The Great Exchange: Peace for Confusion and Turmoil! We have been examining the Great Exchange. Those things that Jesus gave to us in place of those things He has taken from us. The subject for today is God’s peace. Jesus took our turmoil and confusion and gave us His peace; Jesus said, “Peace I leave […]

Over the last number of weeks, I have been looking at something called the Great Exchange. The Great Exchange represents a transaction that took place through Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. As a result of the New Covenant ushered in by Jesus, our Lord, there are specific weaknesses that Jesus took upon Himself in exchange […]

As we continue to examine the concept of the Great Exchange we will look at the following exchange: Jesus took our weakness and gave us His strength; “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to […]

Introduction In this episode, we will examine another “exchange” accomplished at the Cross of Calvary. Jesus took our lost and homeless condition and gave us an eternal home. This truth is based upon the verse in John 14:2, where Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would […]

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As we continue to examine what was purchased for us by Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary, let me remind you that we can look at what Jesus accomplished as an “exchange.” You will recall that a covenant requires an exchange of assets and liabilities. In the New Covenant, of which Jesus is a covenant head, He gives us His blessings and takes upon Himself what we deserve as sinners. Show More

In episode or post 80, We said that the Bible teaches that Jesus took our sin and gave us forgiveness (2 Cor 5:20-21). We have been forgiven of our sins in the past, the present, and the future. While this is difficult to comprehend, we must accept by faith that Jesus is able and in fact, did forgive us of all of our sins.

In episode or post 81, we examined the fact that Jesus took our death that we might have His life; (Rom 5:10 Hebrews 2:9). Our death, which meant eternal separation from God, has now become eternal life with God.

We have received Heaven instead of Hell.

Today we will look at the truth that Jesus experienced Hell that we might experience Heaven. Before we were born-again, we deserved Hell, but because Jesus took our punishment, we have been given Heaven. That was the exchange.

As Jesus hung on the Cross and took on the sins of humanity, He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). This moment represents His experience of what Hell was like, burdened with the sins of humankind and separated from Father God. However, this experience of Hell could not hold the King of kings and the Lord of lords!

How did this exchange take place?The book of Hebrews was written to a Hebrew audience. In particular to  Jews who were very familiar with the Sacrificial System. It is in this context of the Law that Hebrews 13:11-12 are understood. “11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the Sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate”. 

What does this mean? Jesus was identifying with the Hebrew practice of making a “sin offering.” “Inside the sanctuary,” the Temple priest would take an unblemished animal and lay hands on its head (Jesus was unblemished by sin). This was done to transfer or impute the sins of the priest and the sins of the people to the animal. (As believers in Jesus Christ our sins have been imputed or transferred to Him). The priest would then kill the animal, drain its blood, (Jesus shed His blood for us) and then the sacrificial animal containing all the sins of the people was taken “outside the city” to be burned. (Jesus was taken outside the city not to be burned but to be buried).

Jesus stripped Satan of his power over believers in Jesus Christ and led captivity captive.

On the Cross, Jesus took our sins upon Himself and He accomplished two more important things for us. 

He stripped Satan of his power over those who are born-again. Remember, Hell is for those who are not in the New Covenant purchased by Jesus Christ.

Colossians 2:15 Having disarmed principalities and powers (demonic), He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.Luke 10:18-20 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions (demonic), and overall the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in Heaven.”

Jesus also led “captiv

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As a result of the holidays, it has been two weeks since my last post. Let me take a moment to review where we are in this series on Grace and Faith.

