three Degrees of Glory than of Easter.

Part One

In coming up to this Easter Sunday, recent events in my family have been on my mind. My brother-in-law, Richard, passed away and we held his funeral and burial just in the past week. My brother Mark, whom some of you have met, was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that has gone into what the medical profession calls “stage four,” and he is not expected to survive – though they are using him as a human guinea pig to see if they can increase his life expectancy, with some success. It is certain that he will not survive, ultimately, absent a miracle. But Mark is optimistic. He knows he is on his way out, but he is cheerfully giving it his best shot, and making the most of the short time he has left. But there’s good news hiding in this, for his non-member wife, Mary, who has been a “dry Mormon” for a long time, decided that she needed to be baptized. And he did baptize her the day before Easter! We’re very thrilled with that! Of course, all of us, except for the very young who haven’t yet been in such situations, know all about this thing called mortality. All of us have lost friends and loved ones to the arms of death, and the older we get the more frequent this seems to happen! It’s not easy. As D&C 42:45 puts it

Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die…

But in the Easter season, we have hope.

Assuming our calendars are correct, which they may not be, in just 8 years, or in April 2033, it will have been exactly 2,000 years since our Savior, Jesus Christ, rose from the dead at his Resurrection. And with his rising, we have the promise that every daughter and son of Adam and Eve will in time be resurrected as well, as Paul wrote

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Cor 15:22)

I emphasize the word all, because we know from this that everyone, both righteous and unrighteous, will receive their body back! And not only a body, but a perfect and immortal body. Some might question the idea that both the righteous and the unrighteous will be resurrected. But this makes perfect sense, since all of us are beloved children of a loving Heavenly Father.

Part Two

But not all will be equal. The scriptures tell us that there are three different kinds of resurrected bodies. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Cor. 15:40-42

40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead.

Paul specifies three glories, or heavens, and he names two of them, which he calls celestial and terrestrial. One of them, apparently the lowest of the three, he curiously leaves unnamed.

In 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 he indicates that he had visited in vision what he calls the third heaven, and was told things he was not allowed to reveal. Let’s have a look. Verses 2 through 4 reads:

2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.

3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)

4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

Was this third heaven the celestial or the unnamed one? We’re not told, but it’s likely that it was the highest, the one glorious like the sun, or the Celestial.

Fortunately, modern revelation gives us more detail, and names the heaven or glory Paul left unnamed. In Doctrine and Covenants Section 76, the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith details about the three heavens or glories that the Apostle Paul wrote about, and names the one Paul left unnamed. The Lord gave its name as the Telestial glory.

Just a bit ago I cited D&C 42:45 about weeping for the loss of them that die, but that verse goes on to say that our weeping will be

… more especially for those that have not hope of a glorious resurrection.

Earlier I quoted the Apostle Paul as stating that all would be resurrected. And then Paul again stating there were three different resurrections. And here the Lord says there is a glorious resurrection that not all will qualify for. This leads one to understand that there must be a non-glorious resurrection.

In the Book of Revelation, chapter 20, we learn that the glorious resurrection is called the First Resurrection, and that those who aren’t worthy of it won’t be resurrected until after those who are resurrected first. This is called the Resurrection of the Just. The Resurrection of the Unjust follows at the end of the Millennium. The Apostle Paul spoke of both these resurrections as recorded in Acts 24:25

And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

So, what can we know about this First Resurrection? This is the resurrection of all those who have accepted Jesus as the Christ, and have faithfully done their best to conform their lives to his commandments. This includes having been baptized, whether in life, or by proxy afterwards. These are also they who have truly repented of their sins.

Part Three

As I indicated earlier, all will be resurrected, but what does resurrection mean? Well, outwardly it doesn’t seem to be much different from what we see in mortal life. After Jesus’s resurrection in Palestine, he appeared quite recognizable as Jesus, except once when he walked with Cleopas and his friend on the road to Emmaus, but that was because their recognition of him was suppressed until the Spirit revealed him. When the resurrected Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith to tell him about the plates of the Book of Mormon, when John the Baptist, and Peter, James, and John appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery for the purpose of restoring the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods, they were quite outwardly recognizable as human beings. But in all these cases these resurrected beings appeared out of thin air, having no apparent need to travel normally. When Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples in that closed room where they had been hiding, he was just there suddenly.

So, you can be sure that after you’re resurrected, in order to get from place to place, you won’t have need of long hikes, an automobile, an airliner, or even a spaceship! Nor does it appear that you’ll need something like a Star Trek transporter. That’s resurrection. And it is the first fruit of Christ’s sacrifice, which takes away the one thing we inherited from Adam and Eve, which was death.

And now we come to sin, which is a far more serious matter than physical death. Death isn’t our fault; but sin is definitely our fault. When the scriptures talk of resurrection as a reversal of death, they also talk of Hell. And in talking about Hell, it is clear that it is a place of punishment. Specifically, it is a place, or rather, a period of punishment for Sin. And just as every single one of us (with some very rare exceptions) will die and need resurrection, so too will every single one of us (with only one exception) commit sins and be worthy of punishment.

