A Free Exchange

 

D

r. Don Kimmel was one of the most popular professors on campus.  He taught biology and when the word leaked out that he was the professor for one section of introductory bio, everyone clamored for the chance to take his class.  People stood in line for hours outside the office of the department chair hoping against hope there would be enough space available for them to have a spot.  Deals were cut in line, treaties were signed, and big promises were made as students jockeyed for position and strained at the chance to sit under Dr. Kimmel’s tutelage. 

 

I was one of those standing in the long line that morning.  Word came, however, that the class was full and we should go about our business of registering for other classes.  So I, like so many others, walked across campus with a heavy heart and just a tinge of bitterness at having lost such a wonderful opportunity.  As luck would have it, however, word came that the department chair had started a waiting list and if there were enough students to sign up, he would consider adding another section or enlarging Dr. Kimmel’s already jam-packed class. 

 

I bolted over to the biology building, put my name on that list, and waited.  There were enough people to warrant another class, but Dr. Kimmel only wanted one class since he was also doing research that semester.  He agreed to a larger number of students, and I was able to take his course. 

 

The course proved very challenging, but Dr. Kimmel did not disappoint.  I learned so many things from him in so many different ways.  As we continued our study of plants, animals, genetics, etc., I found myself becoming more and more engrossed in the world around me and just how marvelous a creation God had made.  The relationship between plants and us especially fascinated me and this relationship provides the basis for today’s devotional. 

 

As most people know, humans and animals require oxygen to survive.  We have to fill our lungs with this stuff several times a minute or we won’t be around for very long.  Plants, however, have a different set of needs.  They must breathe in carbon dioxide if they are to survive because oxygen is poisonous to them.  So, we breathe in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide.  Plants breathe in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.  It is a free exchange and as long as this continues, we’ll all remain very happy, capable of enjoying all the minutes a lifetime affords. 

 

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes about another life-giving exchange that is also free.  Paul, however, is not concerned with the oxygen/carbon dioxide cycle. Instead, his subject matter is far more important than the air we breathe.  Instead of discussing the free exchange of gases, Paul describes the free exchange Jesus offers us, trading our sin for his righteousness. 

 

In 2 Corinthians 5:21, we read, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  Do you see the free exchange in this passage?  Sin is poisonous to us, leading to death and eternal separation from God. We cannot save ourselves from our sinful nature.  What we need is an exchange that will provide what we need to become righteous in God’s sight so that we can have a relationship with Him and receive eternal life from Him.  

 

This was what the work of Jesus Christ on Calvary’s cross did for us.  Jesus became sin, the very thing God detests and the very thing that separates us from Him, so that we could become God’s children.  It was necessary that a perfect sacrifice for sin be made so that God’s justice would be satisfied, and Jesus Christ was that sacrifice.  Through his death and resurrection, he now offers us a free exchange from what we are to what he has called us to become, namely the righteousness of God.  Only through this exchange can we be saved and only through this free exchange can we have eternal life and a right relationship with God.  Have you accepted this free exchange today?  Do you know someone today who needs a breath of fresh air?  Share the good news of Jesus Christ with them today so that they may freely exchange their sin for God’s righteousness