THE GREAT EXCHANGE
When we spontaneously lift up our hands and stretch out our arms in the pattern that is “the way” and “the truth” and “the life” of worship, by a magnificent and glorious design, we automatically approximate the posture of the Cross. Which is the posture of COMPLETE SURRENDER.
And just as for Jesus, when He raised up His hands and stretched out His arms and lay Himself down upon the forerunner Cross, it is in that moment of our own complete surrender when we likewise lift up our hands and stretch out our arms, that just like for Jesus — the great forerunner Spirit and Firstborn Son — we also ultimately walk in victory.
For it is in the act of complete surrender — which is to RELEASE life — that we then ultimately FIND life — and life abundantly. For does the unshakable and irrefutable and undeniable Word of God not tell us: “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it?” (Matthew 16:25). And is that not a truly great exchange?
For just as Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life, It’s in “THE WAY” of surrender that we ultimately find “THE TRUTH” that then leads us to “THE LIFE” - and to life in unparalleled abundance. For when we surrender all, which is to present ourselves before our Maker as a living sacrifice, which is the heart of true worship, and the ultimate expression of love, does the power of God Himself then not come to visit in and upon us? For when Jesus gave up His all, did the power of God not come and sit on Him? And in the light of what is forgone for what is gained, is that not a truly great exchange?
For the way and truth and life of the kingdom charter of real love is that when we freely GIVE, we always freely RECEIVE. For does the Word of God not say that freely you have received, so freely give, and when we give, that “seed is given to the sower and bread to the eater”? (Isaiah 55:10-11). In giving, seed is GIVEN to the SOWER. Which is the very opposite of the way of the world. For when does the world ever give back? When does it ever not just take? In other words, in giving bread to the eater, the giver RECEIVES. And not just anything. For is seed not the very essence and power of life? Is that then not a truly great exchange?
For it is in the pattern and the DNA or Spirit of this great exchange, that just as when Christ Jesus surrendered Himself on the Cross, that the earth shook and the rocks split (Matthew 27:51), that when we likewise surrender completely to an all-seeing, all-knowing God, that MOUNTAINS ARE MOVED. Is THIS then not a truly great exchange? That our mountains are moved? For when we approach the throne room of our Father in heaven in worship and in surrender, the divine nature and the eternal power of God say: “Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.” (Isaiah 40;4).
The very same love that once received Jesus and then stood up the brokenness of His sacrifice into the glory that is the resurrection power of the risen Jesus, then raises us out of the ashes of our own surrender so that “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5). Is that not a truly wonderful exchange? From being ashes and clay, and the dust of the earth, to being living stones of a living city that not only has streets paved with gold, but to which every nation will one day all run (Isaiah 2:2). What does that say of this living city? What a truly great exchange.
For it is in the way and the truth and the life of entering first “the tomb” on the one side of the Cross of surrender, the altar of living sacrifice, that the eternal power of the Almighty God then brings us out on the other side through “the womb” of resurrection life into life, and life abundantly. For it was in that moment of genuine surrender that the Isaac who once lay down on the altar in humble obedience and honour unto his father was not the same Isaac who then stood up. For was favour not bestowed from the God of all creation upon him? For it is in the heart of surrender that the resurrection power of God “proclaims the year of the Lord’s favour, and the day of vengeance of our God.” (Isaiah 61:2). For true worship and surrender is a matter of the orientation of the heart. Which is a heart laid bare and prostrate upon the anvil and altar of love. And God is a God who looks not to the appearance of things but unto the heart.
Our ever-present God is not only with us in all that is unseen, but He is ever-present in all that is seen. For everything that is, not only lives and moves in Him, but has its entire being in Him. From the gentle whispers of the wings of bees unheard, to the sighs of all creation. It is HIS life that sustains all of life and holds all things together. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.“ (Colossians 1;17). And it is THIS life that He freely gives to all in the great exchange that is love.
And so it is that in this exchange of life for Life that our great God moves. And on those who surrender unto Him in the manner and likeness of His Son, He bestows on them “a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour.” (Isaiah 61:3). For it is when we are surrounded in our surrender by an Almighty God that we shall not only grasp how wide and long and deep and high is the love of God, but we shall forever and for always be firmly “rooted and established in love.” (Ephesians 3:17).
