Chapter 7-WHAT GOD HAS DONE TO SAVE MANKIND

WHY THE MESSIAH WOULD DIE

The prophecy recorded at Daniel 9:24-26 foretold that the Messiah-God's Anointed One-would fulfill a great purpose.  He would come to earth "to terminate the transgression, and to finish off sin, and to make atonement for error, and to bring  in righteousness" forever.  The Messiah would remove the condemnation of death from faithful mankind.  But how would he do this?  The prophecy explains that he would be "cut off," or put to death.

The ancient Israelites were familiar with the idea of atonement for error.  In their worship  under the Law that God gave them through Moses, they regularly offered up animal sacrifices.  These remind the people of Israel that humans need something to atone for, or cover, their sins.  The apostle Paul summarized  the principle in this way:  "Unless blood is poured  out no forgiveness takes place."  (Hebrews 9:22) Christians are not under the Mosaic Law with its requirements, such as sacrifices.  (Romans 10:4; Colossians 2:16, 17)  They also know that  animal sacrifices cannot provide permanent and  complete forgiveness of sins.  Instead, these sacrificial offerings foreshadowed  a far more valuable sacrifice-that of the Messiah, or Christ.  (Hebrews 10:4, 10; Galatians 3:24)  Yet, you may ask, 'Was it really necessary for the Messiah to die?"

Yes, the Messiah had to die if mankind was to be saved.  To understand why, we must think back to the garden of Eden and try to grasp the enormity of what Adam and Eve lost when they rebelled against God,  They also enjoyed a direct  relationship with him.  But when they rejected Jehovah's rulership, they lost all of the and brought sin and death upon the human race. -Romans 5:12.

It was as though our first parents had squandered a vast fortune, plunging themselves into a pit of debt.  Adam and Eve passed that debt onto their offspring.  Because we were not born perfect and sinless, every one of us is sinful and dying.  When we get sick or say something hurtful that we wish we could take back, we are experiencing the effects of our inherited debt -human imperfection.  (Romans 7:21-25) Our only hope lies in regaining what Adam lost.  However, we cannot earn perfect human life.  Since all imperfect humans commit sin, all of us earn death, not life. -Romans 6:23.

Yet, could something be offered in exchange for the  life that Adam forfeited?  God's standards of justice demands balance,  "soul for soul."  (Exodus 21:23) So a life had to be offered to pay for the life that was lost.  Not just any life would suffice.  Psalm 49:7, 8 says of imperfect humans:  "Not one of them can by any means redeem even a brother, nor give to God a ransom for him;  ( and the redemption price of their soul is so precious that it has ceased to time indefinite)."  Is the situation therefore hopeless?  No, indeed.

In the Hebrew language, the word"ransom" signifies the sum paid to redeem a captive and also denotes equivalency.  Only a man with perfect human life could offer up the equivalent of what Adam lost.  After Adam, the only perfect man born on earth was Jesus Christ.  Hence, the Bible calls Jesus "the last Adam" and assures us that Christ  "gave himself a corresponding ransom for all."  (1 Corinthians 15:45; 1 Timothy 2:5, 6)  Whereas Adam passed death on to his children, Jesus' legacy is life eternal.  First Corinthians  15:22 explains:  "Just as Adam all are dying, so also in the Christ all will be made alive."  Appropriately, then, Jesus is called "Eternal Father." -Isaiah 9:6, 7.

Next time: HOW THE RANSOM WAS PAID

The Book - KNOWLEDGE That Leads To Everlasting Life, 1995