Why Did Jesus Have to Sacrifice His Life? What is the Ransom?
To understand, it is first beneficial to know why we die. The Bible says: “Through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” (Romans 5:12) We inherited sin and death through our first parents, Adam and Eve.
Because God's Law to ancient Israel required "soul for soul [or, life for life]" (Exodus 21:23), the divine principle that could cover mankind's transgressions would have to equal what the first perfect man (Adam) had lost. Therefore, only the death of another perfect man could pay the wages of sin.
That perfect man was "Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all." (1 Tim. 2:5, 6)
Jesus was originally in heaven, "but he emptied himself and took a slave’s form and came to be in the likeness of men." (Phil. 2:7) God did this when He transferred the life of His Son Jesus to the womb of Mary. By means of God’s holy spirit, Jesus was born as a perfect human and was not under the penalty of sin. - Luke 1:35
By means of Jesus’ ransom sacrifice, we can receive “the forgiveness of our sins.” (Colossians 1:13, 14) We also have the hope of everlasting life on a paradise earth: “The wages sin pays is death, but the gift God gives is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23)
For much more, see:
Ransom - Links to Information (INDEX; Watchtower Online Library)
Ransom (Insight on the Scriptures; Watchtower Online Library)
The Ransom—God’s Greatest Gift (JW.ORG)
How Jesus’ Death Can Save You (JW.ORG)
Why Was It Necessary for Jesus to Suffer and Die? - “No One Has Love Greater Than This” (Charles Taze Russell and the Watch Tower Society)
Christ Jesus’ Role as Ransomer (Charles Taze Russell and the Watch Tower Society)
The Ransom and YOU (Charles Taze Russell and the Watch Tower Society)
Do Jehovah's Witnesses deny the Ransom? (Charles Taze Russell and the Watch Tower Society)
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