Unlike your spouse, who says, “Everything that is yours is mine, and everything that is mine is mine,” God says, “Everything that is mine is yours, and everything that is yours is mine.”
Does the dollar amount of $100,000 sound good? Maybe at first, but not when you know that this is how much the Boston Red Sox received when they sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. Most baseball nerds consider this the worst (or best) swap in the history of baseball.
The swap that God made when Jesus died for us appears to be another lopsided trade. When God became human in Jesus Christ, God agreed “to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28). Christ makes a swap. He takes our imperfection, sin, guilt, death, and all our other “junk.” We get Christ’s perfection, righteousness, innocence, and eternal life. Such a deal! It is no wonder that Luther called this the froeliche Wechsel (and if you say that our loud in an airport security line, you may get searched) – the “joyful exchange.” What a deal!
This happens when we are “clothed with Christ” in baptism. Through faith, we gain all of Christ’s benefits. At the same time, he takes our heaviest burdens upon himself. But don’t think Jesus comes out on the short end of the stick. He gladly makes this trade with us because (a) he loves us and (b) he gets to keep us forever. Again, what a deal…..
Pastor Bauer+ (with a BIG assist from Prof. Rolf Jacobson)