may said:
The ransom became necessary because of the sin of Adam. By disobeying God, Adam gaveto his offspring a legacy of sickness, sorrow, pain, and death. (Genesis 2:17; romans 6;23 Jesus was a perfect man the same way that adam was , but adam was not doing things Gods way but Jesus was obedient and faithful to God right up to his death he gave the value of the sacrifice to Jehovah God his father in the heavens
the ransom is paid "to God."
In Adam all are dying," said the apostle Paul. (1 Corinthians 15:22) The ransom thus had to involve the death of the exact equal of Adama perfect human. (Romans 5:14) No other kind of creature could balance the scales of justice. Only a perfect human, someone not under the Adamic death sentence, could offer "a corresponding ransom"one corresponding perfectly to Adam. (1 Timothy 2:6)
Jehovah arranged to have a perfect man voluntarily sacrifice his life
Only Jehovah could provide "the Lamb . . . that takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)
By nullifying the death sentence upon Adams obedient offspring, the ransom would cut off the destructive power of sin right at its source.Romans 5:16.
Yes, Jehovah made the supreme sacrifice of sending his only-begotten Son, "the one he was specially fond of." (Proverbs 8:30)
To illustrate: Imagine that you live in a town where most of the residents are employed at a large factory. You and your neighbors are well paid for your labors and lead comfortable lives. That is, until the day the factory closes its doors. The reason? The factory manager turned corrupt, forcing the business into bankruptcy. Suddenly out of work, you and your neighbors are unable to pay the bills. Marriage mates, children, and creditors suffer because of that one mans corruption. Is there a way out? Yes! A wealthy benefactor decides to intervene. He appreciates the value of the company. He also feels for its many employees and their families. So he arranges to pay off the companys debt and reopen the factory. The cancellation of that one debt brings relief to the many employees and their families and to the creditors. Similarly, the cancellation of Adams debt benefits untold millions
Willingly, Gods Son "emptied himself" of his heavenly nature. (Philippians 2:7)
the benefits of the ransom will gradually be applied to obedient mankind over a period of a thousand years.1 Corinthians 15:24-26; Revelation 20:6; 21:3, 4.
In order to counterbalance the sin of Adam, Jesus had to die, not as a perfect child, but as a perfect man. Remember, Adams sin was willful, carried out with full knowledge of the seriousness of the act and its consequences. So in order to become "the last Adam" and cover that sin, Jesus had to make a mature, knowing choice to keep his integrity to Jehovah. (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47) Thus Jesus entire faithful life courseincluding his sacrificial deathserved as "one act of justification."Romans 5:18, 19
Thanks for your post, May.
I think you did a good job of summing up the common Christian understanding of the meaning of Jesus' sacrifice.
You speak of "paying a ransom" and yet also of "cancelling a debt." However, if a debt is paid, it isn't cancelled; and if it's cancelled, it doesn't need to be paid. I think that saying "Jesus paid the price" and "God forgave our sin" is contradictory: you either pay, or you forgive. And I don't see why God couldn't just forgive without him paying himself a certain price.
Why must "scales of Justice be balanced?" And how is one man's death (no matter how perfect the man) equivalent to the death of billions of people? It does not seem justice to say "the wages of sin is death"--and someone else's death can be substituted for yours.
If in our crimminal justice system, a murderer was about to be executed, but another man--let's say a wonderful man, giving and loving and in whom no one can find fault (and further, that he was of the family of the victim of the crime)--said "execute me instead"--what would we do? We might say "how noble of that man to offer!" but would anyone say that justice was served by killing the good man and setting the murderer free?
Yes, you might call it mercy of sorts; but how can it also be justice? Justice doesn't say "the penalty for murder is death, but in leiu of the murderer's execution, a voluntary substitute may be executed." It seems as though the idea lacks coherence.
The idea that we inherit Adam's sin (as the "corrupt manager") seems unjust, even by Biblical standards (such as in Jer 31:30, Eze 18:2ff). "The corruption of blood", where children are accountable for their parent's crime, has long been recognized as unjust.
Anyway, perhaps this is just a theological "stone of offense" or "stone of stumbling" that I will never reach beyond, and the conversations here will just go round and round, neither one convincing the other. I was once as you are now; perhaps one day I might come again to be as you are now, or you might become as I am now--or both, and we'll switch positions, debating the oppostie point of view!
Peace
P.S.--Your quote from Proverbs 8 seems a bit out of context. It was wisdom--personified as female--speaking, not Jesus.