In concluding this week’s teaching, Derek stresses that same elements that were in the early church are for the church today, both collectively and individually. We have a King who is coming back and it is up to us to proclaim that Jesus is alive, ruling in our midst. As we do, the Holy Spirit will confirm our witnessing with power.

In these studies on the theme of identification, Derek is going to be taking a look at the ways in which Jesus Christ identified Himself with us and how we are invited to identify ourselves with Him. Today, we examine Jesus’ most frequently used title of Himself, Son of Man, and see how He identifies Himself with humankind.

Isaiah writes to us about “the suffering servant,” who is recognized by biblical scholars to be Jesus Christ Himself. Not only was He the Son of Man, depicting human frailty, but He also took upon Himself our infirmities, our transgressions and our punishment.

Jesus became our substitute by taking all of the evil that was due to our rebelliousness and sin—that we might receive all the good that was due to His eternal righteousness and complete obedience. What an exchange took place!

Today, Derek begins to reveal specific ways in which “the divine exchange” took place – Jesus bearing all the evil that we might receive all of the blessings that was due to Him. The first way that Derek mentions is: Jesus bore our punishment that we might have God’s forgiveness, or peace.

The second exchange, which Derek presents today, is that Jesus became the sin offering, or the guilt offering, for us. He bore our sin in His body on the tree that we might be wrapped in the robe of righteousness that Isaiah has written to us about.

When Jesus died on the cross, He took all the evil consequences due to the rebellion of the whole human race. One aspect of that has to do with curses and blessings. Because Christ was made sin for us, He was also made a curse. Why? So that we could partake of all the blessings.

Part of the curse that Jesus bore for us has to do with mental and physical sickness. Since He bore these things in His body, physical healing has been obtained for us. The fact that “we were healed” is always in the past tense. It has already happened.

Christians often have an incorrect view of poverty. Derek shows us that poverty is part of the curse. In fact, on the cross Jesus experienced absolute poverty: He was hungry, thirsty, naked and in want of all things. His suffering made way for us to receive the abundance that was due to Him.

Derek explains today the meaning of rejection. It is the feeling of being unwanted, unworthy and not really belonging. As the sin of humanity came upon Jesus on the cross, God averted His eyes. He could not look on sin. That was for our good—that we might receive God’s total acceptance.