John 1:36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” — World English.
The words of John the Baptizer as recorded in John 1:29 do not refer to the sins of the world in the plural, but to the sin of the world in the singular. “Sin” nevertheless, in the singular, refers to the sin that is in the world which, from the Divine standpoint, is the sin that had its beginning in one act of disobedience on the part of Adam, resulting in the wages of sin being exacted upon the whole world of mankind. (Romans 5:12-19; 6:23) “Sin” has gradually affected and undermined mankind’s powers, mental, moral and physical, until -- as a result -- all of Adam's descendants suffer from imperfection, weakness, depravity, etc.; indeed, sin, is somehow associated with almost every word and deed of the children of men, and this appears to be more so in last century or so than in centuries before. (Job 14:11; Ecclesiastes 2:23; Romans 1:26-31) For instance, one cannot watch most TV shows without some form of depravity, whether in words, such as cursing, swearing, lying, gossiping, or in other deeds, will be presented by the actors. Indeed, this is a form of indoctrination for most people, as they become so accustomed to hearing and seeing such conduct, that they may not actually realize that any “sin” is involved. As a result, we find that the conscience of many have been figuratively branded to think what is bad in God's sight is actually good. (Isaiah 5:20: 1 Timothy 4:2) Since most people tend to imitate that which they see and hear, they may find themselves performing the same sins to which their minds have been accustomed to hearing and seeing in TV programs, music, literature, etc. In some measure, the world is responsible for this general depravity but in the general sense, it is not responsible, because these tendencies toward sin were inherited from the one disobedience. -- Romans 5:12-19.
Nevertheless, the first man Adam did not have any inherent tendency to sin, and yet God gave him the freedom to exercise his will to either obey or disobey; God told him what the wages of disobedience would be, that is, death. (Genesis 2:16,17) The command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad shows that Adam had a choice; he was not born so that he HAD to sin, as some have claimed. If he had to sin, then the choice put before Adam was a farce.
The Wages of Sin
We should note that in the original creation of man, the first man was not a living soul until after God formed his body from the dust of the ground and then blew into that body the spirit, the breath, of life, and then Adam became a living soul (Genesis 2:7); before Adam became a living soul, he had no consciousness. Adam, thus, knew what death would mean: the absence of life; he knew that -- if he disobeyed, he would become a “dead soul” (Hebrew, transliterated, “meth nephesh” – Leviticus 21:11; Numbers 6:6; 9:10; 19:11,16; 2 Chronicles 20:24; Psalm 79:2; 110:6; Haggai 2:11), a soul that no longer has sentiency. We should note also that God did not say that Adam would be dead for a few days, or for a few years, or even for many thousands of years and that then he would be brought back to life. Nor did God say to Adam that the wages of sin would be to spend an eternity in conscious torture. The death sentence would bring Adam back to the very condition that he had been in before Adam was created, a condition of oblivion. (Ecclesiastes 9:5,10; 12:7) The sentence was, transliterated from the Hebrew, “muth temuth” – to die, you will die.
See our studies:
What is the Soul?
What is the Soul?
We know from the Biblical record that Adam and Eve did disobey (Genesis 3:1-6), and thus, in that very day, God took them away from the trees of life that were in the Garden (Genesis 3:22-24), so they began to die until they finally died (Genesis 5:5), and their flesh returned to the dust, while the spirit of life – the spark of life – that God had given to them returned to God who had given it. (Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 12:7) As a result of Adam’s disobedience, sin came into the world, the whole creation of mankind that had been made through Logos, as spoken of in John 1:10, were made sinners in Adam’s sin (Romans 5:12-19), bringing the death sentence upon all mankind. Romans 5:12-19 also shows that there was no sin the world until Adam disobeyed, thus there was a period of time that Adam was sinless. God had made man upright [just, straight – Ecclesiastes 7:29], and man could have remained in that upright condition had he chose to obey, but man, as represented in the first man, Adam, chose to disobey, and thus did not remain with that original sinless upright condition.
Mark the apostle’s words on the subject – “sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all have sin.”* (Romans 5:12) Note again the statement of the Psalmist, which reflects upon us all: “I was brought forth in iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5) As a result of Adam's sin, we find that "the [human] creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now." (Romans 8:20-22) From man's own efforts, there is no escape from this bondage of corruption, "for who can make that straight, which he has made crooked?" (Ecclesiastes 7:13; see also Ecclesiastes 1:15) Nevertheless, none of Adam's offspring are individually responsible therefore for the general fact that we have inherited this crooked condition, but we are responsible to the extent we may have knowingly cooperated with sin, and intensified its blight in our own persons and in our children.
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*The Greek verb tense reflects the accumulation of sin upon Adam's descendants that was introduced through Adam, which is elaborated upon in the following verses.
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*The Greek verb tense reflects the accumulation of sin upon Adam's descendants that was introduced through Adam, which is elaborated upon in the following verses.
Thank God that the light of divine truth, which light was expressed earlier in the Law Covenant with Israel (Proverbs 6:23), and then which was expressed in the sinless life of the one whom the Baptizer applied the symbol of “the Lamb of God”. (John 1:4,5,9; 9:5; 2 Timothy 1:10) To whatever extent that light has had any effect among the people, it has had the effect of blessing in proportion as its influence has been accepted. Civilization as we know it would certainly have become much worse than it is had it not been for such influence of the Bible. But, alas, how unsatisfactory our civilization is! How far from purity is the kind of “Christianization” that we generally see! How few there are today who could say with the apostle, brother, “Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) Indeed, how few there who are even reckonedly, in the spirit of their minds, in their daily life, in their daily course, are walking not after the flesh but after the spirit. (Romans 8:4; Galatians 5:16-26) Today, with the great influx of non-Biblical philosophies, the Bible exerts very little influence on the greater masses of people at all!
General Sin and Personal Sin
The scripture says that “through the one man’s disobedience the many [the entire human race in Adam] were made sinners.” (Romans 5:19, New American Standard) Thus, we should discern that there is a general sin in the world, that it is common to all from the very time of conception, and that the embryo and the child of but a day is a participant in this sin, in this sinful condition that God cannot look upon with approval. Sin cannot be harmonized with God. All of Adam's descendants are, from God's standpoint, by nature, under the condemnation in Adam, children of wrath. (Ephesians 2:2), and thus in need of some way to be reconciled to God. Adam's entire race has been declared to be unworthy of eternal life – worthy of death. In other words, from this standpoint, our race is not worthy of perpetuation. The general penalty against this universal condition of sin is the one originally pronounced against father Adam, and still resting upon the world of mankind in general — “dying you shall die.” (Genesis 2:17, Green’s Literal Translation) Death is upon all because all are counted as sinners under this general sentence pronounced in Eden. As already intimated, it is possible for the individuals of the race to either strive against this downward tendency in which they were born or to fall in line with it, and hurry down the broad road of destruction more rapidly. (Matthew 7:13) The responsibility before God that one has as related to sin varies, depending on the degree of light that the sinner has. Even the heathen, the apostle tells us, has some light in his conscience regarding what is right or wrong. (Romans 2:15) Thus, as such run in the way of sin, practicing iniquity, there is an additional responsibility, which will need to be accounted for in the coming day of judgment. (Ecclesiastes 12:14; Matthew 12:36; Romans 2:16; Jude 1:14,15) For some in that day of judgment, the chastisements will be easier to endure than for others, and, in that judgment day, for some who set their heart upon willfully sinning, they will not be able to escape coming under the second judgment of the lake of fire. (Matthew 10:15; 11:22,24; 12:36; 23:3; Mark 6:11; 2 Peter 2:9; Revelation 20:15) However, in this age, sowing to the flesh often reaps the rewards of their wrong course under what we sometimes term “natural laws”. As, for instance, the licentious man in many instances brings upon himself temporal and distressing sickness, which hastens his death and increases his sorrows and troubles.
In many other instances, however, one desiring to do right may suffer through laws of heredity as much as do those who desire to do bad; it is still true today the proud are set up on high and given greater privileges than are those who do not exalt themselves; indeed, the proud often seem to escape much of the sorrow and anguish of the humble, and the prosperity of the proud is often at the expense of those upon whom they trod. (Job 21:7-15; Psalm 49:18; 73:3-12; Jeremiah 12:1; Malachi 3:15) Yet, God has promised that these things will not always be so. (Isaiah 40:4; Ezekiel 21:26) There could be no evening up of matters to an exact point of justice if God did not make some way to release man from the present condemnation, so as provide something better than the present life, and we are assured that he has made such a provision. – Romans 5:12-19; 1 Timothy 2:5,6; 1 John 2:2; 4:9,10.
Today, however, the infant may be from the day of his birth be suffering from some loathsome disease often considered unjustly received from its parents. The divine law might have left us in this position as a race and have done nothing for us. In reality, from God's standpoint, Justice could offer no plea on behalf of the suffering infant or others, because the decree of justice against Adam and all of his posterity is that by disobedience and by inherited blemishes all are found unworthy of everlasting life – worthy of death. Hence, without some way to balance justice, justice decrees that any and everything which tends to hasten death among mankind is working out the sentence of justice, “Dying, you will die.” (Genesis 2:17) If, however, what God has made crooked cannot be made straight, then what hope is there for mankind?
Furthermore, it is still true that "one man has power over another to his hurt." (Ecclesiastes 8:9) Down through history and still today, human governments often create suffering and suffering, that, esteemed merely from the human standpoint, to be unjust. As pointed out, however, from God's standpoint, all the suffering in the world is due to God's just condemnation of all in Adam. And yet, if all are not condemned in the one condemnation, then neither are all redeemed, purchased out that condemnation, through the sacrifice of the one man, Christ Jesus. -- Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22; 1 Timothy 2:5,6.
Furthermore, it is still true that "one man has power over another to his hurt." (Ecclesiastes 8:9) Down through history and still today, human governments often create suffering and suffering, that, esteemed merely from the human standpoint, to be unjust. As pointed out, however, from God's standpoint, all the suffering in the world is due to God's just condemnation of all in Adam. And yet, if all are not condemned in the one condemnation, then neither are all redeemed, purchased out that condemnation, through the sacrifice of the one man, Christ Jesus. -- Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22; 1 Timothy 2:5,6.
Redemption and Regeneration
Indeed, it would be a sad state of affairs if our Creator had no good reason for condemning the whole human race in one man. If one does not follow through to see God’s love in his purposes, one might be led by his own reasoning to conclude that God has surely been unjust in condemning all mankind in one man. Nevertheless, the Bible does reveal why God has done this, but, although this is not hard to understand and appreciate, God has, in his wisdom, hidden the truth from most of mankind until his due time for the world to understand.