First I need to explain something. It is popular to make a difference between sins and transgressions. We like to say that a sin is only a transgression of God’s law if it is committed knowingly.

That is incorrect, however. In the revelation recorded as Doctrine and Covenants section 1, in verse 31, we read:

For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;

Something that is done wrong is something that is done wrong, regardless of who does it. The Lord cannot excuse one and then turn around and blame another for the same offense. He is no respecter of persons.

We are told that all sin, and all fall short of the glory of God. As the Apostle Paul wrote

There is none righteous, no, not one (Rom. 3:10)

Paul was speaking generally, however. There are actually two exceptions. The first exception is babies who have no will of their own, who lack even the ability to transgress God’s laws. In respect of babies who have no will of their own, the example I’ll use is my granddaughter Shadaya, who died as a 3-month old from crib death, also known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. She had no ability to even commit a transgression, let alone a sin.

We sometimes speak as if there are other similar exceptions, specifically young children and those born in bodies with minds that are unable to distinguish between good and evil, as sinless, but that isn’t strictly true. Everyone, even those special people, are capable of committing transgressions of the law. For example, when I was six years old I stole $10 from my father and spent it at a toy shop. At the time I didn’t understand the difference between right and wrong. But the shop owner, who did understand that difference, sold me a bag of plastic toy soldiers worth not even a dollar, without giving me the difference between the price and the consideration I offered. In other words, he stiffed me out of $9! He was guilty of theft. And so was I. But the difference was, he knew it, and I didn’t. We sometimes say that a transgression committed without knowledge is not a sin, but this is not the case.

There is a well-known Common-law maxim, or saying, and that is “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” In fact, this principle is very much an ancient one – it even shows up in the Old Testament as one of the Laws of Moses, in Leviticus 5:17:

"And if any one sin, and do any of the things which Jehovah hath commanded not to be done; though he knew it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity."

In human law, if you sin ignorantly, this only means your sentence may be lighter, not that you’d be excused entirely. But as stated, God cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.

Part Four

If it seems like I’m belaboring this point, I have a good reason.

That reason is to emphasize that the only human being, other than an infant, ever to live upon the earth without so much as a mere transgression of God’s law is Jesus Christ himself. He never did so either as an infant, a child, or an adult. He was as innocent as a lamb, in all respects. And this innocence is what made him the only possible sacrifice for sin that could cover anyone else other than himself.

In the Book of Mormon we read in Alma 34:11

Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the sins of another.

And going on to the end of verse 11 and into verse 12

Now, if a man murdereth, behold will our law, which is just, take the life of his brother? I say unto you, Nay. But the law requireth the life of him who hath murdered.

In other words, the only person who can atone or pay for your own sins is you yourself. But if you pay for your own sins, how can you dwell with God? “For … the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance”! As it was revealed to John the Revelator in the Book of Revelation, chapter 22:11

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still:

But there must be an escape from this awful fate! The verse continues, saying

and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

What or who is the escape? That escape is Jesus Christ.

In Alma chapter 34 starting from verse 14 we read

…this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal. 15 And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance. 16 And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.

You see, not even God can rob Justice, because God is Justice. He cannot deny Justice, because that would require that He deny Himself. Remember that old atheist riddle, can God create a stone so heavy that even He cannot lift it? With the joke being, that if He can’t create such a stone, then He can’t be omnipotent! Well, that’s the problem with my sins, your sins, and everyone else’s sins! God cannot forgive them, and let you off, because that would require that He deny Justice, and deny Himself. Which He can’t do! So we are toast, and must submit to the punishment required for our sins. No escape for the wicked.

But wait! We have a Savior! A man called Jesus Christ who never transgressed, who never sinned, and he is willing to suffer in our place, to take our place, so that we can escape the punishment. And he is only able to do this because he has no sin himself.

In Alma 34:9-10 we read:

9 …it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.

10 For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice. Who is this infinite and eternal sacrifice? Let’s jump to verse 14 in Alma 34

And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal.

This is what makes his sacrifice infinite and eternal. Because he accepts the punishment for sin, even though he did not commit sin, and he does so willingly – out of love for us all!

And this is how he gained the power to forgive. We are not capable of understanding this fully, but his act of mercy, of standing in our place, enables him to satisfy justice for every repentant soul who ever lived, and even for all those who sinned ignorantly. His infinite sacrifice covers me who stole my dad’s $10, the shopkeeper’s theft of my change, and for everyone of us who sinned on condition of repentance. We escape the judgement and have the chance to receive eternal life – not mere immortality, for even the unrepentant wicked get that – but to live the life which God lives, a reward that we are incapable of understanding in our mortal condition.

Conclusion

The Prophet Joseph Smith stated that

“‘The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.”

And in this Easter season we remember him who died on the cross at Calvary, who suffered an infinite atonement beyond our understanding from Gethsemane until he said “It is finished.” We celebrate his love for us by keeping his commandments, and by returning his love by loving all our fellow human beings in turn, as he would have us do.

I know that God lives. I testify that his son Jesus Christ lives, that he is the Son of God and our Savior. I know that it is by his command that the Prophet Joseph Smith restored his church to the earth in preparation for his second coming, in glory this time.

In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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