I Rest In Christ, 11: The Exchanged Life
Isaiah 40: 25-31 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not be faint.
I find ironic that this posting, one focused on the life of Christ in the believer, is published on the day most of Christianity celebrates the birth of our blessed Lord. This posting is a special event for me as I have asked a colleague and fellow elder at our church to contribute the bulk of the content of this posting. Raymond Frazier is as close as anyone I know to being an expert on the subject of The Exchanged Life. Also, I have extended the length of this posting to allow the mingling of our thoughts.
Many believers rest in knowing Isaiah 40:31 because it shows how God helps them when they need it. The original Hebrew word translated ‘renew’ in most English translations is better said to be ‘exchange’ so this verse is expressing how the believer can exchange his strength, weakened as it is, for Christ’s who resides in him. I was reading recently a letter written by Hudson Taylor to his sister in England in the 1920s. Hudson Taylor was a missionary who founded the China Inland Mission. In his letter he described his spiritual struggle to appropriate Christ’s strength and joy in his life as Taylor found himself waivering under the seemingly insurmountable pressures of his life. He struggled to rise to holiness and righteousness with a deeply felt need to draw closer to God. He said he ‘felt the ingratitude, the danger, the sin of not living nearer to God. [He] prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the Word more diligently, sought more time for retirement and meditation—but it was all without effect.’ But then, months later, Taylor came to understand the loving abiding presence of Christ in his life, that Christ would never leave him or forsake him, and that all was well with his soul. Then he said, ‘do not let us consider Him as afar off, when God has made us one with Him, members of His very body. Nor should we look upon this experience, these truths, as for the few. They are the birthright of every child of God, and no one can dispense with them without dishonor to our Lord. The only power for deliverance from sin or for service is CHRIST.’
When a person accepts Christ as his or her Savior, that person immediately receives the promise of eternal life. Something else happens also: Christ through the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the new believer’s body and the believer becomes a new creation. His old person, his old sin nature, was crucified with Christ, died with Christ, and was buried with Christ. When Christ rose from the dead the believer’s old self was left in the grave and his new self, the new creation, rose to life as did Christ. This is a one-time event which is efficacious for all eternity. One’s salvation is permanent. As the new believer begins to appropriate Christ’s life into his own, the process called sanctification, the new believer gradually comes to the decision to surrender his life and appropriate Christ’s life by faith and begin abiding in the Spirit and pursuing holiness.
This is called the exchanged life. It is the realization that the believer cannot, through the exercise of personal will or strength, effect any long-lasting change in his life. Radical transformation is only possible through the exchanging of one’s life for Christ’s so that it is His strength that brings about a growth in holiness and righteousness. The Good News proclaimed in church is not that Jesus lived and died, but that Jesus died and now lives! If one comes to Christ, placing their faith and trust in Him, they’ll discover, by virtue of His presence in their lives that their lives have changed! Hudson Taylor said it, their life has been “exchanged.” What is it that is exchanged?
The exchanged life is what I (RF) consider to be the greatest news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the best of the best. There are innumerable passages in the Bible that one could easily select as a favorite to typify the great news of the exchanged life message. I for one am not an expert on biblical theology; this will by no means be a scholastic treatment of the subject. It is simply a few excerpts from my life experience of being transformed by Christ’s life within. My Scripture verse of reference, (and perhaps my favorite) is Romans 5:10
Romans 5:10 “For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the Life of His Son”. (NLT)
Christ’s death brought the believer reconciliation to the Father, but it is Christ’s life which now empowers the believer to continue in a new identity. Many of us whose life experiences have brought a level of understanding of the message of union with Christ also share a common truth: “It is impossible by human ability and strength to live the Christian life. ONLY CHRIST can live the Christian life in and through the Believer.” It is important to note here, that something beyond human comprehension had to take place for Christ to take up residency in the human heart.
During my nascency as a believer I understood Christianity to mean Christ came to earth, did some miraculous things, was crucified for my sins, and then returned to heaven…job well done right? What I did not understand at that time was the enormous implications of what His final 3 words on the Cross would come to mean in my life…”IT IS FINISHED.” In my opinion the 3 greatest words uttered by Jesus, parallel the greatest act performed by Him. To derive life-changing meaning of the message of the Exchanged Life, I had to go through God’s process of revelation of the finality of the Cross and my own participation in it.
