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<noinclude><pagequality level="1" user="" /></noinclude>JUNE

15, 1947

~e WATCHTOWER.

for Adam and Eve. They had had their chance; they
had been on trial and had willfully failed and were
therefore justly sentenced to death, to return to the
ground from which Adam had been directly taken.
But Adam and Eve's future offspring had not been
directly on trial in Eden, and for them there would
be a future judgment possible.
& Future judgment for Adam's offspring would be
possible because of God's purpose which he there
disclosed when Adam and Eve heard God say to the
great Serpent, Satan the Devil: "And I will put
enmity between thee and the woman [God's universal organization], and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise
his heel." (Gen. 3: 15) The Seed would be brought
forth from God's holy organization, and then the
Seed would triumph over suffering and death and
would finally bruise the Serpent's head. This would
open up the way for Adam's offspring to be resurrected out of the graves of death and to be given the
opportunities and benefits of a judgment day. The
Seed, because of faithfully resisting the Serpent and
bruising his head, would be appointed by Jehovah
God to be the Judge representing him on that judgment day. That day would result in the Judge's
assigning many of Adam's offspring to everlasting
life under Jehovah's universal sovereignty, and thus
Jehovah God would be vindicated against the false
charges and the seditious conspiracy of the Serpent,
Satan the Devil.
& Adam's offspring can die ONLY ONCE because of
what he disobediently did in Eden, in offense against
God. Showing why "it awaits men to die once, but
after this a judgment", it is written, at Romans
5: 12: "By one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for
that all have sinned." (See also Hebrews 9: 27, The
Emphatic Diaglott.) It is ONLY ONCE that men can be
affected unto death by what Adam did, because they
all descended from him as a dying sinner, under
divine condemnation. Hence when men were born as
his offspring it unavoidably awaited them to die or
to exist under the inherited condemnation of death.
All were naturally in the same condition as King
David, who said concerning himself: "Behold, I was
shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." At the same time, a sinful father begot
him. (Ps. 51:~) However, after men, Adam's offspring, are puf on judgment before Almighty God,
then Adam will not be responsible for whether they
gain eternal life or suffer everlasting destruction,
"the second death." Do you ask why? It is because,
during the period of judgment, the divinely stated
rule applies: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The
Son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither
~ w ot what promise was such jud~ent possible. and why?
6. WbY. before judgment, can men die only once tor what Adam did?

181

shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him,
and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."
-Ezek. 18: 20.
T Christ Jesus bore the sins of only those under
death inherited from disobedient Adam. Hence Jesus
died only once, and that once for all. We are warned
that there will be no repeat performance of this:
"Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead
dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over
him. For in that he died, he died unto sin [due to
Adam] once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto
God." (Rom. 6: 9, 10) Christ's death and resurrection had long been foreshadowed by the Jewish high
priest's going into the Most Holy of the tabernacle
with the blood of the bullock and of the Lord's goat
on the annual atonement day. If men die AFTER JUDGMENT which follows as a result of Christ's death for
them, he will not redeem them again. He died to
cancel the sin and death inherited only from Adam,
and their death because of sinning during the period
of judgment will not be due to inheritance from
Adam. After entering their period of judgment they
as sons will not die for the iniquity of their father
Adam, but will die by reason of their own willful
choice of sin. Their own iniquity will be upon their
own head, and for this sin they will die, and there
will be no mortal Christ to die for them again to
ransom them. If, however, after entering into the
period of judgment before God, they turn to righteousness with the help of Christ Jesus the Seed of
God's woman, then they will enter into the way of
everlasting life. They will avoid the "second death",
everlasting destruction, from which there is no
redemption or recovery.
s Hence it does not unavoidably await men, nor is
it appointed unto men, to die after they enter the
period of judgment. Eternal salvation is possible for
them; and many will gain this gift.
DECISION UNTO CONDEMNATION
II Back in Eden the judgment or decision rendered
by Jehovah God was one of condemnation to death.
It resulted in condemnation to more persons than
Adam and Eve. We read: "And not as through one
having sinned, is the free gift. For indeed the sentence was from one [from Adam] to condemnation;
but the gracious gift is from many offences [by
Adam's many offspring] to righteousness. Besides,
if by the fall of the one, death reigned through that
one; much more will those having received the abundance of the favor and the righteousness [from
God] reign in life through the one--the Anointed
Jesus." Now, God's judgment or sentence in Eden

7, 8. Wby did Jesus die only once, and why are men not appointed
to die atter judgment?
9. God's judgment In Eden WlUI to the condemnation of how many?

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