THE GREAT EXCHANGE

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

-Romans 1:25

A great exchange has already occurred. It is a magnificent, marvelous and gracious transaction initiated by God. The majestic portrait of God’s love is eloquently illustrated in Romans 5:6-8:

“For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. It is rare indeed for anyone to die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The beauty and awe therein escapes all - initially. The scales of rebellion blind us to reality. Like schizophrenics hopelessly lost in the depravity of their illness - humanity enters this world deceived and emphatically deranged in sin, even to the point of denial.

There’s a concept inherently deplorable to humanity- personal accountability, yet we emphatically demand it for others. There’s another even more reprehensible- inability, yet we’re perpetually frustrated by its absence in others.

We bemoan our Creator initially, “Don’t tell me I’m accountable to anyone for anything! Don’t even begin to spew religious rhetoric regarding my accountability and depravity sourced in some degenerate fool who supposedly ate a ‘forbidden apple’ eons before I was ever conceived! His problem. His fault. His business.”

What we’re really saying is, “No problem. No fault. No God.”

We prefer the idea of “Jesus” on our terms - our personal rendering - because the Jesus of the Bible (the book we’ve never really taken the time to actually read or comprehend - the one we trust to be interpreted and summarized for us by others into colloquialisms, Cliff’s Notes and catchphrases rent from original and intent) is far too compassionate to be real, far too intentional to be human, far too caring to be so inflexible… “No one comes to the Father but through me.”

Therefore, amid the ensuing cognitive dissonance, we cultivate on our own cut-and-paste theology of convenience, loopholes, and preference from personal experience. We formulate our own version of the truth because we’re free. We’ve determined we’re free to think, to choose, to explore, to determine, to sin - or not…

Oops. There we go, just as God revealed through Paul, exchanging the truth of God for a lie and serving created things (most notably “self”) rather than the Creator.

Fortunately, Scripture is clear. Sin is not merely corrupt deeds, wrong thoughts, plots or schemes. Sin is neither the violation of popular, transient, fickle, and synthetic laws nor any subjective assessment regarding contemporary morals or ethics. Sin is separation from the reality, person, heart, mind, will, and mission of God- the eternal Father, Son, and Spirit.

See Ephesians 2:1-3

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

See Colossians 2:13

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,

See Psalm 51:5

Indeed, I was guilty when I was born;

I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

See Psalm 14:2-3

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,

    to see if there are any who understand,

    who seek after God.

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

    there is none who does good,

    not even one.

See Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things

    and beyond cure.

    Who can understand it?

See Romans 5:12

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people because all sinned--

A bleak and tragic exchange occurred in Eden. In “one man,” Adam, we exchanged the truth of God for a lie- for death.

A great exchange occurred at the Cross of Calvary. Immanuel, the incarnate eternal Son and holy, perfect, spotless Lamb of God, took our place. The sin of the world (past, present, and future) was placed on Him. Humanity’s sin debt forever paid in full.

Sin is our reality when we enter this world. We are accountable to our Creator. We have no ability to reverse the curse. We need Christ. That’s why He came. That’s why He died.

The only freedom we have is continuing to exchange the truth of God for a lie. Christ is the exit from the prison and hopeless depravity to sin. In Him, we can exchange the lie of death for the truth of the Good News of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

That’s the great exchange He died for.

How will you respond?

Blessings!

-Kevin M. Kelley

aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com