CHAPTER SEVEN: WHAT GOD HAS DONE TO SAVE MANKIND

ONE spring afternoon nearly 2,000 years ago,  a Roman centurion watched three men die slow, agonizing death. That soldier especially noted one of them-Jesus Christ. Jesus had been nailed to a wooden stake.  The midday sky blackened as the moment of Jesus' death approached. When he died, the earth shook violently, and soldier exclaimed:  "Certainly this man was God's Son." -Mark 15:39. 

God's Son! That soldier was right. He had just witnessed the most important even ever to occur on the earth. On earlier occasions, God himself had called Jesus his beloved Son.  (Matthew 3:17; 17:5) Why had Jehovah allowed his Son to die?  Because this was God's means of saving mankind from sin and death.  

CHOSEN FOR A SPECIAL PURPOSE

As we have previously learned in this book, Jesus had a prehuman existence. He is called God's "only begotten Son" because Jehovah created him directly. God thereafter used Jesus to bring all other things into existence.  (John 3:18; Colossians 1:16) Jesus was especially fond of humankind.  (Proverbs 8:30, 31) No wonder Jehovah  chose his only begotten Son to serve a special purpose when mankind came under the condemnation of death!   

When pronouncing sentence on Adam, Eve, and Satan in the garden of Eden, God spoke of the future Rescuer as a  "seed."  This Seed or offspring, would come to undo all the terrible ills that Satan the Devil, "the original serpent," had brought about. In fact, the promised Seed would crush Satan and all those who followed him.  -Genesis 3:15; 1 John 3:8; Revelation 12:9. 

Over the centuries, God gradually revealed more about the Seed, also called the Messiah. As shown in the chart on page 37, (if you happen to have that book) numerous prophecies gave details about many aspects of his life on earth.  For instance, he was to endure terrible mistreatment in order to fulfill his role in God's purpose. -Isaiah 53:3-5.

Next time: WHAT GOD HAS DONE TO SAFE MANKIND/WHY THE MESSIAH WOULD DIE

From the book: KNOWLEDGE That Leads to Everlasting Life