For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
Never had I gotten such a good deal.
One year into our payments for our new Kia Soul, the emails started. “Trade your car in. We’ll give you top dollar.” Although the car wasn’t as large as we needed, it got good gas mileage, my wife liked it, and we couldn’t afford the payment a larger vehicle would carry. So we ignored the emails and the postcards that came in the mail.
After three years of paying—and with continuing offers to give us top dollar on a trade-in—my wife noticed creaking sounds when she turned right or left and when she backed up. A couple of trips to the dealership resulted in a diagnosis: bad struts. Each time she took the car for repairs, a particular salesman met her at the door. “Don’t you want to trade that Soul in? I’ll give you top dollar.” She ignored him. Truthfully, our credit stunk because of things in the past beyond our control. My mother had signed for us to get what we had, but we weren’t about to ask her to do it again.
When the repair job didn’t stop the creaking, my mother asked, “Why don’t you trade it in?”
“You know we can’t afford to buy another car,” I said.
“I’ll sign for you again,” she replied.
Off to the Kia dealership, I sent my wife. “See if the salesman is as good as his word,” I told her.
Because of emails and texts, my wife didn’t have to meet with the salesman initially. He was a friendly sort of fellow. In fact, we had many mutual friends on Facebook. We gave him all the information he needed—and so did Mom. He asked what kind of payment we could stand, and we told him. He wanted to sell us a brand-new van, which my wife drooled over. After all, at the time, she transported two of our grandboys and the music teacher’s toddler every day. In the Soul, they were packed like sardines in the back seat. We had no idea he could put us in a new van for anywhere close to what we presently paid.
We went about our business as usual, taking time to join some friends at a local restaurant for supper. As we ate, a text came through: “Come on down. I have the paperwork ready.” Yeah, right, paperwork that’s gonna show me numbers I can’t afford, I thought. Even though the dealership closed in twenty minutes, he told us to come anyway.
As we pulled into the parking lot, the salesman pulled the van to the front door. We entered his office and sat. “Here’s what we have,” he said. I knew this was a waste of time—but I was surprised. For forty more dollars a month—within a range we could afford—we could drive this new van home. And we did. He remained true to his word. He offered us $2500 more than we owed on our car and took $10,000 off the MSRP of the van. I called Mom, and she came down and sealed the deal. We experienced a great exchange.
Paul had an even greater exchange in mind when he reminded his readers what God had done through Christ. Sin infected Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God, and, like an epidemic, it spread to every person. But God chose to send Jesus and let him pay the penalty for all those sins, thereby stopping the epidemic if we choose his offer of forgiveness. God offered a great exchange: our sin for Christ’s righteousness.
After the trade, I never had to look at that too-small Kia Soul anymore. Now, I could enjoy riding in a large Kia Sedona. A wonderful exchange, but nothing that compares to what God has done for us in Christ.
The sound of amazing grace is sweet. It saved a wretch like me—and will anyone who asks. Not by what we can do on our own, but by what God has done on our behalf. All we had to do was accept the salesman’s offer to ride off in something I could actually fit my six-foot-one frame in. And all God asks is that we accept his offer of forgiveness.
When we take God up on the trade, life changes. He sprinkles our hearts with the blood of his Son and frees us from a guilty conscience. We live each day knowing everything is right between us and him. He cleanses our sin record and gives us peace.
Don’t miss out on the greatest exchange ever.
Father, thank you for making a way to exchange my sins for your holiness.
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