First, we should note that it was never God’s intention to leave the world in the groaning condition as it now is. And this has to do with the expression that the Baptizer used as relayed in John 1:29. If one, with a righteous heart attitude, follows the scriptural presentations carefully and diligently, however, to whatever extent that God desires one to understand, then that one will understand. (Proverbs 2:4,5; 8:17; Mark 4:33) On the other hand, if God does not wish one to appreciatively understand, then, no matter how diligently we may present the scriptures, that one will not appreciate such truths until God permits him to do so. Unless God allows one to understand in a way that can be appreciated, the truth will still be a mystery to that person. – Mark 4:11; 1 Corinthians 2:7-10.
See our study:
Many realize that the sacrifice of Jesus, in some way, takes away the sin of believers in Christ, although most do not actually understand how this can be so. Our trinitarian neighbors and some others believe that for Jesus to pay the price for the sin of the world, Jesus must be God Almighty. The reasoning, however, is nowhere to be found in the Bible, but the Bible does reveal the true basis of our salvation, as we have shown in some of our studies:
The Price of Redemption - God or Man?
Divine Economy in the Ransom
We should note that the Baptizer, by the words recorded in John 1:29, does not discuss this matter of taking away the sins of the believers of this age, but on the contrary deals with sin as a whole and the world of sinners as a whole. John 1:29 points us to the fact that our Lord’s mission is to take away the sin of the world – to take away the general blight and curse of death which came upon all mankind through Adam’s disobedience. To accomplish this work two steps were necessary: Justice must be satisfied, and a legal redemption must be effected. When we look out over the world and note the billions living today, and reckon up the thousands of millions who have died without having received an understanding of God’s purposes as found in the Bible, our hearts would fail us if we could up with some answer as to how a recompense could be made to Justice which would offset the obligation, the sins of all these billions of people. But God, in his wisdom, provides the answer in the Bible.
The Price of Redemption - God or Man?
Divine Economy in the Ransom
We should note that the Baptizer, by the words recorded in John 1:29, does not discuss this matter of taking away the sins of the believers of this age, but on the contrary deals with sin as a whole and the world of sinners as a whole. John 1:29 points us to the fact that our Lord’s mission is to take away the sin of the world – to take away the general blight and curse of death which came upon all mankind through Adam’s disobedience. To accomplish this work two steps were necessary: Justice must be satisfied, and a legal redemption must be effected. When we look out over the world and note the billions living today, and reckon up the thousands of millions who have died without having received an understanding of God’s purposes as found in the Bible, our hearts would fail us if we could up with some answer as to how a recompense could be made to Justice which would offset the obligation, the sins of all these billions of people. But God, in his wisdom, provides the answer in the Bible.
Someone has stated that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. While whoever came up with this saying probably did not seek the depth of how it could scripturally be applied, as we look into the Bible, we find that divine wisdom and divine love combined had foreseen the entire matter and had arranged for it in advance; man’s sin does not at all thwart either God’s wisdom, His justice, or His love regarding His creation. (Psalm 89:1,2; 104:24; Proverbs 3:19; Isaiah 28:29; Acts 15:18; John 3:16,17) In the final end, therefore, we should expect that God’s justice, wisdom, and love can be seen as vindicated in the plan he has chosen for man. If each individual of our race had been personally sentenced for his own misdeeds, his own shortcomings, then indeed, for God to be found just, it would have required as a corresponding price that some sinless man would need to die for each individual in order to release that one from death. This would be an awful proposition — that many billions of sinless men would have to die as redeemers for the many billions of sinners. Where would such redeemers be found? Nowhere. Not one man among Adam's descendants was found sinless, or capable of being his brother’s redeemer. As we read, “There is none righteous, no not one;” and again, “all have sinned and come short;” “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” (Romans 3:10,23; Psalm 49:7) Where, we ask, is the remedy, the hope?
Giving attention to the divine message as given through the Bible, we hear its statement that our Creator has, in His love, decreed that all mankind were tried and condemned in the sin of one man, Thus, God's love is shown in that He condemned all in one man so that only one sinless man would be needed to offset what Adam had done. By this method, only one man would be needed to satisfy his justice, so they He would remain just, while justifying the sinner. (Romans 3:26) Thus, the payment of Adam’s death sentence would not only redeem Adam from the curse but likewise redeem all who are dying by means of him, due to his having come under that death sentence. How amazing the divine wisdom and love! This very fact, that once in our blindness we supposed was injustice toward us, is really evidence of divine foreknowledge and divine mercy. God condemned the race as a whole so that he might have mercy upon the race as a whole. (Romans 11:32) “As by man came death, so also by man came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive.” – 1 Corinthians 15:21, 22.
The meaning is very plain, very simple. From the scriptures already given, we can see that we all inherit sin and death conditions through Father Adam. We see the imperfections all about us, we feel many of them in us; and now we learn that as we have thus inherited blemishes and sins and imperfections and death, another one has acted on our behalf, has paid the penalty; and that by coming into relationship with him, by being regenerated, begotten again, born again, we may inherit eternal life through him who loved us and bought us with his precious blood. Man, today, is still under the subjection to vanity. (Romans 8:20; Ecclesiastes 2:3) The whole creation through Adam still groans and travails in pain under the heavy burden of sin and its consequences as afflicted by God. (Romans 8:22; Ecclesiastes 1:13) Many, endeavoring to make this world a better place, cannot see beyond the present affliction, and thus they may even speak evil of God for such affliction. -- Revelation 16:9,11.
Taking Away the Sin
From the foregoing we should note that there are two steps necessary to the release of humanity from its present thraldom to sin and death: (1) It was necessary that the penalty against Father Adam and his offspring should be paid to justice. (2) It is necessary that Adam and any of his posterity to be blessed must come into a relationship with God through the one who died for us – must be regenerated, and obtain a new life. The first father or life-giver, Adam, not only failed to keep the life bestowed upon him in his creation but failed to hand it down to his posterity. His children have been produced under sin-and-death conditions, suffering and dying.
