Is Jesus equal to Adam?

How great is the gift of mercy?

On page 63 of the 1982 Watchtower issue titled "You can live forever in paradise on earth", the Watchtower shows Jesus and Adam in complete equality and says, "Jesus was the equal counterpart of the perfect man Adam". The Watchtower tries to make it clear that the sacrifice Jesus made was no more and no less than the price of a perfect man. He justifies this by saying that Jesus and Adam were equal in every way.

On page 62 of the book "Live forever," the Watchtower points out that the fundamental principle of God's law in the Old Testament requires a life for a life. Because of this basic rule, the Watchtower says that Jesus could not really have been more than a perfect man – he could not have been a "God-man", otherwise he would have been an overpayment of the required ticket price. In the Watchtower of February 15, 1991 on page 13, the Watchtower Society asserts that a spirit creature or "God-Man" would not meet the measure of justice required.

But is the retaliation principle of the Old Testament "eye for eye," "tooth for tooth," and "life for life" the foundation on which the life of Jesus was sacrificed?

We agree with the Watchtower that Jesus' sacrifice cannot be worth less than what is necessary to redeem Adam. But where does the thesis come from that it cannot be worth more than that? Romans 5, 15 – 17 says:

But the transgression is not the same as the gift of grace. For if by one transgression the many have died, much more has the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man Jesus Christ become abundant against the many. And with the gift, it is not as it came through the one who sinned. For the judgment led from one to damnation, but the gift of grace led from many transgressions to righteousness. For if through the transgression of the one death reigned by the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.

Do you understand, Jehovah's Witnesses? The gift of grace is not like transgression! Jesus' gift of life is much more than the value of Adam's original sin. Chapter Romans 5 shows us very clearly that the idea that Jesus' sacrifice is in exact balance with Adam's sin is not correct. There is no balance in this matter. Jesus' sacrifice far outweighs Adam's sin.

"How can that be?" may one or the other ask, "Doesn't the price have to match what you buy?" Not at all! Let us look at an example. Let's say that your beloved family dog got lost in puppy age. The dog catchers charge 10000 Euro for the puppy. The puppy is actually not worth 10000 Euros, but you decide to pay the price of 10000 Euros because you really love your puppy and want him back. Your sacrifice of 10000 Euros is then much greater than the actual value of the animal, yet you pay the price because of your great love for your puppy.

The price you paid for love is something completely different from the value of what was bought. The price-performance ratio does not have to be right. So God's love for us far exceeds our value. The sacrifice of his precious Son was a price the Father was willing to pay, not because we were worth it or because our value corresponded to the value of the life of his Son, but because he loves us so much and is willing to give his best to bring us back into his family.

Is Jesus worth more?

The sensation that the Watchtower Society wants to keep from you is that the sacrifice of Jesus is more than enough to pay for Adam's sin and your sin and my sin and the entire sin of the world. Jesus willingly went to a terrible death so that his life would be given for many, and not just so that his sacrifice would function as a calculated compensation for Adam's sin. Matthew 20:28 says, Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.

The Watchtower disregards the ransom sacrifice of Jesus by putting his sacrifice on the same level with the man Adam. But the Bible tells every sincere reader that Jesus is worth so much more.

The only thing Satan really fears is the superiority of the one who gave himself in the struggle for humanity. Satan knows that this superiority can only work as a convincing argument against Satan's accusations where man believes in this exuberant grace of God. That is why he cleverly focuses on the logically justified humiliation of Jesus. Through the human logic of the Watchtower Society, he makes the grace of Jesus a predictable instrument that can be used to achieve a much higher goal that supposedly goes beyond the sacrifice of Jesus.

But Satan takes advantage of the fact that no man is in a position to satisfy the claim of God. He closes man's mind to the only way, namely to the perfect grace of God in trust in Jesus. He would like to make people believe that Jesus has obtained only limited grace. To achieve this goal, Satan created the Watchtower Society. With this he has installed an organization in the world with which he can surrender millions of people to death. For they do not turn to perfect grace, but consider the cunning knowledge of man to be more important. Satan knows us well!