Grace and Faith

God’s grace is all about what He has given us as a free gift if only we would by faith receive it. The key is to recognize that faith does not create the hope of a good outcome. Grace creates the outcome and faith brings it into reality. We release our faith in what God, through Jesus Christ, has made available to us. Show More

Grace means that we receive that which we don’t deserve, and at the same time give to the Lord that which we do deserve. We receive His righteousness or right standing with God the Father and give to Jesus the punishment we deserve. The scripture tells us that none of us are righteous in our own merit or behavior, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”! (Romans 3:23)

Exchange

This is where the idea of exchange takes place. By our faith in Jesus, we receive all the blessings and pass on to Jesus all of our sins and the consequences of our sin. Now what is important to understand is that we are talking about spiritual things, not necessarily natural things. The spiritual realm is much more important than the physical because the spiritual is eternal, the physical is temporal or temporary (2 Cor 4:18). 

The Spiritual Kingdom

As Christians, we live in the Kingdom of God while still here on earth. Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus in John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Then in John 3:5, “Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

His Kingdom is in us. 

In Luke 17:20 Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Jesus took our sins and gave us His forgiveness

As we mentioned in the last post the first exchange of grace that we receive by faith, was that; Jesus took our sin and gave us forgiveness. The Apostle Paul states the following fact in 2 Cor 5:20-21, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”.

Sin vs. sin? – the symptom of sin vs. the root cause of sin! Instead of covering over sin as in the Old Covenant, Jesus took our sins and replaced our sin nature with the Holy Spirit who is righteous!

An Exchange; Life for Death

Today we will look at the second example of the gift of grace that we receive by faith and that is, Jesus took our death that we might have His life; “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom 5:10; see also Heb 2:9).

You see because we have been forgiven, we are reconciled with God. God’s intent is that we live forever with Him. That was His intention at the beginning with Adam and Eve. Remember Genesis 2:16 “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” What did God mean when He said, “you shall surely die”?

We are Spiritual Beings

When God created mankind, He created them as triune beings- spirit, soul and body (Genesis 2:7, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 4:12). In the

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The Lord is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. The Bible, Old and New Testament, are records of the two major covenants in the Bible. The Covenant of the Law and the Covenant of Grace. Keep in mind that the conditions of a covenant are called Promises.

The Covenant of the Law

The Old Testament is a record of the Covenant of Law. As Christians, we call this covenant the Old Covenant. This is the covenant of the Hebrews. It was established for the Hebrews and applies to the Hebrews. The central promise of this covenant was to establish a great nation that would become a model of a theocracy. A theocracy simply means a rule or government led by the Lord. Show More

The Lord chose and made a promise to Abram or Abraham, to be the father of the Hebrews known as the Israelites. Remember, Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Isaac also had two sons, Jacob and Esau. It is Jacob who is significant in God’s plan to fulfill the Covenant of Law. You may also recall that God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. This is where the term “Israelites” comes from. Israel had 12 sons and they became known as the sons or tribes of Israel. The book of Genesis gives an account of all of this.

Several generations later a child is born called Moses. He is the descendant of the third son of Jacob or Israel named Levi therefore, Moses was a Levite. It is Moses whom God fulfills the covenant of Law, which was promised to Abraham.

“The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Bible, called “Torah” in the Hebrew Scriptures. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Though we often call these books “The Law,” Torah does not mean “law,” but “teaching.” Basic to the Torah is the idea of the covenant. A covenant is an agreement. In the Bible, covenants are special, because God is one of the parties to the covenant. Biblical covenants have three parts:

A statement about God’s saving act (what God brings to the agreement); (To make Abraham’s descendants a great nation called Israel.)A statement about what God expects from humanity in response; (Obedience to the Laws or teachings that would produce blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.)A sign or symbol as a reminder of the covenant. (The sign of Circumcision.)” 

The Covenant of Grace

Biblical history shows that God fulfilled His promise to the people of Israel to make them a great nation. The Lord did this under the rule of King David. Despite God keeping His promise, the nation of Israel utterly failed at keeping the Lord Jehovah at the center of life, and government. 

This is an important lesson for us to understand. No one is able to keep the “Law” perfectly or completely. Because God knew in advance that mankind would fail and that they would see that they needed, not a system of rules and regulations to please God, but a Savior!