The scriptures tell us that the satisfaction of Justice for the sin of the world was somehow connected with the death of our Lord Jesus Christ – that, “he died the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God.” (1 Peter 3:18) He has died, yet, as we can well observe, the world has not yet been brought to God. Indeed, amazing as the proposition may seem, the world as a whole gets farther away from God day by day. Counting all the population of lands often referred to as “Christendom” as though they were Christians — though many of them are really as much without God as the poor, ignorant ones whom we designate heathen — we find that those who are put down in statistics as the heathen people of the world have continued to be proportionately about the same for the past two centuries, although over the same time missionary efforts have been the most remarkable of all the world’s history in the endeavor to carry the name of Jesus to the ends of the earth. How shall we understand this matter? Is the Divine plan miscarrying?
No, we answer. Other scriptures must be allowed to assist in clarifying God's overall plan and how it is progressively being brought to its ultimate goal of blessing the whole human race. Other scriptures assure us that before the times of restoration of all, before the time of the blotting out of the curse, before the time when there will be no more curse, no more sighing, no more crying, no more dying (Revelation 21:1-5; 22:3), before that time shall come, God has ordained the election or selection of a seed (Galatians 3:29), a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), that is to be associated with the Redeemer in His work of glory that is to bless all the heathen (Genesis 22:18) during the millennial age. The scriptures show that in that coming age the heathen will no longer be under the influence of Satan. (Revelation 20:3) The members of the seed of Abraham are — in the Scriptures — very properly called a “peculiar people”. (Titus 2:14; Luke 12:32) While there were those of faith in God's promises before Jesus arrived, the main part of the work of the selection of this seed began with our Lord’s ministry, and especially at Pentecost.
However, those who believed in Christ were, before such belief, still under the condemnation of sin, as all men. Paul says that they “were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” (Ephesians 1:3) They themselves needed to first be regenerated; they had to become a new creation, a creation that is not of the world that is condemned in Adam, for the world under the curse of the present "sun" of vanity cannot bring forth a new creation. (Ecclesiastes 1:9) Thus, before they could be members of that seed in the covenant made with Abraham (Genesis 28:14; Galatians 3:29), they have to first receive the blessings of the one who becomes their head in the seed of Abraham, that is Jesus. (Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18; ) Jesus is the one who is the primary one of that seed (Galatians 3:16), and, as we have seen, it is his sacrifice that counts in giving new life to the world, bringing the foretold blessings of the promise made to Abraham. Likewise, before the believer can become members of that seed so as to be co-workers with Christ in the regeneration of the world, they, themselves, must first have received the blessings that is to come upon all nations as given in that promise to Abraham. (Luke 22:20; Galatians 3:6-9) How can this be done, if those blessings do not come to the heathen until the millennial age?
The scriptures tell us that this is done through their acceptance, by faith, in Jesus’ sacrifice now. (Romans 3:25,26; 5:1) Paul tells us that this is done in the manner that God calls things that are not as though they were, thus, reckonedly applying the justification through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice to them before it is applied to the world, similarly to the way it was applied to Abraham because of his faith. (Romans 4:17-25) Thus, for the new creature in this age, the old creation condemned in Adam (Romans 5:12-19; 8:20-22) is reckoned as though already passed away, and they are reckoned as of the new creation, as of that millennial age to come, when the old creation will have passed away. (2 Corinthians 5:27; Revelation 1:1-5) To become sons of God in this age, they, in effect, partake of the power of “the [millennial] age to come” (Hebrews 6:5), so that they are a certain “first fruit” of the new creation. – James 1:18.
Joint-Heirs With Christ
{Romans 8:16} The Spirit itself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;
{Romans 8:17} and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ if indeed we jointly suffer with him, that we may also be jointly glorified with him. -- Restoration Light Improved Version
The purpose, however, of calling people to be of the seed of Abraham, is that they may attain the resurrection from dead, being found in this age worthy of that resurrection, that they may become joint-heirs with Christ. (Luke 20:35; Philippians 3:11; Romans 8:17) While all who are accepted of God in Christ become sons of God through faith, and while all of the sons are therefore heirs according to the promise through Abraham (Galatians 3:29), not all the sons of God become joint-heirs with Christ. (Romans 8:17) Paul wrote to the Christians at Philippi that he believed he had not (at the time of the writing) yet attained the “mark of the prize” of their high calling. (Philippians 3:12-14) Thus, he indicates that there are two levels of those who are justified believers: (1) those who are sons of God, but who had not yet obtained the mark of the prize, and (2) those who have obtained that mark, and thus receive the prize for which they had been called. Evidently, very few believers actually ever make the second level, and therefore only a very few actually become joint-heirs with Christ in the Kingdom. Those who reach that goal in this age, however, Jesus says will sit with him on his throne, just as he, Jesus, has overcome so as to sit down on the throne of his God. – Revelation 3:12,21.
Long and Careful Choosing
From what is revealed in the scriptures, we believe that the selecting work has since progressed, and we have reason for believing that the number of the joint heirs is almost complete, that the time of the permission of evil for their testing in faith and obedience is nearly at an end. When completed, the joint heirs as the bride of the lamb will be glorified as joint heirs with Christ, to sit upon His throne. – Revelation 21:9.
We believe, then, that it is the divine purpose that these joint heirs, now being selected from among the world shall have the spirit of Christ – the spirit of self-sacrifice, the spirit of love for righteousness, the spirit of hatred for sin – to such an extent that they will rejoice to lay down their lives with their Master, in his cause, in cooperating with Him, under His direction and guidance. Thus we believe that, while the merit was in our Lord and in His sacrifice for sins, nevertheless, the world is waiting for the completion of, and the revealing, not just of the joint-heirs with Christ, but all the sons of God, including those of faith before Christ. (Romans 8:19-22; Hebrews 11:4-40) Nevertheless, before any son of God can receive the glory of joint-heirship, they must be tested and they must become also joint sacrificers with Christ.
In harmony with this is the scriptural exhortation, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God [in providing the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world, including your sins, and in giving you a knowledge of His grace in advance of the world], that you present your [sinless] bodies [reckoned as being given from God in heaven as new creatures, having a crown of glory on the same level as Adam before Adam sinned – Psalm 8:4,5; Luke 3:38; 1 Corinthians 15:38,39,40; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Hebrews 2:6-8] living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God and your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1) This appeal is not made to the world, but rather to those who have been called to be "saints" -- consecrated. (Romans 1:7) Therefore, we conclude that before the believer can have the glory of joint-heirship, he has to sacrifice the glory as a human that has been provided by means of the sacrifice of the Lamb.
God’s Permission of Evil
More importantly, however, before the blessings that have been secured through the sacrifice of Jesus can be applied to the world at large, it is God’s purpose to allow mankind to try out all of his own schemes (Ecclesiastes 7:29), which is why the scriptures tell us that God has subjected man to vanity. (Romans 8:20) Paul also stated: “We know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now”. (Romans 8:22) Does this mean that God himself is the cause of all the suffering now taking place? No, but it does mean that God has lifted his protective care so that he is allowing mankind to experience what it is like to be estranged from him. It was no idle pessimistic exclamation when Solomon expressed the fact: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) He was expressing the simple truth as can be seen all around us. Further, it means that, from God's standpoint, none of Adam's race has a right to be alive, and they must die. Thus, God can and has brought about the execution of the penalty upon whom He wishes at any time (whether upon one person or upon all individuals of a whole nation) and by any means He may choose. Mankind under that condemnation has no basis to claim any injustice when he does this. (Romans 9:20) Nevertheless, even such destruction will be healed in the age to come.
Nevertheless, if one has not comprehended the divine purpose behind God’s allowing the present evil conditions, again, one might reason that God has certainly been unjust in allowing the misery and suffering of his human creation. Many have often compared God’s work in his human creation to the work of a building under construction. If one has no knowledge of how such a building is constructed, as that one sees a crew as they begin to construct the building, it may appear that they destroying rather than building. It may appear that the building crew is in chaos, rather than working toward a common goal. Likewise, God’s wisdom is making use of the present permission of evil to teach, not only his human creation, but all present and future creation, a lesson that will stand for all eternity as a touchstone relating to any desire to again strike out into disobedience to the Creator, and try their own schemes.
At present, however, the human creation is still in the condition that Solomon expressed, when he stated:
Ecclesiastes 1:9 That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 Is there a thing of which it may be said, “Behold, this is new?” It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us.
The world that was made through Jesus (John 1:10), although it was originally created upright — straight, not crooked, good – soon was taken over by the rulership of the serpent, Satan the Devil. (Genesis 1:31; 3:1; Revelation 12:9) As a result, the world of mankind in general have become the seed of the serpent (Genesis 3:15), sons of disobedience. (Ephesians 2:2) Only through faith in God’s promises have any been reckoned as having been justified – made straight – in the sight of God, He who calls things that are not as though they were. (Luke 20:38; Romans 4:3,6,17-22) Only the justified walk in a path that is different from the path of the world that is around them. (Proverbs 4:18; Isaiah 26:7; Matthew 7:13) Thus, there are two seeds that are spoken of in Genesis 3:15, the seed of the serpent, and the seed of the woman, the serpent representing Satan and His works (Revelation 12:9), the woman representing God’s promise (covenant), especially as expounded upon in God’s covenant with Abraham for a seed. – Galatians 4:22-25; Revelation 12:1,17.
Returning, however, to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Jesus tells us that he did not, at his first advent, come to judge the world, but rather that he had come to save the world. (John 3:17; 12:47) The world has already been judged, as we have seen, through Adam. Nevertheless, due to Jesus' sacrifice, the world is to be saved from that judgment, and given a new judgment. (John 3:18: 1 Corinthians 5:12-19) Jesus' words recorded in John 12:47,48 show that the new judgment is not under the present conditions, but that it is reserved for the last day, elsewhere called the day of judgment. (2 Peter 2:9) The prophecies speak of the promised Messiah as being a judge. (Psalm 72:2,4; Isaiah 11:1-4) Paul tells us that God has appointed a day in which to judge the world by means of the one whom he has ordained. (Acts 17:31) This is a reference to Psalm 96:13 and Psalm 98:6, wherein we read that Jehovah comes to judge the world. Thus, from Acts 17:31, we understand that Jehovah comes to judge the world in that appointed day by means of Jesus. That it is Jesus whom Jehovah has ordained can be seen from John 5:22,23.
