Dr. Jaerock Lee's book The Message of the Cross in 56 languages

God gave Adam, the first man, the authority to subdue and rule over everything and he lived as the lord of all creation (Genesis 1:28). But Eve, Adam's wife, was tempted by the serpent who was under Satan's instigation and she ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam also ate the fruit the woman gave to him, and they both committed the sin of disobedience.

As a result, as Romans 6:16 says, "Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?" Adam became a slave of sin and a servant of the enemy devil, and his authority as the lord of all creation was handed over to the enemy devil. All men, the descendants of Adam, were destined to go the way of death.

The loving God foreknew that Adam, who was made of dust, would end up sinning. So even before the beginning of the ages, God prepared the way of salvation through the cross. This is the amazing mystery hidden in 'The Law of the Redemption of the Land'.



The way of human salvation according to the law of the redemption of the land Jesus Christ

'The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me.'
Originally, the land belonged to God, so the people were not to sell their land they had received. If they became so poor that they had to sell the land, a close relative could pay the price for the land and redeem it. Just as all the land in Israel belonged to God, Adam who was made of earth and all his authorities belonged to God as well, and so it could not be sold forever.

When Adam committed a sin and became a servant of the devil, he and all his authority were handed over to the devil. What is needed here is somebody who was qualified to redeem them according to the law of the redemption of the land just as a kinsman could redeem the land. God prepared Jesus Christ who is fully qualified to do it. Then, what qualifications did Jesus have according to the law of the redemption of the land?


The first condition to be met as the Savior is that the person had to be a human being.

"If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative has sold" (Leviticus 25:25).

As stated above in the 'law of the redemption of the land', the one who can redeem the sold land must be the nearest relative. Similarly, to redeem the man who is sold to the enemy devil and Satan due to his sin, the redeemer must be a relative of Adam, that is, he had to be a human being (Ref: 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; Revelation 5:1-5; Acts 13:22-23).

John 1:14 says that God, who is the Word, put on a human body that has flesh and bones and came to this earth. He was Jesus. Jesus has both divine nature and human nature. Jesus was born of a human being and grew up as a human being.
The period of world history today is generally divided into BC and AD. BC stands for Before Christ, namely before Jesus was born, which evidences that Jesus came to the earth in flesh.


The second condition to be the Savior is that he must not be a descendant of Adam

To pay for the debt of our siblings, we ourselves must not have debt. In the same manner, to redeem others from their sins, the redeemer must not have sins. But all descendants of Adam the first man who committed the sin of disobedience receive sinful natures from their parents, so they are all sinners.

All of Adam's descendants are born by union of a man and a woman and all have sinful natures, so none of them can redeem others from sins. But, when Jesus was conceived, He just 'borrowed' Mary's womb by the Holy Spirit for His conception. Thus, Jesus has no sinful natures of any kind, and, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is not a descendant of Adam.


The third condition for the Savior is that he must have the power to win over the enemy devil and Satan

"Or in case a man has no kinsman, but so recovers his means as to find sufficient for its redemption, then he shall calculate the years since its sale and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his property" (Leviticus 25:26-27).

According to the law of the redemption of the land, the one who wants to redeem the land that was sold has to have sufficient money. Likewise, to redeem men from sins, one should have sufficient power. In the spiritual world, power belongs to him who has no sin. Therefore, to redeem Adam and recover the first man's authority that had been turned over to Satan, the Redeemer must have no sin at all.

Jesus has no original sin that men inherit from parents because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He did not do any self-committed sins because He kept all the law of God completely from His birth and He completed the law with love. Starting from being circumcised on the eighth day (Luke 2:21), He never did anything that was against the truth in His heart and all His life from His birth through His crucifixion was only in obedience to the will of God (1 Peter 2:22-24; Hebrews 7:26). Thus, only Jesus who is sinless, has power to win over the enemy devil and Satan and save all mankind.


The fourth condition is that he must have love that even sacrifices his life

But no matter how rich one's relative is, if he has no love to redeem the land, the land cannot be brought back. Likewise, to solve the problem of sins, the Savior should have the love to sacrifice His life.

Jesus not only met the first three qualifications as explained, but He and He alone has the spiritual love to unsparingly give His life. Therefore, the meaning of 'redeeming mankind from sins' is to receive the punishment of death on behalf of all those who had become sinners and should have received it (Romans 5:7-8). Nobody but Jesus meets these qualifications, so that is why there is salvation in no one else but Jesus (Acts 4:12).

We hope all people will realize such love, accept Jesus Christ, gain authority as God's children, and live a blessed life of victory in the assurance of salvation.