Is the balance equal? On page 63 of the 1982 edition of You Can Live Forever
in Paradise on Earth, the Watchtower shows Jesus and
Adam on a balance and says, "Jesus was the equal of the
perfect man Adam". The Watchtower makes it very clear that
the sacrifice that Jesus made could not be any more or less
than the price of a perfect man to assure that the balance
was equal. On page 62 of the Live Forever book, the
Watchtower states that the legal principle of God's law in
the Old Testament requires that there is to be a life for a
life. Because of this principle, the Watchtower says, Jesus
could not be any more than a perfect man - he could not be a
"God-man" as this would be an overpayment of the price that
was required. In the Watchtower Feb. 15, 1991 page 13, the
Society states that a spirit creature or a "God-man" would
not balance the scales of justice. But is the Old
Testament's equality of an "eye for eye" "tooth for tooth"
and "life for life" the same principle that Jesus' life was
sacrificed under? We agree with the Watchtower that Jesus' sacrifice could
not be worth less then Adam's sin, but who
said that it could not be worth more? Romans 5:15-17 says,
"But the gift is not like the
trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one
man, how much more did God's grace
and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus
Christ, overflow to the many! Again,
the gift of God is not like the
result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one
sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed
many trespasses and brought justification. For
if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through
that one man, how much more will
those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of
the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man,
Jesus Christ." Did you hear that? The gift is not
like the trespass! Jesus' gift of his life is
much more then the value of the
original sin of Adam. Romans chapter 5 clearly shows us that
the idea that Jesus' sacrifice perfectly balances Adam's sin
is not correct. There is no perfect balance. Jesus'
sacrifice far outweighs Adam's sin. "How can
that be?" one may ask, "Doesn't the price have to equal what
is purchased?" Not at all! Let's look at an example. Let's
says that your beloved family puppy is dog-napped. The
captors demand $10,000 in exchange for the puppy. The puppy
is not worth $10,000 but you decide to pay the $10,000
ransom price because you really love your puppy and want him
back. Your sacrifice of $10,000 is far greater then the
value of the animal, yet because of your great love for your
puppy, you pay the ransom. The price you paid tips the scale
when measured by the value of what was bought. It
doesn't have to be equal. In the same way, God's
love for us far outweighs our value. The sacrifice of His
precious Son was a price that the Father was willing to pay
not because we are worth it, or because our value equals the
value of His Son's life, but because he loves us greatly and
is willing to give His best in order to redeem us back into
his family. Is Jesus worth more? The good new is that Jesus' sacrifice is more than enough
to pay for Adam's sin and your sin and my sin and the entire
world's sin. Jesus willing gave himself to die a horrible
death in order that his death be given in exchange for many
not just the value of one man's sin. Matthew 20:28 says
"just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to
serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." The
Watchtower has misrepresented the ransom sacrifice of Jesus
by putting his sacrifice on a balance with the one man Adam.
Jesus is worth so much more.
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