The Great Exchange
by Jack Graham All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18)
John Owens, an old Puritan writer used to say, "Preach the gospel to yourself every day." Such words are a good paraphrase of Paul's charge in 2 Corinthians 5. In just a few verses, Paul issues a powerful charge to his audience based upon Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Second Corinthians 5:21 is one of the most powerful verses in the Bible concerning God’s work on our behalf. It says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.” When Jesus died on the cross, a great exchange was taking place. The One who was pure and perfect and sinless took on himself the weight of the world—your sin and mine. And he became sin for us. The judgment of God fell on Jesus at the cross. All the punishment for all our sin fell on Jesus. He died billions of deaths that day. God solved the dilemma of man’s sin because Jesus took our sin and he died on the cross in our place. The cross was an intersection between divine love and perfect holiness. God cannot look upon sin, and yet he loves us with an everlasting love. And both these characteristics met in the cross of Jesus. So God solved the dilemma of our sin when Jesus took on our sin and died on the cross. It was the only way our sin could be covered, God’s holiness satisfied, and a restored relationship accomplished. Jesus’ work speaks of two ideas—substitution and sacrifice. Jesus was our substitute on the cross. He took on the death and the judgment that we deserved. He died in our place as our representative. And such substitution required great sacrifice. He offered himself for us at great expense to himself. He took our place, and it cost him his life. But Jesus didn’t die a brutal death on the cross for our sins so that we could sit on a church pew and wait for a bus to heaven! He has called us to share this good news in Christ. He died so that we could experience this infinite love, amazing grace, and abundant mercy. Now he wants us to share such hope with others. We’ve been reconciled, made right with God. But we’ve got a job to do—go tell others! This is the ministry of reconciliation. That’s why John Owen often said, “Preach the gospel to yourself every day.” Remind yourself every day of what you’ve been given and what you’re called to proclaim. Jesus died in your place so that you could have a relationship with him. Now we’re supposed to share his reconciliation with others. Can you imagine how your life would be changed if every day you rehearsed what Christ has done for you in the power of the Gospel? He died in your place. He forgave your sin. He gave you right standing before God. Can you imagine the motivation of your life to share the love of Christ with others? If you were captured by the Gospel and preached the Gospel to yourself every day, I believe your life and witness would be transformed! So as we begin a new year, let’s pledge to get up every day and speak the Gospel of Jesus Christ to ourselves and then, full of that Gospel, go and tell as many people as possible of a God who is powerful to save and who reconciles lost people to himself. His great exchange gives us hope and mission as we embark on a new year!
|
 |
|
 |
