1. What might we ask ourselves as we reflect on all that Jehovah has created?
As we reflect on the vast universe that Jehovah has created, we may feel like David, who asked him in a prayer: “When I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you made, what is the mortal man so that you keep him in mind and the son of man so that you take care of him? " (Ps. 8: 3, 4). Like David, we may think how small we are compared to the stars and be surprised that Jehovah takes notice of us. But, as we will see, in the case of Adam and Eve, Jehovah not only noticed them, but made them part of his family.
2. What was Jehovah's purpose for his first children on earth?
Adam and Eve were Jehovah's first children on earth, and he was their loving heavenly Father. He wanted them to be productive members of his family. He told them: "Have many children, multiply, fill the earth and take control of it" (Gen. 1:28). I wanted them to have children and take care of the Earth. Had Adam and Eve been obedient and fulfilled Jehovah's purpose, they and their descendants would have continued to be part of his family forever.
3. Why can we say that Jehovah honored Adam and Eve with a valuable place in his family?
Jehovah honored Adam and Eve by giving them a valuable place in his family. Speaking of the creation of mankind, David said to Jehovah: “You made him a little inferior to the angels and crowned him with glory and splendor” (Ps. 8: 5, footnote). It is true that God did not give humans the same power, intelligence, and ability as angels (Ps. 103: 20). But it only made him "a little inferior" to these powerful spirit beings. Awesome! When Jehovah created our first parents, he offered them a wonderful life.
4. What happened to Adam and Eve, and what will we see in this article?
Sadly, Adam and Eve lost their place in Jehovah's family. As we will see later in this article, this had terrible consequences for their descendants. But Jehovah has not changed his purpose: he wants obedient human beings to be his children forever. We will first see in what ways Jehovah has honored us. Then we will discuss what we can do now to show that we want to be part of your family. And finally, we will discuss the blessings that Jehovah's children will enjoy on earth forever.
HOW JEHOVAH HONORED HUMANS
ILLUSTRATION:
Parents teach their two children. One is shown a video about the rescue, and the other is shown the book "Lessons I Learn from the Bible." The family imagines living in Paradise with various animals.
In what ways has Jehovah honored us? (See paragraphs 5 to 11). *
5. How do we show our gratitude to God for making us in his image?
Jehovah honored us by creating us in his image. --Gen. 1:26, 27. Because we are made in God's image, we can cultivate and display many of his precious qualities, such as love, compassion, loyalty, and justice (Ps. 86:15; 145: 17). When we strive to do so, we honor Jehovah and show him gratitude. --1 Pet. 1: 14-16. If we do what our heavenly Father likes, we feel happy and satisfied. Also, because Jehovah made us in his image, we can become the kind of people he wants to have in his family.
6. How did Jehovah honor human beings when he prepared the earth?
Jehovah prepared a special home for us. Long before creating the first man, God prepared the earth for human beings (Job 38: 4-6; Jer. 10:12). Because he is so good and generous, he made endless things for us to enjoy (Ps. 104: 14, 15, 24). From time to time he took time to think about what he had created, and "saw that this was good" (Gen. 1:10, 12, 31). He honored human beings by giving them "dominion" over all the beautiful things he had done on earth (Ps. 8: 6). God wants perfect human beings to feel the joy of caring for his beautiful creations forever. Are we in the habit of thanking Jehovah for this wonderful promise?
7. How does Joshua 24:15 show that human beings have freedom of choice?
Jehovah has given us freedom of choice. Thanks to this gift, we can decide what we will do with our lives (read Joshua 24:15). Our loving God is happy when we choose to serve Him (Ps. 84:11; Prov. 27:11). There are many areas in which we can use our freedom of choice well. Let's look at the example that Jesus left us.
8. Tell one way Jesus used his freedom of choice.
Jesus decided to put the interests of others first, and we can follow his example. On one occasion, Jesus and his apostles were very tired, so they went to a quiet place to rest. But they did not succeed, as a large crowd of people came where they were to listen to the teachings of Jesus. Far from being upset, he was moved by those people and “began to teach them many things” (Mark 6: 30-34). When we imitate Jesus by using our time and energy to help others, we give glory to our heavenly Father (Matt. 5: 14-16). And so we show him that we want to be part of his family.
9. What should parents keep in mind?
Jehovah has given us human beings the ability to have children and the responsibility to teach them to love and serve him. If you have children, do you value that special gift? Although Jehovah has given angels power to do impressive things, he has not given them the ability to have children. With that in mind, parents should be grateful for such a beautiful privilege. They have been entrusted with the sacred responsibility of raising their children “in accordance with the discipline and counsels of Jehovah” (Eph. 6: 4; Deut. 6: 5-7; Ps. 127: 3). In order to help them, God's organization provides them with many Bible-based tools, such as publications, videos, songs, and online articles. It is clear that our heavenly Father and his Son love our children (Luke 18: 15-17). Jehovah is pleased to see that parents trust him and do everything possible to care for their children. Parents who do this give their children the opportunity to become part of Jehovah's family forever.
10, 11. What has Jehovah made possible through the sacrifice of his Son?
Jehovah gave his dearest Son to give us the opportunity to become part of his family again. As we saw in paragraph 4, Adam and Eve lost their place in Jehovah's family and caused their children to lose it too (Rom. 5:12). Since Adam and Eve disobeyed God of their own accord, they deserved to be expelled from God's family. And what about their descendants? Out of love, Jehovah did what was necessary to adopt into his family those who were obedient. How? Thanks to the sacrifice of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ (John 3:16; Rom. 5:19). This sacrifice made it possible for God to adopt 144,000 faithful human beings as sons (Rom. 8: 15-17; Rev. 14: 1).