Nevertheless, we also read that, with Jesus, the saints will also judge the world. (Daniel 7:22; 1 Corinthians 6:2; Revelation 20:4) Thus, many Bible students believe that the “man” whom God has ordained is a figurative composite man, made up of Jesus as the head and all the saints who rule and judge with Jesus as the body of the one ordained. (Romans 12:4,5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 4:12; 5:23; Colossians 3:15) Actually, however, the Greek word for "man" in Acts 17:31 is not a form of the word often transliterated as anthropos, but rather it is a form of the word often transliterated as aner; this word can refer to a human male, but in this case, it is more of an honorable title. This word is used of angels in Luke 24:4 and Acts 1:10; this word appears to be also used of the church as a whole in Ephesians 4:13.
God's Perfect Way
Earlier it was pointed out that had not the divine plan made provision for a resurrection of the dead, there would have been no evening up of accounts as between those who in the present life have sought to live justly and honorably and those who on the contrary have deliberately violated right principles. But in the arrangement which we find scripturally set forth there is a provision whereby those who now seek to walk in the ways of righteousness will then find their blessing for having so done, while those who have willfully transgressed will now find a retribution. Not merely believers in Christ and consecrated followers in his footsteps have sought to stem the downward tendencies of the fallen flesh and to rise to higher and nobler conditions of mind and deed. Yet only the church, the sanctified believers, get the blessing for which the Heavenly Father is now calling the seed of faith, the peculiar people.
Even among the heathen, there have been some wonderfully noble characters -- Confucius, for instance, as an illustration, an example. Likewise, we find noble people from many lands who have never seen with clearness the reasonableness of full faith in and full consecration to the service of the Lord Jesus. Such, having sought to live justly and honorably in the world, will be advantaged in the coming age; they will come forth on a higher plane proportionately; mentally, morally, every way they will be superior to what they would have been had they not put forth efforts for righteousness. It still shall be required of them that they go on to perfection, but they will have fewer rungs of the ladder to climb than if they had misused their opportunities and privileges. Similarly, those in the present life who have misused their opportunities and thus degraded themselves, and brought degradation upon others, in proportion as they knew better they will undoubtedly, as the Master declared, receive stripes or punishments, or as those of the world, will find the day of judgment to be more severe. (Matthew 10:15: 11:22-24; Luke 10:12-14; 12:47,48) That is to say, they will find themselves that much nearer the foot of the ladder, and with that many more efforts necessary to be put forth to gain its topmost round, eternal life, perfection.
The Lamb of God
The expression, “Lamb of God,” is a very forceful one. Man would not choose such a symbol as Divine inspiration has chosen. Nations, clans, and tribes often choose various beasts or birds as an emblem of their particular people. Usually, however, they choose animals that ferocious and appear in masterful in some way, such a lion, an eagle, a wolf, a tiger, etc. But look at our Lord’s emblem, a meek, innocent, gentle lamb. John the Baptist, the last of the prophets, tells us that he was specially commissioned of God to bear this witness at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry -- that Jesus was the “Lamb of God,” that he was a man who was gentle, patient, without murmuring, who would die on our behalf, that we by his stripes might be healed; that through his paying for us the death penalty, ultimately the whole world of mankind would be released from death, and so many of them as will be brought up out of sin and death conditions to the full perfection of life everlasting.
John cried, “Behold the Lamb of God.” (John 1:29) Let us behold, look upon, him -- not as many of the Pharisees and Scribes did with eyes of malice and envy and hatred. Let us look at him in the light of the Divine revelation, and perceive that he was without spot or blemish (Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19) -- that “in him was no sin” (1 John 3:5) -- that “he was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” (Hebrews 7:26) How was it that all such could be found in this man?
The scriptures answer our query and assure us that he was not born like others of the race -- that while he received his human development by means of his mother, his life itself was from above, and that by the selective processes of perfection even in his embryo condition he maintained himself in mind and every attribute perfectly. Jesus is depicted as saying that it was his God who provided his body of flesh. (Hebrews 10:5) We read that he was begotten in the womb of Mary by means of God's Holy Spirit, and that he became as man was originally, having the sinless glory that is a little lower than the angels. (Matthew 1:20; Hebrews 2:9) Thus, his body of flesh with its blood was not under the condemnation through Adam as were all mankind in general, and so, if he remained sinless, he had the offsetting price necessary to pay the wages of sin for the whole human race dying in Adam. (Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22; 1 Timothy 2:5,6; 1 John 2:2; 4:10) His life itself, however, did not start in the womb of Mary; the scriptures tell us that he had been a mighty one with Father long before the world of mankind had been made through him. (John 1:1-3; 17:1,5) He was the firstborn Son of God before the world mankind had been made through him. -- Job 3:4-8; Colossians 1:15.
Thus, it was that Jesus was the only one who could become the symbolic "Lamb of God" for the purpose of taking away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) The more we look into the divine word the more astonished are we with the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of the love and wisdom, justice and power of God which are being revealed to us through his Son and through the great plan of salvation. Truly, we should bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus (Ephesians 1:3), and give honor to His Son for his obedience while in the days of flesh, remained obedient to God, by which he provided the means for our salvation. -- Romans 5:8; Philippians 2:8; Hebrews 5:7.
Who Offers the Lamb in Sacrifice to God?
{Isaiah 53:10} Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his seed. He will prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah will prosper in his hand. -- Restoration Light Improved Version.
It has been claimed that Isaiah 53:10 shows that it was Jehovah (Yahweh) who offered up his son in sacrifice. Thus, it is claimed that since other scriptures show that Jesus gave himself in sacrifice for our sins (Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 5:2,25; 1 Timothy 2:5,6; Titus 2:14), Jesus is therefore Jehovah (Yahweh). Definitely, Jesus did not give himself to himself in sacrifice to himself. He offered himself to the "one God" of 1 Corinthians 8:6. Jesus, being the "one Lord" through whom are cannot be the "one God" from whom are all. -- Ephesians 5:2; Hebrews 9:14.
