Here is something emailed to me yesterday by Nate Haugen, as part of his Christmas newsletter to his friends and family. Nate is a young man who is out of the gay lifestyle and now helps others who, like him, seek a 'do-over'
THE GREAT EXCHANGE
"This past season I have been impacted by the reality of the "Great Exchange". There is something divine when we fully understand the precious gift of Jesus.
"Jesus left His Father's side in order to bear the sins of all man-kind: past, present, and future. He humbled Himself to become flesh and be born by a virgin in a manger. We all know the story but sometimes forget its significance. In any exchange one thing is given in order to receive another thing. Jesus came to give us the possibility of everlasting life in exchange for our petty, selfish, proclaiming sins. Yet, there is more! Jesus came to exchange the way we think about ourselves and give us renewed minds, to give us back our original identity in Him. All this in exchange for our own fleshly identity that we came up with in order to cope in a wicked and simply difficult world.
"If the rooster crows in the morning, we can say 'Yes! Thank you God for the alarm,' but there is so much more to thank Him for! Such as, another day to be alive, another breath to breath, another day to spend in relationship with Him. Likewise with the Great Exchange is so much more than Jesus coming to save us from our sins, say the prayer, and then go on with life!
"This baby that we celebrate and light candles for Sunday after Sunday in December is not just our Savior. He is our healer of past wounds, our joy in place of our sorrow, our transformer in place of our addictions, and ungodly way of living. There is so much to grasp over this baby! The baby is truly not some great man who never sinned, or a past hero. This baby is Jesus Christ, who in the book of Revelation, speaks of having fire in His eyes to bring justice to the nations. I want more justice for my body, soul, and spirit!
"The Great Exchange calls us to boldly follow the Jesus through the narrow gates to a life that is so full of all good things."
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