Basic Truth #6 - The Ransom

Please find in this forum the forty (40) Basic, Elementary Truths taught by all Jehovah's Witnesses world wide. Also, please find a brief description of each teaching, with biblical substantiation for each tenet believed, which constitutes this nation as God's Name People, Modern-Day "Israel" of Bible Prophecy.

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bejay

Basic Truth #6 - The Ransom

Post by bejay »

Basic Truth #6 - The Ransom

Jehovah God created the first man, Adam, as an expression of His love, placed him in a beautiful garden that He called Eden where He had caused ‘all kinds of trees to grow out of the ground that were pleasing to look at and were good for food.’ (Genesis 2:8, 9) Genesis 1:27 tells us that this man and his wife were created in God’s own image meaning that they were given a measure of His four major qualities, those of love, justice, power and wisdom. They would exercise these qualities as parents of the human family as they increased in the earth. Since they were created perfect, having no innate physical or mental defects, they could truly enjoy carrying out God’s stated purpose for them, that is, that they would ‘be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. They would have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and over every living creature that moved on the ground.’ (Genesis 1:28) They would have meaningful work to do to keep them occupied.

As their Father and Ruler, Jehovah expected that they would be obedient to Him and He had the right to test them to determine whether they were worthy of continuing to live and enjoy all of the blessings He had and would provide for them. He did this by giving them one simple command. There was one tree in the middle of the garden that He called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad and He told Adam that he was not to eat from it because if he did, he would die. Adam was responsible for making sure that his wife was well aware of this prohibition that God had given him. (Genesis 2:16)

Genesis chapter 3 relates how disobedience came about. As you read this account, you will notice that Eve knew exactly what God had forbidden them to do when she was confronted by a spirit creature that gave her information that was the exact opposite of what God had said. But she succumbed to the wiles of this spirit person and disobeyed Jehovah. Then she induced her husband to join her in rebelling against their Creator and they became sinners or those who deliberately break God’s law. They, of course, lost everything that they had and were put out of the garden into the uncultivated earth thereby losing their relationship with their Creator, with nothing to hope for except certain death just as He had told them.

Although they had no children at this time, still the only inheritance that they could pass on to their still to be born children was sin, imperfection, and eventual death. (Romans 5:12) Their children would be enslaved to sin and death with no hope of change unless Jehovah provided a means for redeeming them. Someone would need to pay a ransom price, something that would be of equal value to repurchase that which was lost by Adam. Adam gave up the opportunity for his offspring to have perfect human life, so what would be needed to repurchase perfect life would be that someone would have to use his perfect human life to repurchase or replace what Adam had lost by willingly giving it up.

How would Jehovah do this? None of Adam’s descendants could be used in this manner as they had all inherited sin from him, therefore Jehovah would need to use someone who was not a descendant of Adam. He would have to use one of his spirit sons who lived in heaven with Him. As 1 John 4:9, 10 tells us, He chose to use his only begotten son, the one who was the beginning of His creative works. (Colossians 1:15) He transferred the life of his spirit son, as an embryo, into the womb of a young unmarried Jewish woman named Mary. This one would not receive any of her imperfect genes as he would not come from one of her eggs that had been fertilized by the male sperm. He would be perfect just as Adam had been when Jehovah first created him. (Luke 1:35)

Philippians 2:7, 8 shows us that this son of God, whose earthly name was Jesus, willingly accepted this position as a human and was obedient to death. The gospel accounts of Matthew chapter 27, Mark chapter 15, Luke chapter 23 and John chapter 19 gives the details of his death. His death satisfied the requirements needed to release humans from slavery to sin and death and made possible the repurchase of perfect human life for obedient humans. Jehovah then resurrected him back to life in the heavens and there he presented the value of his perfect human life to Jehovah. (Hebrews 9:24)

Jehovah did not make these provisions immediately after Adam sinned but waited nearly two thousand to do so. Galatians 4:4, 5 tells us this important fact: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” Do these verses mean that only a special group of people would benefit from this sacrifice, that is, the nation of Israel or will others be able to take advantage of this means of salvation? These questions will be considered in subsequent articles in this series.
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