If Jehovah had not given His Son to become flesh, with a sinless human soul as an offering for sin, then we would not have any sacrifice for sin, as has already been shown in the study above. It was Jehovah who provided Jesus with a body of flesh with its blood so that it could be an offering for sin, but it was Jesus himself who offered up that body of flesh to Jehovah for our sins.
Nevertheless, it is also true that Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 3:14,15), often speaks of things that he allows, or permits, as being his work. Thus, we read, “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” (2 Thessalonians 2:11) Did Paul mean that God Himself would personally delude people? No! The statement is made in the sense that God permits Satan to delude people, as can be seen from 2 Thessalonians 2:9. The one person who is the Lord Jehovah of Isaiah 61:1 is the source of the offering; Jesus is the means by which the offering is made. -- 1 Corinthians 8:6.
There are many scriptures that show that Jehovah takes credit for what many of his servants do. (Exodus 3:10,12; 12:17; 18:10; Numbers 16:28; Judges 2:6,18; 3:9,10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:24,25; 14:6,19; 15:14,18; 16:20,28-30, 2 Kings 4:27; Isaiah 43:11, 45:1-6; etc.) No one seems to think that these servants of Jehovah are Jehovah.
Likewise, we read that Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, but we also read that Jehovah led the children of Israel out of Egypt. (Exodus 3:7-10; 12:51; 16:22; Deuteronomy 32:12; Acts 7:36) Moses, as a type of Jesus, was the instrument that Jehovah used; Jehovah is the source. Thus, we read:
Psalm 77:20: You [Jehovah] led your people like a flock, By [by means of] the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Hosea 12:13 – By [by means of] a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt, And by [by means of] a prophet he [Israel] was preserved.
In the same way that Jehovah provided Moses to deliver Israel, so he also has provided His Son to deliver us from sin. This does not mean that Jesus is Jehovah (Yahweh).
It was Satan who, through his lie to Eve, led man into sin. (Genesis 3:1-6) It was man who sinned, and brought death into the world. (Romans 5:12) And we read that God turns man to destruction, and yet, he also brings them out that destruction. (Psalm 90:3) This God did by preparing a sinless body of flesh for his Son to offer, to offset the sin of Adam. (Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22; Hebrews 10:5,10) Thus, it was God who provided the sacrifice, but it was not God who offered up the sacrifice to God. – Ephesians 5:2.
The sacrifice itself had to be that of a sinless man, not God, since it was a man — not God — who sinned. (Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22; 1 Timothy 2:5,6) To prove God just (Romans 3:26), that sacrifice could not be “God in the flesh” as some claim, for if the man was “God in flesh”, it would have proven that Adam would have needed to have been “God in the flesh” in order to obey God. (Genesis 2:17) Since Adam was certainly not “God in the flesh”, such an offering of “God in the flesh” would have, therefore, justified — rather than condemn — sin in the flesh. – Romans 8:3.
Nowhere do we read that God “gave himself” to God for our sins, or that God offered the lamb to himself for our sins. Rather than proving that Jesus is Jehovah, the fact that Jesus gave himself as a the man Christ Jesus to God (Ephesians 5:2; 2 Timothy 2:5,6; Hebrews 9:24; 10:10,12) for our sins shows that Jesus is not Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. – Exodus 3:14,15; Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Acts 3:13-26.
Was Jesus His Own Shepherd?
It is being claimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God and that therefore Jesus was his own Shepherd and was his own sheep. In the expression, “the Lamb of God”, the word “God” designates only one person, and the Lamb is designated as being of that one person. We read, “to us, there is one God, the Father, of whom are all [literally, “the all”]” (1 Corinthians 8:6) Jesus, as the Lamb “of” God, is therefore “of” the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and therefore being the Lamb “of” Jehovah, it is Jehovah -- his God (Micah 5:4; Ephesians 1:3) who is his shepherd. Indeed, in Psalms 23:1, David is prophetically relating the words of the Messiah, in that it is the Messiah who states, “Jehovah is my shepherd.”
Thus, the Lamb of God is led by his Shepherd -- his God and Father -- through God’s spirit. – Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:1.
The Lamb of God always obeys his Shepherd (John 8:29), is therefore spotless, without sin. – Hebrews 4:15; 2 Peter 1:19.
The Lamb of God was obedient to the words – the voice – of his Shepherd even to the point of death. – Isaiah 53:17; John 15:15; Acts 8:32; Philippians 2:8.
It is claimed that Jesus was the Shepherd of Israel. We can agree that Jehovah did send His son to be the "one shepherd" of His people, Israel, if that is what is meant. – Ezekiel 34:23; Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:6.
The sheep of Jesus are given to him from the one person who is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Acts 3:13. Jehovah, in effect, is the Most High Shepherd; Jesus, as opposed to the false shepherds, is the “genuine” (Greek, transliterated, Kalos, Strong’s #2570) shepherd appointed over the sheep by the Most High Shepherd. The Most High Shepherd Jehovah shepherds His sheep through, by means of the genuine shepherd whom he has appointed. — Psalm 23:1; 96:13; 98:9; Ezekiel 34:2-24; John 5:22,23; 10:11-17,29; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Romans 2:16; 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 8:6; 2 Corinthians 5:10.
