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2 Corinthians 5:21, Genesis 3:21

The Great Exchange

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 15, 2025

As Adam failed in the garden to trust God’s love and good intentions for him, all men have failed also. In the Garden, the failure was an issue of trusting God’s love. But when God calls his children, Israel, out of Egypt and gives them the law at Sinai, they fail in the wilderness to obey God’s laws. Generally speaking, man failed in the garden through a lack of faith and in the wilderness through a lack of obedience. Jesus, on the other hand, was led into the wilderness in Matthew chapter 4 to be tempted to disobey God’s law, but he was victorious over Satan. Then, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus wrestled with trusting God regardless of the circumstances he was facing. He prayed, “Not my will, but thine be done.” Adam failed! All of us fail. There is none righteous, no not one! That is, we are all born of Adam’s seed. But the one born of the seed of the woman, conceived of by the Holy Spirit. He is righteous and perfect in every way.

Now, this is where the greatest miracle of all takes place. Through our faith in Jesus a great withdrawal from our account is made. Jesus takes away our sin, deposits it in His own account, and then pays the penalty for it all on the cross. But it’s not only that our sins are credited to His account and considered His, but his righteousness is also deposited back into our accounts. J. I. Packer writes, “The judge declares guilty sinners immune from punishment and righteous in his sight. The great exchange is no legal fiction, no arbitrary pretense, no mere word-game on God’s part, but a costly achievement.” The biblical statement of “the great exchange” is 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

There are two sides to this divine transaction: the eradication of our sin and the infusion of Christ’s righteousness into our accounts. This is the most exhilarating news in the world, and that’s what the word “gospel” means: good news! In Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” This is what we call the “Great Exchange:” My sins for Christ’s righteousness. Adam and Eve attempted to conceal their sin with fig leaves but found them to be insufficient. Mark Water encapsulates it perfectly, “The gospel is given in Genesis 3:21 when Moses tells us that God clothed them. They needed something they couldn’t provide for themselves; and God giving man what man needs to stand in His favorable presence is the essence of the gospel. Luther merely restated what true Christians have understood for centuries that justification is by faith alone.”

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John 10:7-9

The Right Door!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 14, 2025

Questioning God’s Word inspired eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan aroused doubt in our first parents about the goodness and love of God. If God won’t let you have “everything” you want, He must not truly love you. This seems to be the approach that Satan took as he targeted the faith of Adam and Eve. “Look,” Satan says, “it looks good, it feels good, it tastes good, and it will satisfy that gnawing curiosity of wandering what that forbidden fruit is all about.” That curiosity killed the cat and drove the first two human beings to experiment with the forbidden. Isn’t that always the case? But the root of that experimentation seems to be the desire to find out for myself.  You’ve heard it said that money will not bring happiness. I always reply that I’d like to find out for myself.  That seems to be why Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It’s the knowledge tree.

Why is that forbidden? How do I know it’s not good? The curiosity is killing me! I need to “know.” Proverbs 9:17 says, “Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” In the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer wrote, “Forbid us something, and that’s the thing we desire.” In the ancient Annals of Tacitus, we read, “The illicit has an added charm.” In Pudd’nhead Wilson, Mark Twain said it well, “Adam was but human—this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple’s sake; he wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake was in not forbidding the serpent; then he would have eaten the serpent.” It is said that Phineas T. Barnum, the famed circus magnate, hung a large sign over one of the exits of his museum, which read, “This way to the egress.” Many people in the crowds, eager to see what an egress looked like, passed through the door and found themselves out on the street.

“Hey,” as Si of Duck Dynasty always says, don’t think we’d have done anything differently. None of us have trusted God completely. Shakespeare said it well in Romeo and Juliet (III, 2, 87), “There’s no trust, no faith, no honesty in men; all perjured, all forsworn, all naught, all dissemblers.” We’ve all been drawn by our quest for the knowledge of good and evil and the desire to find out for ourselves. We are all lured by the sign, and we want to find out for ourselves. And we all have found ourselves out in the street. We’ve all taken wrong doors. All we like sheep have gone astray. Thank God for Jesus! He says, “…Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep…I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:7-9).

