Redemption God's Divine Exchange

Download Podcast This podcast is a combination of this post and the blog post entitled "Jesus Changed the Meaning of the Cross"     If you are reading the post only and not listening then I want to encourage you to read both posts. Exchange your money! One of the first things you do when you arrive in a foreign country is to exchange your money for currency that can be spent there. Sometimes your currency rate is strong and you get additional money. I love it when that happens. I have extra money to bring home souvenirs. Then sometimes, your currency is weak and you loose money in the exchange. The rate of exchange determines the fair value of your money at the time of the exchange.  Another Exchange System It is also important where you go to get your money exchanged so you get a fair exchange instead of getting ripped off by a dishonest person. Better than fair! God's Divine Exchange is not a fair exchange! No, I'm not inferring that He is dishonest. Instead I am saying He is generous...or to be even more accurate He is extravagant! I am so thankful for that. If it were a fair exchange we would get what we deserved. And we deserve death- eternal separation from God! For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NIV Sin has consequences. Sin must be judged by a just and holy God. The penalty for sin has to be paid. So Jesus came to save us from our sins! God judged sin at the cross when.. His sinless Son took our place. When Jesus gave His life as a supreme sacrifice on the cross He paid the price for our sins. He paid our debt in full. His blood redeemed us from our sins! But because Jesus had never sinned, death could not hold Him.  Through His gift we can become children of God. Jesus made the cross a place of Divine Exchange! Look at the picture of Divine Exchange at Jesus' illegal trial prior to the crucifixion. They stripped Jesus and put a purple robe on Him. Then they twisted a crown of thorns and jabbed then onto and into his head. They mocked him with pretentious praise. (John 19:2,3) Here's the divine exchange, when we come to Jesus, we surrender all we have to Him. Everything. Our sins, our brokenness, our fear, our lack...we just surrender it all to Him. Now look at Isaiah 61:10 says He gives us in exchange. "I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels." Isaiah 61:10 NLT They took his beautiful seamless robe and gambled for it at the foot of the cross.  He drapes a robe of righteousness around our shoulders. Righteousness...right standing with God.                     Undeserved                     Unearned Identity A robe that says we belong to God. A robe that identifies us as His child--      His precious,      loved      and cherished child. His robe of righteousness identifies us as royalty, a child of the king of kings. He wore a crown of thorns, yet He crowns us with beauty. He crowns us with love and compassion. Look at the divine exchange through the lens of scripture: "provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor." Isaiah 61:3 NIV "who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion," Psalms 103:4 NIV Repentance is powerful. When we repent, we exchange our self-righteousness for His righteousness. What a fabulous exchange. Self-Righteousness? Let me try to describe the actions and attitudes of self-righteousness for you. Striving in our strength to do right, to act right, to be right. Convincing ourselves that our best effort to do right is enough. Pretending it doesn't matter anyway. Measuring our righteousness with that of another person, priding ourselves on the fact that we act better than they do. Priding ourselves that we are good enough. Hoping our moral goodness is sufficient. Settling for good instead of GODLY! As if our best efforts could qualify us for heaven or we could opt out of God's Redemptive Plan. Living as if our self-righteousness could replace our need for a Savior?   God has a better plan. All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. Isaiah 64:6 NIV Self-righteousness stinks. Just incase you did grasp how disgusting self-righteousness actually is. It is like a nasty rag that is used to clean up dog vomit. (Now that's a graphic picture for you. It even includes a scratch and sniff area.) Is God really willing to exchange his spotless, beautiful righteousness for your vomit filled rags? I mean really???? Absolutely! That doesn't make sense. No, it's not fair...NOT EVEN. So humble your heart, bring your self righteousness to the cross and exchange it. Simply believe and receive God's holy righteousness! It's a picture of amazing God's grace and the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross which makes God's Divine Exchange possible. Don't stop there! He's got more for you! God planned for believers to walk newness of life because of that Divine Exchange. It's Big! The Divine Exchange is broader than you might think. It includes healing and wholeness. But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.  Isaiah 53:5 NLT Wholeness Did you see it? Because of the cross you can be whole. Here's another Divine Exchange! Exchange your brokenness for His wholeness. Peace Do you have peace? Surrender your fear at the cross, exchange it for His peace. Sound too good to be true. But it's God's Divine Exchange. Healing Exchange your pain, receive His healing. He purchased it when He purchased your salvation.   Have you seen this video (powerful stuff) by the Billy Graham Association and peacewithgod.net     I'd love to share my free ebook that will help you be stronger. Check it out at the link below. "Be Stronger" ebook   (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//forms.aweber.com/form/14/1987724514.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, "script", "aweber-wjs-go9oq8hg2"));