upon him [instead of his own death], then he must give the redemption price for his soul according to all that may be imposed upon him.” (Ex. 21:23-25, 30) The ransoming or repurchasing of Adam’s offspring who were “sold under sin” required the sacrificing of a human life that was just as perfect as that of Adam when he was created in the garden of Eden.

61. (a) What did Adam lose for his offspring by sinning? (b) How did the Son of God become the full equal of the newly created Adam?

⁶¹ By sinning Adam lost for his offspring the privilege of being born perfect, free from the condemnation of death, born under God’s approval with everlasting life in view. Hence God’s undeserved kindness sent his only-begotten Son to earth to become the perfect man Jesus Christ. He was born of a virgin and so without a human father. In that way he remained the Son of God. On reaching adulthood he was the full equal of what the newly created Adam was. He could thus offer himself to serve as a ransom sacrifice.

62. (a) When did Jesus present himself to serve as a ransom sacrifice, and how and when did he offer it to God? (b) At his death, what did he really sacrifice?

⁶² Jesus did this at thirty years of age, when John the Baptist baptized him in water. Three and a half years later, or in the year 33 C.E., Jesus fulfilled this sacrifice by dying in innocence, without sin, and wrongly condemned to death. For his unspoiled righteousness and faithfulness, God raised him from the dead as a spirit person on the third day. So, at his resurrection, Jesus Christ did not resume human life, but he ascended to heaven with merely the value of his perfect human life. This value he presented to Jehovah God in heaven, surrendering it in behalf of mankind. He thus met the requirements of a “corresponding ransom” by giving like for like, a perfect human soul for a forfeited perfect human soul. Not only did he sacrifice his own human life but he also sacrificed his human right and privilege of becoming a father to a perfect human race on earth, worthy of everlasting life.

63. By his human sacrifice, what was Jesus Christ able to do respecting Adam’s offspring?

⁶³ In this way, by his human sacrifice, he was able to repurchase the children of Adam and Eve, adopting them and conferring upon them what their human father Adam had failed to bequeath to them. Thus he will become the “Eternal Father” to them.—Isa. 9:6.

ANSWERING THE QUESTION

64. (a) What vital question confronts us in the face of the demands made upon us by men in the positions of power? (b) In view of that, what do we have to remember because of our taking advantage of Christ’s ransom sacrifice?

⁶⁴ These marvelous facts place before us a vital question. It is this: To whom shall we henceforth be slaves, to men or to our Repurchaser, our Ransomer? In these days helpless peoples are being selfishly exploited by greedy men. Totalitarian rulerships and fanatical nationalism are taking control. Ambitious, power-hungry men and institutions demand the abject obedience of mankind and lay claim to their very souls, so that man’s life is treated as if it did not belong to his own self. Shall we submit to these men who themselves are “sold under sin”? Shall we, on their demand, yield over our lives and become “slaves of men”? Upon no just basis or title they demand our lives as their slaves. But those of us who take advantage of the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ are already “bought with a price.” (1 Cor. 7:23) We owe our lives, our hope of everlasting future life, to Jesus Christ as our Repurchaser, our Ransomer. He is our true and rightful Owner.

65. How, in 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15, does Paul point out the right answer to the question of slavery?

⁶⁵ The apostle Paul points out the right answer to the question on slavery, saying: “The love the Christ has compels us, because this is what we have judged, that . . . he died for all that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised up.”—2 Cor. 5:14, 15.

66. (a) By letting ourselves become slaves of men, whom would we disown, and with what consequence? (b) Why do we Christians not belong to ourselves, and therefore whose slaves should we not become?

⁶⁶ If, in disobedience to God, we let ourselves become “slaves of men,” then we “disown even the owner that bought” us and we bring destruction upon ourselves. (2 Pet. 2:1-3) This we are determined not to do. Rather, when face to face with the choice, we will both remember and act in harmony with the inspired words of the apostle Paul to his fellow Christians: “You do not belong to yourselves, for you were bought with a price. By all means, glorify God in the body of you people. . . . he that was called when a free man is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price; stop becoming slaves of men.”—1 Cor. 6:19, 20; 7:22, 23; Gal. 1:10.

The Liberator Comes to Zion

IT WAS something worthy of being written down for an inerasable record and, more than that, to be proclaimed to the farthest parts of the earth. It proved to provide inestimable comfort to the Jews when they were in Babylonian captivity. It was the word spoken by none other than Jehovah God himself: “Say, you people, to the daughter of Zion, ‘Look! Your salvation is coming. Look! The reward he gives is with him, and the wages he pays are before him.’” (Isa. 62:11) Some years after Zion began to be rebuilt in 537 B.C.E., when Babylon had fallen as the Third World Power and could no longer hold the Jews in captivity, Jehovah inspired his prophet Zechariah to say something similar in these words: “Be very joyful, O daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem. Look! Your king himself comes to you. He is righteous, yes, saved; humble, and riding upon an ass, even upon a full-grown animal the son of a she-ass.”—Zech. 9:9.

The Jews understood the latter prophecy as applying to the coming of the Messiah and looked forward to its fulfillment. Today, however, there are many Jews included among those who do not have that faith. These descendants of Abraham should give attention to the fact that the Giver of this prophecy overthrew a mighty world power to release their forefathers from captivity. They should give weighty and serious consideration to the promise of their God that Zion would be favored with a visit from the foretold Messiah, the one whom Jehovah would anoint with holy spirit to be the king of the kingdom, to sit forever on “Jehovah’s throne.” It is not too late for them to investigate whether the Messiah has made this visit and been unrecognized by them.