How The Need For A Ransom Arose

The ransom became necessary because of the sin of Adam. By disobeying God, Adam bequeathed to his offspring a legacy of sickness, sorrow, pain and death. (Genesis 2:17; Romans 8:20) God could not yield to sentiment and simply commute the death sentence. To do so would be to ignore his own law: "The wages of sin pays is death." (Romans 6:23) And were Jehovah to invalidate his own standards of justice, then universal chaos and lawlessness would reign!

As we saw in Chapter 12, the rebellion in Eden raised even greater issues. Satan cast a dark shadow across God's good name. In effect, he accused Jehovah of being a liar and a cruel dictator who deprived his creatures of freedom. (Genesis 3:1-5) By seemingly thwarting God's purpose to fill the earth with righteous humans, Satan also labeled God a failure. (Genesis 1:28; Isaiah 55:10, 11) Had Jehovah left these challenges unanswered, many of his intelligent creatures might well have lost a measure of confidence in his rulership.

Satan also slandered Jehovah's loyal servants, charging that they served Him only out of selfish motives and that if placed under pressure, none would remain faithful to God. (Job 1:9-11) These issues were of far greater importance than the human predicament. Jehovah rightly felt obliged to answer Satan's slanderous charges. But how could God settle these issues and also save mankind?

Next time: Ransom-An Equivalent

Draw Close To Jehovah, 2002