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Hebrews 12:2-3, Zephaniah 3:11

No Shame!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 13, 2025

I’ve done many things in my 78 years that I’m ashamed of. When something drives one of those things home to me, even today, I want to cover my face with my hands and shiver with my shame. I understand what it means to cover myself with fig leaves, don’t you? I suppose everyone has some things that they are ashamed of. Shame is disgrace, embarrassment, dishonor, humiliation, indignity, and ignominy. I don’t want to stir your memory with painful moments, but I’m sure you remember something that brought those sensations to you. I can’t imagine the horror I’d feel if some of the things of my past were recorded and broadcast over the screens at church. Disgrace, embarrassment, and humiliation would not be sufficient to describe my feelings.

It’s likely that many of you, like me, carry these memories of shame. Some in this world bear a heavier burden than you, and I do. Can you fathom the weight of carrying the collective shame of all humanity? I can’t! Max Lucado beautifully captures this in his writing, “One wave of shame after another was dumped on Jesus. Though he never cheated, he was convicted as a cheat. Though he never stole, heaven regarded him as a thief. Though he never lied, he was considered a liar. Though he never lusted, he bore the shame of an adulterer. Though he always believed, he endured the disgrace of an infidel.” How did Jesus bear the shame of the world? The burden is unimaginable, but it’s a burden he willingly took upon himself, offering us a path to redemption.

Max continues, “What gave Jesus the strength to endure the shame of all the world? We need an answer, don’t we? Like Jesus we are tempted. Like Jesus we are accused. Like Jesus we are ashamed. But unlike Jesus, we give up. We give out. We sit down. How can we keep running as Jesus did? How can our hearts have the endurance Jesus had?” The answer lies in Hebrews 12:2-3. It tells us that because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Consider the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. There’s joy awaiting us also. In Zephaniah 3:11, we read, “On that day you will no longer need to be ashamed, for you will no longer be rebels against me.”

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1 Peter 2:6, Genesis 3:9-10

It’s a Shame!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 12, 2025

If we understand Satan’s rebellion properly, we see that his great sin was pride. It was the motivating force for him to desire to take God’s place. We usually take the words of Isaiah 14:14 to be those spoken by Satan. In that passage, he says, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Thus, pride is often referred to as the source of all sin. Well, the wisest man in the world tells us that it always comes before a fall (see Proverbs 16:18). But, later on in Proverbs 11:2, he says something just a little different. The King James Version says, “When pride comes, then comes shame.”

Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was also motivated out of pride. Satan’s temptation was that we’d be like God, knowing good and evil. One aspect of this temptation was to fully break away from God’s instructions regarding good and evil and take upon ourselves: the right to decide what’s wrong and right. It’s choosing to take God’s place in our own lives. It led to the “Fall.” That’s what we call Genesis chapter three, where Eve speaks to Adam, and Adam chooses to eat the offered fruit from the tree. The fall of all mankind! Pride, indeed, led to a great fall. I believe Lewis Carol’s children’s poem, “Humpty Dumpty” was written to teach this lesson. You know it! All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.

In Genesis 2:25, the man and woman were naked, yet they were not ashamed. However, as soon as they partook of the fruit to become like God, they were suddenly aware of their nakedness, filled with fear and shame, and they hid themselves (Genesis 3:9-10). Both pride and shame can have a similar impact on our relationship with God. As Max Lucado writes in “He Chose the Nails,” “Pride says, ‘You’re too good for him.’ Shame says, ‘You’re too bad for him.’ Pride drives you away. Shame keeps you away. If pride is what goes before a fall, then shame is what keeps you from getting up after one.” Peter, however, offers a glimmer of hope, teaching us about something more powerful than all the kings’ horses and all the kings’ men. We can be redeemed. In 1 Peter 2:6, he assures us, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

