The Lamb

What is Jehovah’s purpose for mankind and the earth?

Jehovah stated his three fold purpose when he said to the first man and woman: “Be fruitful and become many, fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving on the earth.”

First, Jehovah says: “Be fruitful and become many”, and “fill the earth”. So his purpose was for the earth to be filled with the perfect children of Adam and Eve.

Second, he says when talking about the earth: “subdue it”. So the children of Adam and  Eve were to tame the entire earth and “to cultivate it and to take care of it” like the Garden of Eden.

Third, he says: “have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving on the earth”. And so mankind was to exercise loving dominion over the entire earth.

Nowhere in Jehovah’s stated purpose for mankind did he mention death as part of his purpose for them. So then, was death part of Jehovah’s purpose for mankind?

Notice the additional instructions Jehovah gave to Adam. He says: “From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will certainly die”. Jehovah here makes clear that death is the consequence of disobedience. And disobedience against Jehovah is sin. Thus the consequence of sin is death. It follows then, that for perfect Adam and Eve, the consequence of obedience is the opposite of death, it is life without end. Yes, death is not part of Jehovah’s will for mankind, but is a consequence of disobedience.

So what happened when Adam disobeyed?

Jehovah says to him: “In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.” This is the death sentence. Jehovah explained to Adam that death would be the result of disobedience. And on the day Adam disobeyed, Jehovah passed the death sentence on him. Adam and Eve now fell under the condemnation of sin and death.

It’s important to note that although Jehovah passed this judgment, death is not God's fault. It's Adam’s. Death was not part of God's original purpose for mankind. Death is a result of Adam's disobedience.

So what does that mean for us, the children of Adam and Eve?

SIN ENTERED INTO THE WORLD

Paul says that it was “through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because they had all sinned”.

Yes, when Adam sinned he lost perfection. And so he could not pass onto us what he himself did not possess. But he could pass onto us sin and its consequence of death.

Just as some diseases and health issues can be passed on from parent to child, the  scripture tells us, when it says “death spread to all men”, that sin became so ingrained into the human condition that we've all inherited it from Adam. So just as Adam and Eve fell under the condemnation of sin and death, so to all of us as children of Adam and Eve, have fallen under the condemnation to sin and death.

So how have we escaped from this condemnation?

WE HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH

Paul says concerning us, that “those in union with Christ Jesus have no condemnation”. How is it the we “have no condemnation”?

He also says: “What the Law was incapable of doing because it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, condemning sin in the flesh.” Yes, Jesus condemned sin. And Paul says that “the gift is not like the trespass. For if by one man’s trespass many died, how much more did the undeserved kindness of God and his free gift by the undeserved kindness of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to many!”

Yes, through one man’s trespass many died. But Jehovah shows us his undeserved kindness through Jesus. This is a reference to the gift of the ransom sacrifice of Jesus.

The gift that sets us anointed ones free from the condemnation of sin and death is the Ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ. How does the ransom work?

It is true that the Ransom is a gift based on love. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life”.

But it also had to be in harmony with Jehovah’s justice. What was required to satisfy Jehovah’s justice?

It’s explained with the words: “So, then, as through one trespass the result to men of all sorts was condemnation, so too through one act of justification the result to men of all sorts is their being declared righteous for life. For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one person many will be made righteous.”

Notice that the Ransom is referred to as an act of justification. It was an act of justice and it satisfied Jehovah's just requirements. Jehovah’s justice is based on equivalency, for he says: “But if a fatality does occur, then you must give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, blow for blow”. So since Adam’s disobedience as a perfect man resulted in the removal of perfect human life from mankind, the perfectly obedient life of an equivalent perfect man needed to be given to buy it back. This is why the Ransom is referred to as “a corresponding ransom”. As a perfect man, Jesus corresponded perfectly, or was the perfect equivalent, to Adam.

So do we see how Jehovah’s love, justice, wisdom and power are seen in the Ransom? What great love Jehovah has so that he should be moved to provide a ransom for mankind! But to do so, it had to meet his righteous standards of justice. And yet, with his great wisdom Jehovah found a way. And with his great power he brought the Ransom into reality, despite the terrible opposition of the murderer of mankind, Satan.

But how does the Ransom actually work? How does Jehovah use the Ransom?

