There was a teacher who spoke some years ago (at the congregation that I’m a part of), teaching about an “Exchanged Life” . This concept isn’t unique to that teacher, but it talks about the “trade” that we make when accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Savior. Our sin and its consequences are exchanged (traded) for Jesus’ life and righteousness.
That is undoubtedly the most lopsided trade in all of time, where fallen, sinful human beings receive an eternity with God (the source of all good things), while Jesus chose to give up His perfect life, suffer torture and execution without resisting, and endure separation from God the Father.
However, for the person who has been saved through the sacrifice of Jesus, the expectation is that they (and I) won’t go back to the muck and mess of our past lives, when we had separated ourselves from God’s holiness. Some cultures might describe this as a “life debt”, where we owe our lives to someone who saved us.
Paul describes how those who are alive because of what Jesus did should live for Him.
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NIV
Fully making this exchange – trading a broken life for Jesus’ better life – is tough, though, at least for me. I keep wanting to hold on to my sinful, self-centered life, even though trading away what I want (i.e., living for myself) and fully accepting the path that Jesus offers would be so much better. When I hold back from Him, I’m missing the completeness of the exchange that Jesus made for me.
Jesus traded everything: His place in Heaven, His existence unencumbered by a mortal body, His life, and – for a time – His connection with God the Father, I think, as He bore our sins. And what did He trade all of this for? For me! For you! For everyone! Why? So that we could have eternal life with Him!
When we accept this “exchange” with Him, we are offered the reverse of what Jesus endured on our behalf: trading our sins, our death sentence, our life away from God, for an abundant, fulfilled, righteous life in Him. When we offer Jesus anything less than all that we are, and don’t fully trust the Holy Spirit to make the best decisions for us, we’re not only holding back part of the intended exchange (like a rich person being saved from a deadly disease by a doctor, and then refusing to pay the agreed-upon amount), but we’re also missing out on a better life overall.
Maybe you feel the same way, or maybe you already trust God enough to let Him run your life, knowing – truly believing – that it is better, and living that out. If the latter is true, perhaps you’ve already embraced what Paul wrote next.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NIV
We might say that it no longer makes any difference if someone is popular, famous, good-looking, or anything else that is limited to this temporary world. Living in the body isn’t inherently bad or wrong (after all, Jesus Christ lived as a human being). However, our gauge of someone else cannot be about external, temporary things that will – by definition – not last forever.
Before meeting Jesus, some people were all about external things. (I was probably in the same boat.) Maybe we tried to look good, so that we’d “fit in” or be complimented by other people. Maybe we tried to follow popular culture, so that people would like us. Maybe we even looked for pastors and teachers that were famous or good-looking or had a fancy church building. Maybe, like the church in Corinth, we gave our allegiance to a messenger, instead of the One who the message was about.
After we accepted Jesus, though, there’s a change. Once we realize that everything of this world is passing away and that only a few things will carry through to eternity, we are transformed, our perspective changes, and we should begin to look at things from that viewpoint. It no longer matters how much money someone has: whether they know Jesus is now paramount. If someone is teaching about Jesus, the truth of their message is more important than how they look or how many people follow them on Facebook.
We’re sealed by the Holy Spirit, as we get ready for eternity. This life is no longer all that there is, but rather a preparation for the future, and a chance to begin bringing joy to God right away.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for May 19, 2024
References:
- The Lookout, May 19, 2024, © 2024 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – 2 Corinthians, by William R. Baker. © 1999 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 