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Genesis 2:2-3, Matthew 11:28-29

The Giver of Rest

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 11, 2025

In the creation account, we learn about God’s rest on the seventh (Sabbath) day.   Genesis 2:2-3 states, “And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So, God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it, God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.” Tim Keller reminds us, “According to the Bible, the Sabbath is about more than just taking time off. After creating the world, God looked around and saw that ‘it was very good’ (Genesis 1:31). God didn’t just stop working; he took joy in what he had made. This is the essence of the Sabbath for us. It’s about finding joy in God’s creation, in his salvation, and in the fruits of our labor. The Sabbath is a time of joy and peace in what God has done.”

We live in a driven society. Every employer wants to know how good a candidate can be at multi-tasking. Compared to earlier, less technological generations, I expect we are all a little obsessive-compulsive. We need to keep our lives in perspective. Although the Sabbath, created for man, includes the idea of resting from our labors, it is far more than that. It is necessary to find inner rest for our souls as well. Keller goes on to say, “We need rest from the anxiety and strain of our overwork, which is really an attempt to justify ourselves—to gain the money or the status or the reputation we think we have to have. Avoiding overwork requires deep rest in Christ’s finished work for your salvation (Hebrews 4:1–10). Only then will you be able to ‘walk away’ regularly from your vocational work and rest.”

In Mark 2:27-28, Jesus identifies himself as “the Lord of the Sabbath.” He’s the Lord of rest! One of the most comforting passages is Matthew 11:28-29. Jesus invites us all when he says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” After the fall, man’s work was never as effective as it was intended. “Labor” in bringing forth children was part of the consequences of sin. “Labor” in the fields that would bring forth thorns and thistles instead of wheat and grain made everything difficult and painful. But the work of Jesus on the cross of Calvary done on our behalf is perfect. It’s complete and the only real rest to be found in this sinful world is to rest confidently and comfortably in the hands of Jesus. No one or nothing can separate us from his loving care!

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Genesis 2:7, John 20:21-22

The Breather out of Life

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 10, 2025

When God created us, male and female, He created us in His own image. Genesis 1:26 makes this clear: “Then God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” He took dirt and formed our bodies. Now, God’s image isn’t to be found in our bodies. Instead, it’s to be found in our spirits. Both the Hebrew and Greek words for spirit are also translated as wind or breath. In Genesis 2:7, we read, “…the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

One way to determine if a body still has life is to check to see if the person is breathing. If you and I can fog a mirror, we’re still alive. If we were deprived of air, we wouldn’t last very long. Breathing, breath, is a gift from God and a constant reminder of our dependence on Him. Try holding your breath, and you will soon find that air-hunger becomes painful after only a minute or even less. We will die in just a few minutes unless our “breath” supply is restored. But there is more to real life than this physical existence. God never intended for mankind to die. Death became part of our experience when Adam sinned. God warned Adam that if they chose to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, death would become part of their experience. They would no longer enjoy the real “life” God had intended. Death would be the shadow that would color all the days of their physical existence. So it is today!

As I’ve wrestled with this passage in Genesis, John 20:21-22 came to mind. It reads, “Jesus said to them again, ‘As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” Whereas the breath of life, physical breathing, is something everyone needs to survive, Jesus gives us something that is more than just physical life. He breathes out “holy breath.” In John 10:10, Jesus said he came not just to give us life but to give us life to the fullest extent possible. Jesus was not promising just a better human life. He was offering to give us the very life of God, the eternal, indestructible, incorruptible, divine life. This is the life that is in God Himself. In John 5: 26, we read, “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” It is the kind of life that’s not limited in quality or quantity! It’s the way back into the graces of the God who made us. Jesus offers access to everyone. In John 14:6, He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

 