I have been a “born again” believer for half my earthly life-30yrs. Almost two thirds of my Christian experience have been fraught with the emotional up and down life of “Trying to make God and others love me.” I spent much of that time in my head, involved in warfare of the mind, tormented by unrelenting thoughts of failure, and never measuring up to what I felt were other people’s standards and expectations of me. In other words, the bulk of my Christian experience was miserable. What I did not know was that this all was part of God’s merciful plan for my life. You see I was trying to make the Christian life work out of my own strength and resources. My Heavenly father was inexorably moving me towards a moment, an encounter with crisis, where truth meets brokenness and total surrender…TAP OUT! He won and so did I. Between the believer and God there are no losers!
Colossians 1:13 “For He has rescued us and has drawn us to Himself from the dominion of darkness and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” (AMP)
How does man end up in the dominion of darkness? What did we do to cause us to be there in the first place? As Christians we are familiar with the common expression.” Man is born into sin.” The question is how did this occur? And if you are anything like me the question becomes: What if anything, did I have to do with Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden? I was not there, so what is all this sin fuss about? It wasn’t me!
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
In these passages we see the imputation of sin from Adam to all mankind, but not only sin but also the results of sin. We inherited Adam’s dead inactive spirit and so thus we are born “spiritually dead.” Why is this so? It is because when Adam sinned, as he is the federal head of humanity, and since we are spiritually in him, we are partakers of the same sin and thus his nature. Well, enough of the not-so-good news. Let’s get to the exciting part of this post. Let’s take a second glance at Colossians 1:13. We were “rescued and transferred.” Dictionary.com defines rescue as To free or deliver from confinement, danger, or difficulty.
Delivered from what you might ask? The domain of darkness. In the Greek ‘domain’ connotes mastery, delegated influence, authority. Spiritual death is the greatest form of darkness man can experience on planet earth. It allows Satan unfettered access to the human soul. But we were also transferred. In the Greek, ‘transferred’ connotes carry away. In other words, EXCHANGE. As the old church ladies would say back in the day “look what God has done.”
This proclamation is succinctly and effectively detailed in Romans 6: 3-11…vs.3-we were baptized into His death…vs.4-buried with Him through baptism and raised with Him to newness of life…vs.5-united with Him in the likeness of both His death and resurrection…vs.6-our old man (dead spirit) was crucified with Him…vs.9-raised with Him…vs.11-we are alive to God in Christ. Which of us was physically present when all this occurred at the crucifixion of our Lord? You see friends this is a spiritual reality / occurrence. Just as we were spiritually in Adam and received the just recompense of his actions (death), even more so we who believe and accept Christ are participants in this divine process and His divine nature (eternal life; Christ’s life). Thus we become the new Adam, fully fashioned in the likeness of Christ, “The second Adam”
The Exchanged life is not something that humans in their strength can do. It is what God has done on the behalf of fallen humanity. We can only experience the Exchanged Life, that is, union with Christ, through practical effort and much prayer. We learn to surrender to and partner with the indwelling Presence of our Lord and Savior. One of my frequently used quotes applies here; “God sent His only begotten Son, who willingly came to us. He gave His life for us, in order to give His life to us, that he might live His life through us.”-Origin Unknown- AMEN!
One of the greatest benefits of Union with Christ is this: Union with Christ gradually produces in the heart of the believer a mature love. Scripture calls it perfect love.
1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect [complete, full-grown] love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s Judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love]. (AMP)
The Greek defines this form of ‘perfect’ as: Complete (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character.) completeness: -of full age, man, perfect. Remember…” there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. The key word here is in Christ. Jesus says…” I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Christ is our Eternal Rest. As we acknowledge and grow in this profound message of Union with Christ, we grow deeper in our understanding of our true identity. And friends nothing beats KNOWING WHO YOU ARE AND WHOSE YOU ARE. SHALOM!
Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] request known to God. And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].” (AMP)
AMEN!