The Divine Exchange - Part 3

The more and more I study this Divine Exchange, the more and more I thank Jesus for all that He has done and continues to do in my life. Time and time again I have been reminded that everything has been done for us. Our Father, our Redeemer, our Saviour perfectly executed the redemption plan for all humanity that we would no longer live bound to the enemy and his lies, but live in freedom under the covering and provision of Almighty Father. What an awesome Father we serve.

Every aspect of our life has been redeemed through the cross.

Spiritually - we have peace with God because Jesus endured the punishment due to us for our iniquities; and we have been made righteous because Jesus was made sin with our sin.

Physically - we have received healing because Jesus bore all our sickness and pains on the cross; and we have received Jesus's life because He died our death; and we share in His abundance because He endured our poverty.

There are not only physical and spiritual aspects to the Divine Exchange. There are also emotional aspects which cause wounds that we carry as a result of having lived contrary to God's will. As I've said before, our God is so awesome and I get stunned everytime I think about all that He has done for us. He made sure that everything that holds us away from Him, everything that would cause a barrier between Him and us was dealt with on the cross. Every aspect of our fallen lives was brought under the cross and redeemed and covered with the precious blood of our Saviour, Jesus.

There are two emotional wounds that can cause no end of suffering, torment and pain to many believers. These two cruel tormentors are shame and rejection. Both of them were laid on our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and dealt with once and for all.

The effects of shame can differ from person to person from feeling a slight embarrassment to experiencing a life cripling sense of unworthiness that stops you from being around people and God. I am sure we have all experienced shame in some form in our lives. Each one of us will have different causes for our feelings of shame. For me, sexual immorality was the cause of my shame and guilt. I didn't grow up as a believer but I had always believed in keeping sex until I met the one I would spend my life with. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and in a moment of madness all my inhibitions went out the window. This act resulted in tremendous inner shame and guilt that just wouldn't go away. I would love to say that I never repeated the same mistakes, but I did. The more I let it happen, the worse I felt. I was in a relationship for 2 years when I fell pregnant with my son. When he was 4 months old the relationship disintegrated and we were left on our own. I came to faith not long after this and every time I attended Church I was very aware that I had had a child outside of marriage. No-one in my Church condemned me, everyone was loving and supportive of me and my son. It was my own inner condemnation. I felt unworthy. I felt my sin was laid out for all to see.

We all have things in our past which will haunt us if they are not dealt with. Each one of us will be accused by the accuser of the brethren and made to face our unworthiness day after day unless we know and believe what Jesus did for us on the cross.

In Hebrew 12:2 it says:

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Death on the cross was the most shameful of all forms of execution. Crucifixion was kept for the lowest of the low, the most despised criminal in society. The crosses of crucifixion would line the path out of the city for all to see. The criminal would be stripped naked, exposing them completely to the people who would pass by. People would have shouted abuse at them; mocked them and jeered at them. All intent on causing humiliation and shame as well as excrutiating pain.

Our Lord Jesus was perfect and without sin. He was stripped naked and hung on a cross in absolute humiliation in front of the whole city of Jerusalem. The shame He experienced was real. The shame He felt must have cut Him to the core. But, He endured it for our sakes; that our shame would be removed.

Matthew 27:35-44 tells of His shame and humiliation:

Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

“They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.”

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying,

“You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said,

“He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”

Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

When I picture Jesus on that cross my heart bursts with sadness that He had to go through that for me. He absolutely endured complete shame and humiliation for me. He took it all on Himself on the cross. He endured complete shame before the whole city, so that I could be delivered from the curse of shame. He successfully took all our shame to the cross and held it there. Thank goodness He did that for us. Thank goodness we no longer have to abide under the shadow of shame. Thank goodness He dealt with all our shame once and for all. What a Saviour. There's not enough thank you's that can be said for what He has done. He stayed on that cross to deliver us from every grip of the enemy and his lies upon our lives. He took all our shame, all our humiliation, upon Himself. He was laid bare for me and for you.

As we have spoken about before the Divine Exchange shows us that Jesus takes upon Himself the punishment and evil consequences due to us and exchanges it for the goodness due to Him because of His perfection.

So in regards to shame, what did Jesus give us in exchange?

In Hebrews 2:10 the writer says:

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

By taking our shame on the cross this opens up a way for us to be released from the torment of shame. He not only takes our shame but exchanges it for His glory.

So what is glory. Dictionary definition of glory is:

high renown or

honour won by notable achievements

magnificence or

great beauty

So when you think on these words in relation to Jesus, you can easily see how these words would describe Him. The Bible says that Jesus suffered to bring us to glory. His glory is now our glory. Just think about that for a moment....let it seep in.

He has given us His high renown; His honour; His magnificence; His great beauty.

He takes us from a place of shame and lifts us in His glory to shine for Him.

So Jesus endured our shame that we might share His glory.