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Genesis 1:11, John 6:35

He Fills My Voids

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 9, 2025

Genesis tells us that the whole creation was “tohu vabohu.” That’s the Hebrew phrase for “Formless and Void.” But then God spoke and brought order out of Chaos. First, He created the categories by separating one from another. He made divisions between the waters above, the waters below, the sky, the dry ground, the seas, and the land. Even though now there were distinctions between space, time, and matter, the distinctions needed content. They were empty. They were void of anything meaningful. So, God filled each with content. He put planets and stars in space along with the sun and moon. He put birds in the sky, fish in the sea, and plants and animals on the dry ground. He did this so that each life form in each arena would reproduce itself with the intent of filling the whole earth. In Genesis 1:11, God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so.

This creative process of God, His Word, brought meaning to space, skies, seas, and dry ground. Moreover, God entrusted man with the task of managing it all and understanding the purpose of life. The voids were all filled. Man had dominion over it all. However, man’s meaning was not found in the fullness of the earth! Man’s meaning was found in the fullness of His communion with the God who created it all. He shared the joys of life with the God who made Him. Male and Female, God created them to have an intimate relationship with Him. When man broke that communion through sin, the meaning, purpose, and significance of life were lost. Chaos reigned again in creation and man was lost and alone. But He was left with a promise that one day the seed of the woman would come forth and bring meaning back to life.

Then God sent Jesus! He fills the voids once again and gives meaning and purpose to our lives by receiving judgment for our rebellion on the cross. He restores our intimate connection with God, and things matter once again. The voids in our lives can once again be filled by God’s Word. Consider these verses. John 2:1-12 – Jesus fills our empty lives with joy… Luke 5:1-11 Jesus fills our empty nets…John 4:7-42 – Jesus fills our life with living water… John 6:1-14 – Jesus fills our hungry souls…John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

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Genesis 1:5, Mark 4:39

A Great Calm!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 8, 2025

In Genesis chapter 1, we read that the earth was “formless and void.” These ideas perfectly describe a chaotic situation. Then God said, “Let there be light, and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3). He then proceeded to create categories. In Genesis 1:5 and following, we read, “God called the light Day and the darkness he called Night. …And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse…And God called the expanse Heaven… God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas.” He then filled space with planets and stars. He filled the skies with birds, the seas with fish, and the land with plants and animals. In other words, he gave the categories content and brought order out of the chaos. It resulted in a perfect environment of peaceful coexistence in the Garden of Eden with man entrusted with its care. This is called paradise!

Evolutionary Scientists argue that order (the complexities in the universe) came about by accident. Nobel laureate Ilya Prigogine, in his book “Order out of Chaos” argues that many complex systems have evolved into a high degree of order without the interference of a designer. Stuart Kauffman suggests a fourth law of thermodynamics, which involves spontaneous, self-sustaining, self-organizing systems. One creationist observed that this 4th so-called law “would violate the second law of thermodynamics, which states everything in nature tends toward decay.” The law of decay has its roots in man’s sin. This stark contrast between God’s order and man’s chaos should humble us and lead us to reflect on our role in maintaining order in a world of sin and confusion.

Harry Reasoner concluded his book, Before the Colors Fade (Alfred A. Knopf, 1981), with a Catholic theologian’s definition of work: “Work is the effort of men and women to bring order out of the chaos left by original sin.” The problem with this is that man’s failure involves his inability to bring perfect order back into a chaotic world of sin and confusion. But Jesus, the 2nd Adam, came to do just that. Many of His miracles were designed for us to see Him as the producer of order in the world. We read about one of these in Mark 4:39: “And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” Jesus, the bringer of ‘great calms,’ offers hope and comfort to those who trust Him. In his book, “The Loins Girded,” Knap says, “There is the storm of doubt that may make us shake within our deepest essence. We can control her as little as the howling wind. However, when the grace of Immanuel flows towards us to uphold us in the evil day, then it seems like our vexed soul may hear from the throne of majesty the word: ‘Peace, be still’, and a great calm enters our innermost.”

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