Source: Bifties Gifts / Bifties Gifts
The Great Exchange (Day #8)
Jesus came to earth to give us the gifts of acceptance, peace, healing, and forgiveness, but those gifts were not cheap. We could never afford what Jesus came to provide, and gratefully, we don’t have to. God now accepts us, not because of our own good behavior, but because Jesus paid the price by experiencing the greatest rejection on our behalf. Jesus chose to die to cover our sin, conquer death, and bring us life. The prophet Isaiah called our sins “transgressions” and “iniquities” – essentially our crimes and our wickedness. Those sins created a debt we could never repay, but Jesus, in His perfection, could. As Jesus chose to be born into a world where He would be bruised and crushed, He brought us peace and healing.
The prophecy in Isaiah 53 portrays God’s great exchange: Jesus’ life for all of ours. Jesus knew the cost of Christmas, and He embraced it so we could embrace Him and the eternal life He made available for us. As you celebrate this season, don’t forget: We can only be forgiven, healed, and set free because Jesus chose Christmas.
Prayer: Jesus, I can never thank You enough for paying the price that covered my debt. I would truly be lost without You. I worship You as my Peace, my Healer, and my Savior! Thank You for choosing Christmas. Help me to receive all You came to give me, and help me then share those gifts with the world around me.
Scripture:
Isaiah 53:3-5 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
