1885 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

parties; otherwise the work of reconciliationcannot be accomplished.The office of the priest or mediatorbetween God and man is to restore toperfection and consequent harmony withGod, a whole race of beings condemnedto death, and already dead or dying.Hence this priest must of necessity be"mighty to save." (Psa. 89:19.) Hemust have both right and power to recallthe dead to life, and ability to instructand discipline, and thus to leadevery willing subject back to the perfectestate from which Adam, and the racethrough him, fell. To secure this right,he must first satisfy the demands of Justice,which required the extinction of thehuman race; and these demands of Justicecould only be met by a sacrifice ofequivalent value--a human life for ahuman life. The life of Adam, and allrepresented in him, might only be redeemedby another perfect human being.And so it was--"Since by man camedeath, by man came also the resurrectionfrom the dead." (1 Cor. 15:21.) Bythe sacrifice of a perfect human existence,then, the right of the priest to restore issecured.But beyond the right, or privilege, ofrestoring, the priest must have the power,and power would of necessity presupposehis own everlasting existence. He musthave power to create, since to restore tobeing that which had completely lostexistence, is to re-create it, and is agreater work even than the first creation;he must also have perfect knowledge,both of God's requirements andof human necessities, as well as perfectability, to guide a race so destitute, backto the glorious heights of perfection andblessed harmony and communion withGod.What an office! Who would presumeto assume such a title? It belongs reallyand only to Jehovah's Anointed. Even