The Ransom—God’s Greatest Gift A Free Gift ?

[Bible Speaks]

The Ransom—God’s Greatest Gift

HOW YOU CAN BENEFIT FROM THE RANSOM

We already benefit from God’s greatest gift. Let us see how we benefit now and how we will benefit in the future.

Our sins are forgiven. It is hard to do what is right all the time. We make mistakes, and we sometimes say and do the wrong thing. (Colossians 1:13, 14) How can we be forgiven? We should be truly sorry for what we have done wrong and humbly ask Jehovah to forgive us. We can then have the confidence that our sins are forgiven.—1 John 1:8, 9.

We can have a good conscience. If our conscience tells us that we have done something wrong, we feel guilty, maybe even hopeless and worthless. But there is no need to give up. If we beg Jehovah for forgiveness, we can be sure that he will listen to us and forgive us. (Hebrews 9:13, 14) Jehovah wants us to talk to him about any of our problems and weaknesses. (Hebrews 4:14-16) As a result, we can be at peace with God.

We have the hope of living forever. “The wages sin pays is death, but the gift God gives is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Because Jesus died for us, we can live forever and enjoy perfect health. (Revelation 21:3, 4) But what must we do to receive those blessings?

Now that you’ve learned about God’s great love, how can you become his friend? It is not easy to love someone you don’t know. John 17:3 says that we can come to know Jehovah. As you do this, your love for him will deepen, you will want to please him, and you will become his friend. So keep learning about Jehovah by studying the Bible.—1 John 5:3.

Accept Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. The Bible says that “the one who exercises faith in the Son has everlasting life.” (John 3:36) What does it mean to exercise faith? It means to do what Jesus taught us to do. (John 13:15) We cannot simply say that we believe in Jesus. To accept the ransom, we must do something about our faith. At James 2:26, we read: “Faith without works is dead.”

Jehovah gave his precious Son as a ransom for us.

WILL YOU ACCEPT THE RANSOM?

Think of how your heart is touched when someone gives you a beautiful gift. The ransom is the most precious gift of all, and we should be deeply grateful to Jehovah for it. John 3:16 tells us that “God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son.” Yes, Jehovah loves us so much that he gave us his precious Son, Jesus. And we know that Jesus also loves us, because he was willing to die for us. (John 15:13) The gift of the ransom should convince you that Jehovah and Jesus really love you.—Galatians 2:20.

As we learn about Jehovah, we will become his friend and our love for him will deepen.

Attend the Memorial of Christ’s death. The evening before Jesus died, he taught us that we should have a memorial of his death. We do this each year, and it is called the Memorial or “the Lord’s Evening Meal.” (1 Corinthians 11:20; Matthew 26:26-28) Jesus wants us to remember that he gave his perfect life as a ransom for us. He said: “Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” (Read Luke 22:19.) When you attend the Memorial, you show that you remember the ransom and the great love that Jehovah and Jesus have for us.

The ransom is the greatest gift we could ever receive. (2 Corinthians 9:14, 15) That precious gift will even benefit millions of people who have already died. Chapters 6 and 7 will discuss how that is possible.

SUMMARY

TRUTH 1: WE ALL NEED THE RANSOM

“The Son of man came . . . to give his life as a ransom in exchange for many.”—Matthew 20:28

Why do we need the ransom?

• Genesis 3:17-19
  When Adam disobeyed God, he lost his special friendship with Jehovah, his perfect life, and his Paradise home.
• Romans 5:12
  Because of what Adam did, we inherited sin and death.
• Ephesians 1:7
  The ransom is Jehovah’s way of freeing humans from sin and death.

TRUTH 2: JEHOVAH PROVIDED THE RANSOM

“God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might gain life through him.”—1 John 4:9

How did Jehovah provide the ransom?

• Psalm 49:7, 8
  None of us could ever pay the ransom for the perfect life that Adam lost.
• Luke 1:35
  Jehovah sent his precious Son to the earth to be born as a perfect human.
• Romans 3:23, 24; Hebrews 9:24
  After Jesus was resurrected, he returned to heaven, where he gave the value of his perfect human life to Jehovah as the ransom.

TRUTH 3: THE RANSOM GIVES US REAL HOPE

“He will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more.”—Revelation 21:4

How can we benefit from the ransom?

• 1 John 1:8, 9
  Our sins can be forgiven.
• Hebrews 9:13, 14
  We can have a clean conscience before God.
• Romans 6:23
  We have the hope of everlasting life.
• Galatians 2:20
  The gift of the ransom proves that Jehovah and Jesus really love us.

TRUTH 4: WE NEED TO ACCEPT THE RANSOM

“God . . . gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might . . . have everlasting life.”—John 3:16

How can we show we are grateful for God’s gift of the ransom?

• John 17:3
  Come to know Jehovah and Jesus, and imitate them.
• Luke 22:19
  Attend the Memorial of Christ’s death each year.
• John 3:36; James 2:26
  Do more than simply say we believe in Jesus. Do what Jesus taught us to do.

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