The Lord promised a New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31. What God promises He fulfills. He will always keep His promises.

Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good”?Titus 1:2 “in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began”.Hebrews 6:13-20 makes the case for God’s infallible purpose in Christ, “For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is

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As we have learned, a blood covenant is the most binding of all the covenants. A blood covenant also involves an exchange that takes place between the two parties of the covenantor the covenant-heads. This exchange results in “oneness,” with the two parties of the covenant becoming one entity. Show More

Marriage, Covenant or Contract

Some look at marriage as a contract, but that isn’t how the Bible looks at marriage. The Bible looks at marriage as a covenant. The difference between contract and covenant is dramatic. 

Marriage is not a business agreement, in a business contract both parties in the contract agree to fulfill certain responsibilities. In a contract, if one party does not live up to the terms of the contract the contract becomes void. Divorce in modern society is so common because so many couples look at marriage as a contract.

Marriage is a covenant between the bride and the groom. The marriage covenant is an example of two becoming one. In marriage, the two parties become one, one flesh (Gen 2:24; Matt 19:5,6; Eph 5:31). In the marriage vows you are saying that you are taking your spouse as your flesh, to love your spouse even as Christ loves the Church, to protect your spouse and care for your spouse for the rest of your lives. There is no way to void a covenant! Our confidence in Jesus is because we are in a covenant relationship with Him.

In addition, in a marriage covenant there is an exchange, all that belongs to the bride including possessions, debts, and future potential – now belongs to the bridegroom. All that belongs to the bridegroom – possessions, debts, and future potential – now belongs to the bride. All the resources, power, and authority are now shared between the covenant-heads, in this case, the bride and bridegroom.

Covenants cannot be broken for any reason. A covenant implies faithfulness, loyalty, and commitment. If one side of a covenant does not fulfill its obligations, that doesn’t void the covenant. 

David and Jonathan

In a biblical covenant, one covenant-head is generally weaker in power, authority, or wealth. The weaker party would usually covenant with a stronger covenant-head. For instance, Jonathan, a prince and the son of King Saul, was a stronger party who formed a covenant with young David (1 Sam 18:1-4). At that time, David was just a common man from a small family of shepherds.

Just after David killed Goliath a conversation between Jonathan and David is revealed in 1 Samuel 18:1-4, “Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt”. 

You see the more powerful Prince Jonathan gave to David, the emblems of his authority and power- the robe and his weapons. David had nothing to give except his loyalty. Doesn’t that sound like our covenant relationship with Jesus? 

David and Mephibosheth

Let’s go further to look at the relationship between David the King and Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth. After both King Saul and Jonathan were dead and David was now King of Israel, David remembered the covenant he had made with Jonathan. Here is an important point about Covenants, the terms of a covenant apply to all members associated w

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Before we look at the Great Exchange that took place as a result of the scourging, crucifixion, resurrection and the appearance of the risen Jesus Christ I’d like to make a couple of issues more clear.

The importance of the Old Testament

The importance of the Old Testament which is about the Covenant of the Law. The fact that Christians live under a New Covenant, spelled out by the New Testament doesn’t mean that the Old Testament and the Covenant of Law are useless! Show More

Remember, the Book of Hebrews clearly shows that the New Covenant initiated by the two covenant heads, Jehovah and Jesus (God and God) was better or stronger than the Old Covenant initiated by Jehovah and Moses (God and man). The New replaced the old because the new was better or stronger.

Keep in mind that the Old Testament is God-breathed and is available for our instruction, in 2 Timothy 3:16 the Apostle Paul says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine (truths), for reproof (chastisement), for correction (improvement), for instruction (direction) in righteousness (right living before God), that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good (God-directed) work”.

I would encourage you to read all of 1 Corinthians 10, paying special attention to verses 1-11. There is so much we can learn about righteousness, unrighteousness (sin), the character of Jehovah God, and what He will bless and what He will not bless in the Old Testament. 