JESUS, THE “ETERNAL FATHER”

Notice the scripture says that through the “obedience of the one person many will be made righteous”. This was perfect obedience on Jesus part. Jesus was not born a sinner. And Jesus never sinned. Thus, he did not die because of being condemned to death through sin. No, but his life was taken from him by others. So he never sinned and died a perfect man with the right to a perfect human life. Thus when he died he still retained the right to a perfect human life and the value of a perfect human life. So, at his resurrection, he was brought back to life as a spirit person. Now he finds himself a spirit, with the value of a perfect human life. So what did he do with it?

The inspired word tells us: “He entered into the holy place, not with the blood of goats and of young bulls, but with his own blood, once for all time, and obtained an everlasting deliverance for us”. Paul applies his own words when he says: “For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with hands, which is a copy of the reality, but into heaven itself, so that he now appears before God on our behalf”.

Imagine this scene. And as you do so, imagine how your own entrance into heaven will be. Imagine Jesus entering heaven itself with his own blood, imagine as he “passed through the heavens”, and imagine as he appears before Jehovah with his own blood in our behalf, in order to obtain an everlasting deliverance for us.

Now, regarding our resurrection in the likeness of Jesus to heavenly life, we are told that “it is sown a physical body; it is raised up a spiritual body” for “flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s Kingdom”. And so Jesus could not enter heaven with his literal blood. So then, when it says that he entered heaven “with his own blood”, it must mean that he entered heaven with what was represented by blood. What is that?

Jehovah tells us: “the life of the flesh is in the blood”, and “it is the blood that makes atonement by means of the life in it”. Thus, Jesus entered heaven with what his blood represented. Which was his perfect human life. And so now we see Jesus, standing before Jehovah and presenting to him the value of his perfect human life, so that he may obtain an everlasting deliverance for us.

Now Jehovah has presented to him the value of a perfect human life. What does he do with it? He replaces the life Adam lost with the perfect human life of Jesus. In effect, replacing Adam. This is why Jesus is referred to as “the last Adam”. He replaces Adam. So as far as Jehovah is concerned, mankind has a perfect father who never sinned. That's why Jesus is also referred to as “eternal father”. He will forever be the father of mankind in place of Adam.

Yes, Jehovah moved the failure Adam out of the way and replaced him with Jesus. So just as sin and death filtered into the human family through Adam, righteousness and life can filter into the human family through Jesus.

Yes, it is the Ransom that allows for us to be set free from the condemnation of sin, have human perfection implied toward us, and “declared righteous for life” thus being granted the right to life. And it is this same blood of the Ransom that validates the New Covenant, allowing for the legal basis for us to be resurrected to heaven. And so it is that John sees in vision “the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000”. Yes, it is through Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb that we are able to join him in his kingdom. For it is certainly true that Jesus is “the Lamb of God” that takes our sin away.

As Peter says: “For you know that it was not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, that you were set free from your futile way of life handed down to you by your forefathers. But it was with precious blood, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, that of Christ”.

And as Paul tells Titus: “we wait for the happy hope and glorious manifestation of the great God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to set us free from every sort of lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people who are his own special possession, zealous for fine works”. Yes, our heavenly hope is “the happy hope”, and it is only possible through the sacrifice of Jesus.

Yes, Jehovah “rescued us from the authority of the darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, by means of whom we have our release by ransom, the forgiveness of our sins”.

And what is more, just as it is by “the trespass of the one man death ruled as king through” Adam, “how much more will those who receive the abundance of the undeserved kindness and of the free gift of righteousness rule as kings in life through the one person, Jesus Christ”!

Yes, we have been set free from the condemnation of sin and death by mean of Jesus. And it is with Jesus that we will rule as kings in heaven.

But we shall be even more. We “will be priests of God and of the Christ” in heaven. And as such, we will have authority over the Ransom sacrifice, to apply its benefits to mankind.

OUR PRIESTLY SERVICE

A priest is someone who officially represents Jehovah God to the people, and serves to instruct people about Jehovah. In turn, the priest also represents the people before Jehovah, officiating in administering the sacrifice as well as interceding and pleading for the people.