Also, there are millions of obedient people who are doing God's will. They hope to become full members of their family after the final test that will take place at the end of the 1,000 years (Ps. 25:14; Rom. 8:20, 21). Thanks to this hope, they now address Jehovah, their Creator, as “Father” (Matt. 6: 9). On the other hand, those who are resurrected will also have the opportunity to learn what Jehovah expects of them. Those who choose to obey him will also become part of his family over time.
12. What question will we answer?
As we have seen, Jehovah has done many things to honor human beings. He has already adopted anointed Christians as his children, and he has given those who make up the “great crowd” hope that in the new world they will become his children in the full sense of the word (Rev. 7: 9). . What can we do now to show Jehovah that we want to be part of his family forever?
SHOW JEHOVAH THAT WE WANT TO BE PART OF HIS FAMILY
13. What should we do if we want to be part of Jehovah's family? (Mark 12:30).
Let us show our love for Jehovah by serving him with all our hearts. --Read Mark 12:30. Of all the loving gifts God has given us, one of the greatest is the ability to worship him. When we obey his commandments, we show him that we love him (1 John 5: 3). One of those commands is the one that Jesus gave us to make disciples and baptize them (Matt. 28:19). Jesus also commanded us to love one another (John 13:35). Jehovah will accept into his worldwide family of worshipers those who obey him. --Ps. 15: 1, 2.
14. How do we show that we love others? (Matthew 9: 36-38; Romans 12:10).
Let us love each other. Love is Jehovah's most important quality. --1 John 4: 8. He loved us even before we knew him (1 John 4: 9, 10). When we love others, we are following their example (Eph. 5: 1). One of the best ways we can show love to people is by helping them to know Jehovah while there is still time (read Matthew 9: 36-38). In this way, we give them the opportunity to become part of God's family in the future. When someone is baptized, we must continue to love and respect them (1 John 4:20, 21). For example, whenever possible, let's give him the benefit of the doubt and don't suspect that he has done something maliciously or out of selfishness. Rather, let us show him honor and think that he is superior to us (read Romans 12:10; Philip. 2: 3).
15. To whom should we be merciful and kind?
Let's be merciful and kind to all people. If we want to be part of God's family forever, we must live according to what the Bible teaches. For example, Jesus taught that we should be merciful and kind to all people, including our enemies (Luke 6: 32-36). It may sometimes seem to us that doing that is very difficult. If this is our case, we must learn to think and act like Jesus. When we do our best to obey Jehovah and imitate Jesus, we show our heavenly Father that we want to be part of his family forever.
16. What can we do to protect the reputation of Jehovah's family?
Protect the reputation of Jehovah's family. In a family, it is common to see younger siblings copying older ones. If the older ones respect biblical principles in their life, they will set a good example for the younger ones. But if they do what is wrong, the little ones may follow their bad example. Something similar happens in Jehovah's family. If a Christian becomes unfaithful and follows apostate ideas or adopts an immoral or corrupt lifestyle, others may follow him astray. Those who do so tarnish the reputation of Jehovah's family of servants. --1 Thess. 4: 3-8. Let's not follow bad examples and let's not allow anything to separate us from our loving heavenly Father.
17. What should we not think about, and why?
Let us trust in Jehovah and not in material things. Jehovah promises us that if we seek the Kingdom first and adhere to its righteous standards, he will provide us with food, clothing, and shelter (Ps. 55:22; Matt. 6:33). For this reason, we do not think that the material things of this world will protect us and make us happy. We know that doing Jehovah's will is the only thing that will give us true inner peace. --Philip. 4: 6, 7. Even if we have the means to buy many things, we must consider whether we have the time or energy to use and care for them. Let us ask ourselves: "Am I too attached to the things I have?" Remember that Jehovah expects us to be productive members of his family. So we must not let anything distract us. For nothing in the world do we want to be like the young man of Jesus' day who rejected the opportunity to serve Jehovah and to be adopted in the future as one of his children. And all for what? Because he was attached to a few material things (Mark 10: 17-22).
WHAT JEHOVAH'S CHILDREN WILL ENJOY FOREVER
18. What great honor and blessings will obedient human beings enjoy forever?
Obedient human beings will enjoy the greatest honor that can exist - that of loving and worshiping Jehovah forever. Those who hope to live on earth will also enjoy caring for the beautiful planet that Jehovah perfectly designed to be their home. Thanks to the Kingdom of God, very soon the Earth and everything in it will recover its original beauty. Jesus will remove all the difficulties that Adam and Eve caused when they decided to leave the family of God. And Jehovah will resurrect millions of people and give them the opportunity to live forever in perfect health on earth turned into paradise. --Luke 23:42, 43). When the earthly part of Jehovah's family of servants reaches perfection, each of them will reflect the “glory and splendor” mentioned by David. --Psalm 8: 5.
19. What should we remember?
If you are part of the "great crowd," you have beautiful hope. God loves you and wants you to be a member of his family. So do your best to please him. Keep God's promises alive in your mind and heart each day. Cherish the honor of worshiping our loving heavenly Father and treasure the hope of praising him forever.
WHAT WOULD YOU ANSWER?
What has Jehovah done to honor human beings?
He made us in his image, He prepared a home for us, He has given us freedom of choice, He has given us human beings the ability to have children and the responsibility of teaching them to love and serve him. He gave his most beloved son to give us the opportunity to become part of his family again.
How do we show Jehovah that we want to be part of his family?
Serving Him with all my heart, Loving others. Being merciful and kind to all people. Protecting the Reputation of Jehovah's Family. Trusting in Jehovah and not in material things.
What will Jehovah's children soon enjoy?
They will enjoy loving and worshiping Jehovah forever. They will take care of the beautiful planet that Jehovah designed to be their home. And finally they will perfectly reflect the wonderful personality of our heavenly father.
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