1 Corinthians 10:6-11 states, “Now these things (found in the Old Testament) became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition (warning), upon whom the ends of the ages have come”.

It has been said many times and in many ways, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it”. By studying the Old Testament and the Covenant of the Law, we learn from Biblical history that we need more than rules, regulations, rituals, and traditions to keep us in a right relationship with God! We need Jesus!

The Old Testament is valuable, but it does not contain the covenant purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ.

The Significance of Blood in Covenants

Which brings us to the point of the Blood of Jesus. It wasn’t until about 1615 that William Harvey, an English physician, first described correctly and in detail the circulatory system and the properties of blood being pumped to the body by the heart.

 Before the discovery of the true nature of blood, there was always a mysterious and spiritual significance to blood among primitive people. Ceremonies involving blood or blood rituals were common to almost all primitive tribes. Before scientific understanding, blood has always had associated with it the idea of a primary life principle. As a result of this association with life, there has always been a reverence for the shedding of blood. Many primitive groups practiced the cutting and mixing of blood and the creation of scars to show blood-brotherhood or blood-friendship. 

It would be a mistake to associate the importance of blood to primitive peoples only. Blood is important to God,

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The Old vs The New Part 2 

The New Covenant is a Better Covenant

The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish believers in Jerusalem. Hebrews was written at about AD 65; Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70. Jerusalem and the Levitical system were being done away with. The purpose of the book of Hebrews was to demonstrate that everything the Jews trusted in had passed away and that something better was in place; a better Covenant, better a better sacrifice, a better temple, and better promises.Show More

The keyword in the Book of Hebrews is faith, but the second keyword is the word, better. The New Testament (Grace) is better than the Old Testament (Law). The word better is more properly understood as stronger and is used 12 times in Hebrews: Heb 1:4, Heb 6:9, Heb 7:7, Heb 7:19, Heb 7:22, Heb 8:6, Heb 9:23, Heb 10:34, Heb 11:16, Heb 11:35, Heb 11:40, and Heb 12:24.

The Covenants of Life and Death

The Old Covenant of Law was important and significant, but it was a covenant that could result only in death and not life (Rom 8:2). Remember, the Old Covenant proved this, the Law was impossible for man to keep. While the commands of God are righteous and true (Matt 5:19; Gal 3:19-21), the Law did not give man the power to obey! Rather, it only revealed how desperately we needed a Savior (Gal 3:22-25). The Law, with its rituals, rules, and sacrifices for sin, was not sufficient to deal with the source of man’s problem – sin (Heb 10:1-10).

The New Covenant is a Better Covenant, it is a covenant of life! “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal 3:13, 14).

The Promises

The promises in the Old Covenant were primarily about the present life and material blessings. They were promises that included: long life; increase in numbers; seedtime and harvest; national privileges; and extraordinary peace, abundance, and prosperity.

In the New Covenant, however, the promise of spiritual blessings becomes the central benefit of our faith in Christ. Those spiritual blessings are available because of the free gift of the Holy Spirit living in us (1 Cor 6:19), who will teach us and lead us (John 16:13) in an overcoming life on earth (Rom 8:37).

In the New Covenant, our Lord does promise to provide for our needs (Matt 6:25-34), but our hearts are also directed toward Heaven. We are reminded of the temporary nature of this life, and that this is not our eternal home. Our souls are at peace with the assurance of eternal life, the favor (grace) of God and the anticipation of Heaven.

People are generally comfortable with the old.

People, in their natural way of thinking, often cling to old ways of doing things because those ways are familiar and comfortable. The same can be true of learned traditions or religious beliefs that are not rooted in the New Covenant. The old is familiar, so it can be difficult to change them to fit the requirements of the New Covenant. If we are not careful, we can develop strong convictions based on false or erroneous teachings!

The New Covenant requires a radical change in thinking about life in