In my last post, I talked about the fact that we’re saved from God’s wrath by the blood of Christ. That’s an incredible blessing, but God’s work doesn’t stop there.

I want to review the passage of Scripture that I ended with last time.

For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5:10-11

It’s unfortunate that some people make it sound like it’s harder to stay saved than to get saved. It’s as if they think that we’re saved by faith in Christ, but we stay saved by our good works, trying our best to be perfect.

This passage of Scripture uses a word three times to convey an important point to us. That’s the word, reconciled. Paul repeats this word three times, so it must be important. Let me explain to you just what it means.

This word literally means to change mutually. It comes from a Greek root word that means to exchange. It’s actually used in the Gospels to describe the “money-changers”, who Jesus turned the tables on.

That tells me that in Christ we’ve received an exchange. Understanding this, I need to take that knowledge over into the spiritual. Let me describe it to you.

I’ve had the privilege of going to another country on missions trips. I brought with me United States dollars which had value to me. I’m used to them, I know how they work.

The problem is that these US dollars don’t work in the new country that I find myself in. I have to exchange what I have for the money of this place.

That’s what God does for us in the spirit. I’m used to being in the world. But what works in the world, doesn’t work in God’s kingdom. I have to exchange what I have for what God has.

I was out of favor with God, now I have His favor through Christ and His death. In the world, I get ahead by accumulating money, power, influence, and connections. In God’s kingdom, it’s all about faith working through love. I was used to the old currency, now I have to learn the new way of doing things.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…

2 Corinthians 5:17-18

What a great verse! The word, ministry, actually means service. Now that we’ve received His life, Christ has given us the service of this exchange. It’s now our job to show others how they can exchange their meaningless striving for the favor of God.

That’s what life in Christ is all about. We’ve exchanged death for life, random chance for God’s will, and an unknown future for a destiny with Christ.

I can’t imagine a better way to live.

Question: What are some things that you’ve experienced in this great exchange?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi