Exchange Program 2

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]; The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him, And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed. ISAIAH 53:5 AMP

As the Easter season comes upon us, we remind ourselves how we got here and why our lives are the way they are. This season calls us to remembrance, again putting right before us the sacrifice, pain and discomfort that Jesus went through so we could be free from the just punishment for our sins. We could convince ourselves that we were good in ourselves, or that we didn't need a Saviour, but the realities show that without that sacrifice, our lives won't matter much.

Before I point the finger at someone else, can I make a boast about my own righteousness? Before I qualify to correct others, have I surrendered to God's own discipline? Every single experience of Jesus on the cross brought an eternal benefit to me, and I will be foolish to ever imagine that all I enjoy today is a result of my being good. Every beating, every stroke, every piercing, every foul word, every pain, led to a benefit for me.

More like an exchange program, where as a result of my transgressions, he got wounded. As a result of my iniquity and wickedness, he was crushed, while I walked away free. Every sin demanded punishment under the law and it was legal and proper that the one who sinned should get the punishment. I was the culprit under the law, and deserved punishment, yet under the terms of the law itself, he paid the full price for my sin, allowing me to literally walk away from the consequences of my actions.

Even his stripes, whatever the number, serves as a balm for all diseases and sicknesses. For his agony on the cross,  I got healing. For his pain, I got gain. For his rejection, I got eternal acceptance by God. All the negative consequences of my past life have been effectively cleared and it appears I would walk away free from my past.

Well, true, but not that easily. Whilst I am free from the past, the future makes a demand on me. I am saved from my past, and bound by God to a life that looks to the future. All I do now is an appreciation of all God has done, and I live daily in the consciousness that I am all I am simply because of who Jesus is and did. It is not a license to live as I please, but as God pleases. The life I call mine was fully paid for by blood, and an account will be demanded of how I lived it. What will be the conclusion of my life? His time of favour is here.