“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
During the Deeper Still weekend retreats, there is a processional ceremony involving tangible symbols that represent an exchange. Ceremonies often involve exchange. A marriage ceremony involves exchanging vows and exchanging one’s own individual life for the sake of giving of oneself to another in a pure and appropriate way. There are ceremonies at a graduation where a graduate is given a certificate that gives an identity of exchange from student to professional. The school has given of its resources and the student has given of him/herself for the end of that exchange.
In essence, what happens in an exchange is an agreement.
The greatest exchange that ever happened was the exchange God the Father made for us, His beloved children–the exchange of His Son’s life for ours. As Jesus willingly laid down His life, that exchange represented Jesus saying, “I will become all that you are. I will take on all your sin and your imperfections. And you will become what I am, with all my righteousness, and all that I am, that we may be grafted together as one.”
Think about that for a moment. Jesus became all that we are. He became sin. He became all our sin. And in exchange, we became all He is. We became the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. What an incredible exchange. He became our sin and we became His righteousness. We became one with Him, to dwell in Him, to move, live and have our being in Him.
If we truly understood this exchange, how different we would live.
Today, I pray for a deeper understanding of this exchange, all He is for all we are. Our sin, our shame, our brokenness, our issues, our bondage…He takes all of it and in exchange, we are made righteous, blameless, pure, honored, whole, free.
It doesn’t seem right, so we think surely that cannot be all, there must be more, something else we need to do. But no, there isn’t anything else needed. Nothing else needs to be added. Jesus declared, “It is finished.” And it was. The exchange was complete and we were made new.
However, just as a husband and wife live in the freedom and blessing of their new covenant and the new graduate has a degree representing exchange, it doesn’t do any good unless they believe their new identities and act on it.
That is our responsibility, to believe our new identity and live as we are in Christ, righteous, and free.
What if after you received your degree in medicine, someone came up to you and said, “You know, you really aren’t a doctor. I mean I saw who you were in high school and you did get a C that one time.” You’d say, “I have the certificate to prove it and I am a doctor.” We have an enemy of our souls who will lie to us and tell us we haven’t really been made righteous, and besides look what you did and who you are. Jesus says, “I took what you did and now you have become what I am. It has been paid in full.”
It takes a renewing of the mind to believe this and over time the enemy loses his hold and can no longer lie because you won’t believe him. You can hold up your “Certificate” and say, “I am righteous, it has been paid in full! I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. And I have the certificate (the word of God) to prove it!”
If you have had an abortion, or there is another sin in your life that has kept you in bondage and left you feeling unworthy, there is Hope, and His name is Jesus. This sin doesn’t define you. If you have accepted Jesus, then there is an exchange of identity. He took your old and gave you His. Praying for you today to know this great exchange and for it to be real for you.
Jesus, give us a deeper revelation of all You died to give us, all You have, and all You are that we are now because of You, and this exchange. Amen.
If you or someone you know has had an abortion and needs healing, please visit our website at GoDeeperStill.org to find out more about our healing retreats. More information is also on our Facebook page Deeper Still and Instagram at GoDeeperStill