With Easter having just past, what is the good news of the Cross? These headlines inspire us again in recognising again the power in Jesus death and the profound spiritual exchange that took place as He was crucified.
Hebrews 9:22-28
Romans 4:22-5:11
When it comes to our relationship with God, in Christ we have a credited account! In Romans 4:23-25 we see the notion of our spiritual account being credited with God's righteouness and life.
Have you ever been refused a loan on the basis of insuficenient income or experianced the nervousness of waiting for creidt checks to be completed to see if you are acceptable to benifit from the loan or offer? There is great delight when they say 'yes'! But if you are turned down hopes are dashed; you feel exposed for having tried and the feeling of being rejected is'nt a great confidence boost, and you are not able to progress beyond on the matter you were hoping to develop and achieve through its potential. For many this is our perception of God. Coming before Him in prayer, never quite knowing if you will be accepted or good enough to recieve from Him, at His mercy if he decides you are good enough or trust worhty enough.
But this is not the outlay of scripture, now in Christ there are no more loan applications or credit checks! Why?
Because Jesus paid for everything that was needed for our salvation and completion at the cross!!! Will he run out of money half way through the job (as it were), is he lacking the skills to do the work? No!! He has promised to complete the work begun in us! Philippians 1:6; Jude 24.
In the analogy of the Old Covenant where by the High Priest was a 'go-between' between God and man, Jesus has done everything that was needed to justify us before God and to remove the wall of seperation bewteen us.
Jesus at the cross paid for the full work to be done!
He cried “It is Finished!” John 19:30
As a result...in Christ...you can now say:
- I am intrinsically forgiven – Ephesians 1:7
- I am no longer guilty - The Penalty of Sin has been paid for - Romans 5:18,19, Romans 8:1
- The Ransom price has been paid for my release - Titus 2:14; Galatians 4:5
- A new relationship has begun – Peace has been made - Ephesians 2:13-18/Colossians 1:20
- I've not just been theorectically pardoned but intrinsically transformed – Titus 3:5
- God's righteousness has been imparted to me – I’m no longer a sinner - 2 Cor 5:17; 1 John 3:9
(not charactersied by sin any longer - cross ref with 1 John 1:7-10)
At the cross a great exchange took place where by Jesus took our sin and it's consequences and made available to us the opportunity to walk in the good of what He had done. So much has been made available to us and imputed to our accounts in Christ, by God's grace alone, to those who believe in Jesus and His finished work at the cross.
The Great news of the Great Exchange – what has my life account been credited with?
|
Debt |
Paid Penalty |
Credited with… |
Scripture |
|
Sin |
Our wrong laid on Him |
Righteousness |
Isaiah 53:4,5; 2 Corinthians 5:21 |
|
Death |
Water and Blood seeped |
Life |
Romans 5:16-18 |
|
Judgement |
Took God’s wrath |
Forgiveness |
Ephesians 1:7; Heb 9:22 |
|
Alienation/
Rejection |
Separation/Abandonment |
Reconciliation &
Acceptance |
Mark 15:34; Colossians 1:19;
Eph 1:6 |
|
Poverty |
Became destitute/Humiliated |
Riches |
2 Corinthians 8:9 |
|
Sickness |
Suffered Scourging |
Health |
Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter |
|
Curse |
Hung on a tree |
Blessing |
Galatians 3:13,14 |
The point?
God wants to bless us so that we can be a blessing.
As we live in the richness of what God has done, we can give out so much to others. As we have freely recieved Jesus has commanded us to go and freely give away what we have recieved.
Isaiah 4:4-6 - There is a restoring of God's glory in us – a coming alive of the real us and by God's grace! As we get more and more cleaned up there is a promise of God's presense over us and in our midst…SO WE CAN GIVE AWAY WHAT JESUS ACCOMPLISHED AT THE CROSS, creating a place of refuge and a shelter from the storms of life.
| 