However, only a remnant of Israel proved to be sheep in this age (John 1:11,12; Romans 11:5), thus God turned his attention to the Gentiles to call out a people for His name. -- Acts 15:14.
Did Jesus Become One of His Own Creation?
It is claimed the Shepherd, Jesus, became one of his own sheep; since, it is claimed, that in John 1:10, it is clear that Jesus is presented as becoming one of his own creations..
John 1:10 states:
He [the Logos] was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him.
Actually, there is nothing in John 1:10 that says that Jesus became one of his own creations. John 1:10 is clear that Jesus came into the world of mankind that God made through Jesus, that is true. It does not say that he became one of his own creations; elsewhere, however, we are told that Jesus is not of this world that was made through him, nor are those who become new creatures in Christ of this world that was made through him. – John 8:23; 15:19; 17:14,16; 2 Corinthians 5:17.
If Jesus had been a part of this creation, then he would have been under the same condemnation that this world has come to be under. – Romans 5:12-19.
Likewise, the new creature in Christ is not of this world, else the new creature would also be condemned in the sin of Adam. – John 3:18; 17:14,16; Romans 5:6; 8:1.
Additionally, if Jesus did become a part of the world that was made through him (John 1:10), he would have been under the same subjection to vanity that this creation has been subjected to, and he would be just as crooked as all other men, and he could not have justified himself. – Ecclesiastes 1:1,14,15; 7:13; Romans 3:20; 8:20; Galatians 2:1
Nevertheless, Jesus, while in the days of his flesh, did take on the outward appearance of being a slave to sin, in that he suffered as though he was under the same condemnation as all mankind, as though he were under the bondage of corruption, and yet proving himself obedient even to death, that he might pay the wages of sin for Adam and all who are dying in Adam. – Philippians 2:6-9.
If Jesus had become part that creation, he would have then been under that condemnation; he would have been “made” a sinner as all mankind (Romans 5:19), and he could not therefore have been an offering for sin. Jesus, therefore, did not at all become part of the creation that had been made through Jesus, but rather it was his God who prepared a body for him apart from world that had been made through him, and he was begotten in the womb of Mary without the taint of Adam’s disobedience. (Matthew 1:20; Hebrews 1:10) His being created as a new human creation, in other words, was actually totally apart from that creation that had come into existence through him, for, since God has subjected that old creation to vanity, there is no new creation that can come from that source. – Ecclesiastes 1:2,9,10,13-15; 8:20.
See also:
The Seed of DavidThe Slain Lamb
One tells that Jesus is still the Lamb in heaven after he was raised. Evidently, in some vague manner, this is presented to make the claim that Jesus is still a human being in heaven. Such an idea would mean that Jesus took back his sacrifice, or else that God gave back to Jesus that which he had sacrificed.
Of course, the word “Lamb” is a symbol, not actually Jesus Himself. In other words, Jesus is not literally a “lamb”, neither while he was in the days of his flesh, nor after his resurrection. John the Baptizer used the masculine form of the Greek word for “lamb”, “he”, in reference to the symbolism of a Lamb that was yet to be sacrificed. In the Revelation, however, the Greek form used for the word “lamb” is neuter, “it”, rather than “he”. Jesus was raised from the dead, not in the flesh, but in the spirit (1 Peter 3:18); nevertheless, Jesus was still himself, and he was the figurative lamb, but he was then the lamb that had been slain. – Revelation 5:6.
We read:
Hebrews 10:1 For the law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near.
Hebrews 10:2 Or else wouldn’t they have ceased to be offered, because the worshippers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins?
Hebrews 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a memory made of sins year by year.
Just as the sacrifices made each year continued to typically cover sins for each year, so the sacrifice that Jesus gave of his human body is eternal, as we read:
Hebrews 10:10 by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 10:12 but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever.
Thus, Jesus is forever the symbolic lamb that was slain for our sins, the lamb representing the sacrifice that Jesus gave once. Just as the passover lamb could still be referred to as the passover lamb even after it had been slain, so Jesus is the eternal lamb that was slain, for there is no more sacrifice for sin. (Hebrews 10:26) Jesus will never die again, so he is not pictured in Revelation as the lamb that is to give himself for the sin of the world, but rather as the lamb that was slain for the sin of the world.
Nothing in this means that God gave back to Jesus what Jesus sacrificed; the sacrifice itself was Jesus’ human soul, his human body, his human flesh, and his human blood. Indeed, he has no reason at all to retain being a human being, since there is no need anymore for a sacrifice for sin. Thus, “Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin.” (Hebrews 9:28) He does not appear as a human being, since he has already “offered one sacrifice for sins [his human body – Hebrews 10:10] for all time,” (Hebrews 10:12). Indeed, we read, “there remains no more a sacrifice for sins.” (Hebrews 10:26) Thus, there is no need for Jesus to retain the body that he sacrificed. But as a figure, he is now the lamb that was slain.
Does this mean that Jesus will never appear again in a physical form? We cannot answer this either yes or no; we can only say that, as best as we can determine from what God has revealed through his spirit by means of the Bible, we see nothing that indicates that he will ever again be seen in his former body, since, after his ascension, Jesus presented his body and its blood (representing his human soul) to his God and Father in heaven. Thus, if Jesus appears again in physical form, we should not expect that he would take back what he had sacrificed, but that he would appear in a form of a man in the same way that angels did so as we find recorded in the Bible. Those angels, being spirit creatures, were not actually men, but they had appeared in a human form, and thus, because they appeared as men, were called “men”.
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By Ronald R. Day, Sr., Restoration Light Bible Study Services
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