We will serve these same functions when we get to heaven. For we are told that at that time, we “will shine as brightly as the expanse of heaven, and those bringing the many to righteousness like the stars, forever and ever”. Yes, we will be the ones “bringing the many to righteousness”. How will we do that?

Jehovah tells us “the lips of a priest should safeguard knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth, because he is the messenger of Jehovah of armies”, and the priests “should instruct my people about the difference between what is holy and what is common; and they will teach them the difference between what is unclean and what is clean”.

Yes, as priest we will primarily be the ones teaching righteousness and representing Jehovah himself to mankind. And those that listen to us and follow our guidance will understand the righteous requirements of Jehovah, and be brought to righteousness by our hands and by our words.

And there is more.

John tells us that Jesus’ sacrifice is “for our sins, yet not for ours only but also for the whole world’s.” John was writing to us, the anointed. So when he says that Jesus’ sacrifice is “for our sins”, he is saying that Jesus sacrifice is for the anointed. But Jesus’ sacrifice is not only for us anointed and our sins, “but also for the whole world’s” sins.

But will those who reject Jehovah and refuse to accept Jesus’ sacrifice benefit from it? Certainly not. So then, who does the term “whole world’s” refer to?

“The world” as used in this context, refers to all those who will live forever on earth. Yes, including all those with an earthly hope who serve Jehovah faithfully even now. Indeed, they are the “world” that benefits from Jesus’ sacrifice.

But how will the benefits of the Ransom come upon them? They receive forgiveness for their sins now, and a friendly relationship with Jehovah. But that is the extend of how they benefit from the Ransom at this time. Greater benefits await them in the future. How will that happen, and what role will we play in administering those benefits?

Paul says: “For I consider that the sufferings of the present time do not amount to anything in comparison with the glory that is going to be revealed in us. For the creation is waiting with eager expectation for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but through the one who subjected it, on the basis of hope that the creation itself will also be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God”. Yes, our glory will be revealed to those with an earthly hope. And when our glory is revealed, their hope will begin to be fulfilled through us.

What is their hope? Their hope is that they also will eventually be set free from enslavement to sin and death and be brought into sonship with Jehovah. Thus we learn that although those with an earthly hope can obtain forgiveness of sins, they have not been set free from the condemnation of sin and death. This is why they are not children of God now. Jehovah is perfect, as are all his actions. Thus, he can only accept as sons those who are perfect. Those with an earthly hope have not had perfection imputed to them like we have. And so, they are not children of God like we are.

And as we have been set free from the condemnation of sin and death based on the Ransom, so too their hope is to one day “also be set free from this enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God” based on the Ransom.

And yet, their hope is connected to our glorious revealing. We are therefore clearly informed that we will be central to the fulfillment of their hope based on the Ransom. Indeed, we will act as priests and apply the value and benefits of the Ransom toward them. Yes, their hope depends upon us and our efforts in applying the Ransom.

For this reason, those with an earthly hope are “waiting with eager expectation for the revealing of the sons of God”. And when we are revealed, those with an earthly hope will have to come to deeply appreciate our glorious and central role in the fulfillment of Jehovah’s purpose toward them and the earth.

So do you see what great glory Jehovah will place upon us? Do you see what a great responsibility Jehovah will give us? How important we will be to Jehovah, and the fulfillment of his good purpose? We receive our benefits of the Ransom from Jehovah, through the Lamb, Jesus. Mankind will receive their benefits of the Ransom through us. Yes, with what great glory and with what a great work Jehovah will bless us!

Yes, as priests we will teach mankind about Jehovah and guide mankind toward perfect righteousness. We will use the Ransom to eradicate sin and will stand before Jehovah himself for the benefit of those on earth. And in order for those with an earthly hope to realize the fulfillment of their hope, they will need to respect and appreciate our glory and respond to our efforts in their behalf.

So brothers and sisters. Appreciate what the Ransom has done for you now. For because of the Ransom, you are now children of God. Yes, “see what sort of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are. That is why the world does not know us, because it has not come to know him”.

And yet, do not stop there. Appreciate the hope Jehovah has given you in connection with the Ransom. That upon receiving your reward, you will be granted authority over the Ransom. To apply its benefits to mankind. Indeed “beloved ones, we are now children of God, but it has not yet been made manifest what we will be. We do know that when he is made manifest we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as that one is pure”.