If we are to truly walk in this reality we must believe it. We must first repent of what has caused the shame in the first place, seeking forgiveness from the Father. Then forgive yourself. You are not entitled to hold on to that which God has forgiven. Once you forgive yourself, speak the life changing Divine Exchange statements over yourself, believing that they are for you and freely given to you.

Don't just read about these Divine Exchanges; take them as your own; speak them over your life; believe them. The voice of the accuser will diminish as you stand firm believing what Jesus has done for you. We must apply the truth of the scriptures to our lives to be released from the enemy and all that He has bound us up in.

Jesus died that you would walk in freedom as the redeemed daughter/son of the Most High God. Don't let His death be in vain.

The second emotion that causes us deep wounds and can stop us as children of God from receiving our inheritance as sons and daughters is rejection. To be rejected is one of the cruelest forms of torture that can come upon a person. To be dismissed from the life of a person you love as if you don't matter can have serious, deep rooted scars that can only be healed by the truth of the Word and the love of the Saviour.

Rejection happens through the breakdown of relationships. This might be because a parent or parents have rejected their children by either causing them harm through harsh treatment or neglecting them and failing to show them love. Or it can also happen through the breakdown of a marriage or a romantic partnership. In both these cases the rejected person feels abandoned, dismissed, unloved, and unworthy. Rejection makes you sceptical of people and very untrusting.

When my relationship with my son's Dad broke down I was totally devasted. All I had ever wanted in life was to find my soul mate, the man who would take care of me, the man who would fight to protect me and stand up for me. Never in a million years did I expect this man whom I loved and had a child with; this man who I wanted to live with for the rest of my life; turn around and be such a stranger to me and fool me so badly. I was totally blind sided, I did not see it coming. I would love to say that I came across God's truth in those early days and received that critical healing for my heart, mind and soul quickly but it took many years and another failed relationship to get to that point. The hurt I experienced didn't just effect romantic relationships, it effected every relationship I had. I would keep people at arms length. I would go so far into a relationship and then back off for fear of getting hurt. The slightest criticism or sarcastic comment, or even a joking word would cut my heart and render me unworthy all over again. I would just wait for it all to end and for them to walk away from me. Rejection hurts and it leaves wounds.

When we read of the account of Jesus's crucifixion it is clear to see that He also suffered rejection just at those last crucial moments on the cross. In Matthew 27:46, 50 we hear His agony:

About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lemasabachthani?” (which means “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”).

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His spirit.

For the first time ever the Father and Son were separated. Jesus bore so completely the iniquities and evil of the whole human race on Himself on the cross, that He became completely sin for us. The Father being completely Holy will not look on sin, therefore at the very moment Jesus needed the support of the Father, the Father had to look away. At the moment when Jesus absolutely absorbed all our darkness, the Father could look on Him no more. The agony of the separation Jesus felt led Him to cry out in anguish to the Father. But, no reply came from the Father. Not long after He gave up His Spirit and died, heartbroken.

Never in their entire existence did they have a time where they were not connected. We see by Jesus's earthly ministry that He talks always about only speaking what He hears the Father speaking. They were in constant communion with each other. But, on the cross Jesus had to suffer our complete rejection. He had to be rejected by the Father for us to receive by Divine Exchange the blessing that was rightfully His.

As we continue the story in Matthew 27 immediately after He gave up His Spirit something amazing happened:

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

Matthew 27:51

At the very moment Jesus breathed His last the temple curtain that separated us from God was torn in two. The curtain that contained the living God in the holy of holies and kept out all who were unworthy and unholy had been torn from the heavens to the earth, from top to bottom, opening up a way for all to draw near to the living God. By His rejection we might be accepted by the Father.

Jesus endured our rejection that we would be accepted.

having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:5-6

Jesus's rejection resulted in our acceptance by the Father. Through Jesus's rejection on the cross a way was made to access the Father directly. We no longer have to live lives of rejection, dismissal and unworthiness. We can come to the Father who has adopted us as His children and receive the healing needed to walk in freedom and love.

As I mentioned earlier in this post we need to take these truths and apply them to our lives. Start by telling God all that has happened, pour out your heart to Him, get it all out of your system, all the horrible things that have happened to you, all the pain you have lived with, tell Him it all. Then, this is important, forgive the person who caused you the rejection. The Word is clear on this. We must forgive those who hurt us if we are to be forgiven by the Lord.

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 6:14-15

Forgive them, ask God to help them, pray for them. Seek forgiveness from the Father for your wrong doings and mistreatments of others. Then read Ephesians 1:5-6 believing that it was done for you. Thank Him for all He has done and accept your adoption from the Father into the Beloved.

You are no longer rejected but a beloved child of God; adopted into His family; never again to be alone; never again to be dismissed. He will fight for you and He will never leave you nor forsake you. He calls you by name, you are His.

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by your name;

You are Mine.

Isaiah 43:1