The Great Exchange
The day after Christmas everybody was busy going back to the stores exchanging gifts. People were trading gifts that they didn't like, want, or need, for things they really wanted. Sales people worked long and tirelessly trying to eradicate the long lines, one customer at a time, but the lines grew longer by the minute. The exchanges being made were ordinary, but one day there was an extraordinary exchange that changed the entire course of human history. It was the day Jesus hung on the cross and gave His life in exchange for us. Wow! What an exchange.
Jesus hung, bled, and died on the cross in exchange for you and I. He took our place and became the sacrifice for sin. No one else in no other religion ever did that. Jesus paid the debt He didn't owe, but it was the debt mankind couldn't pay because our sin was so great. Jesus was born for this purpose and He alone is our Savior. He is forever worthy of all praise.
Your sin and my sin, and the sin of the whole world was forgiven because of the suffering and death that Jesus bore on the cross of Calvary. We were guilty because we were born with the sin nature, but the blood of Jesus wiped our slates clean,
The Apostle Paul summed it up perfectly in Galations 3:13-14, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse (in exchange) for us, for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through JESUS CHRIST, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."
So in case you're wondering if you've gone too far or is there still hope for you, the answer is resoundingly "Yes", you can be saved because of Jesus. You and I were indeed guilty and should be pronounced "guilty as charged", but the good news is, there's been an exchange. Jesus took our place and because of what He did, we have eternal life. Thank God for the great exchange.
Lord, I thank you for taking my place on that ole rugged cross. Thank you redeeming me from the slave block of sin. Thank you for substituting my penalty of death, hell, and the grave, but giving me abundant and eternal life. Father God when I look back over my sinful life, I thank you for sending Your Son, Jesus to die in my place. Hallelujah to the Lamb! There's been an exchange.
