The Great Exchange

Real life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. Listen to walk to the valley of the shadow of death is living through this life now and to the moment you've read your last breath and then to be absent from the bodies to be present with the Lord you go home you see Christ God opens up the game says come on in this is what Jesus has done for us you can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast today if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings to us that's like saying amen or yes then that rating will encourage others to listen now open your hearts to what God's word has to say to you here is Jack Hibbs the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 for God the Father made him who is Christ who knew no sin to be sin for us that means God laid upon him your lust your anger your pride jealousy you name it everything God put it upon him that we might become the righteousness of God in him in Christ I wrote in my Bible the great exchange Christ goes to the cross he dies in my place he puts his righteousness and demolishes my sin he picks it up he carries my sin he demolishes by his righteousness then he turns around and being resurrected from the dead he bestows upon us his righteousness and changes the account ledger that your name my name is in heaven and underneath you still have all of this stuff what is known as the handwriting of ordinances that were against us Christ washed them away by his blood you should clap at that we should all be very happy about that atonement atonement Christ carried our sins and he washed them away he did that and if you understand that then you get to experience freedom from guilt and shame because you're the one that become keenly aware of the fact that there used to be a different you and now there's a new you and he died for you because he loved you met you five verse 41 the Bible says Jesus says and whoever compels you to go a mile go with them too give to him who ask you and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away wow this is so Christlike you've heard that it has been said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy that was the proverb until Jesus blew that out of the water verse 44 but I say to you love your enemies bless those who curse you do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you that you may be sons of your father in heaven say jack I can't do that none of us could do that but we have to ask God to give us that kind of love are we willing to bear the burdens of even of those who hate us now I understand we are called and commanded to bear the burdens of those in the family but what about those in our lives who I mean they may not have come up and say I hate you or maybe they have then it makes it very simple you know what to do but if it's somebody it's just like you kind of get the feeling yeah I don't think they like me figure out a way to bless them I am not going to tell you with some details because I don't want to give you the details it's I'll just say this many many years ago decades ago there was a person that just would not leave me alone it was bad nuisance I'm telling you every turn I'm hearing something about me that I didn't know about me this person spreading stuff this person saying things just this incredibly overwhelming preoccupation was discussed for me and I thought it was pretty contained and quiet meaning limited to just and then I began to hear strangers talk about it and I just here's my first thought I remember it like it was yesterday Jesus this is doing nothing but hurting your reputation your name your glory your word I don't know what to do and then I go on and live my day and then I do what you do the next morning I'm reading my Bible and I come across this scripture and this is bless those who curse you do good to those who spitefully use you and say all kinds of evil against you for my name's sake how can I do that God first of all I'd have to get a phone call through to them somehow they would never take my call but what would I do in our family there's a tradition it's been going on for generations and that is that from my mother in the Hawaiian culture my family generations on my mom's side there is this very very special meal I will just say it's you have you ever heard of a loco moco well that's junk compared to what this is it's Hawaiian fried rice and eggs but it's unbelievable the way that it's prepared all of this stuff and my mom taught it to me and I taught it to Lisa and our daughters and our granddaughter and that's a deal but you only share it with special people that's the tradition and you know what God said to me I thought he was so wrong he said that's what I want you to do to this person see what but here's the deal Lisa cannot be involved she needs to be dismissed you're in the kitchen you do all the preparation you do it you set the table you make it but I don't know this I'm not kidding you guys listening I I don't know what kind of bread the guy likes what did God say God said get wheat get white get rye get sourdough and I had it all I don't know if the guy likes coffee or tea I had coffee and tea I made it all up person came over and said what do you try to do kill me no please sit down that breakfast was at 8 a.m that person talked till about noon I didn't understand what was going on they got in their car they drove away and when that person drove away I can't explain to you and I'm glad I cannot explain it to you it was so supernatural I felt like I had lost 10 pounds in 30 seconds there was this piece and this release of blessing the one who spoke evil of you did that person stop speaking evil of me no it never bothered me again when when you see scriptures like that and you say I can't do that please do it because listen Jesus want you to be free and the world hates you and I to the best of our ability to the best weekend bless them you said I don't know how I didn't either ask God he'll tell you that's who we are as believers Philippians chapter 2 verse 4 tells us let each of you look out not only for his own interest but also for the interest of others wow and the next thing we see is in verse 2 that it reveals your loyalty when the world speaks ill of you cheer up it reveals your loyalty some of us I hope all of us know what it's like to be attacked for Jesus sake you ever had people attack you and it's not even you they're attacking it's so obvious they hate Jesus man it's it's it's like it's it's branching it up pretty high right now in the world around us I'm getting all kinds of hate mail right now I'm being told you need to get a security team you're getting these threats these pro pro Hamas pro Hezbollah people are speaking about you why what what I do to them well I I was in in Israel and that I I don't know how I didn't I didn't like fill out a application for this but in Israel I was voted a number 5 out of 10 the top 10 Gentiles that stand with Israel I was number 5 and and I thought well that's cool well this not everybody else thinks that's cool and and then this article went on to say this guy believes what the Bible says this guy believes that Jesus is the Messiah of not only Israel but the Messiah of the world this is all true it's true and listen I'm this guy is a Zionist that's true you want to know why where where is Zion does anybody know where Zion is it's in Jerusalem you know that's where David had his throne on Mount Zion it's a hill for crying out loud oh guess what the son of David is going to establish his throne when he returns on a hill called Zion but listen when people don't like that they say are you a Zionist it's like yes what of it but we think listen if the other people who hate Jesus and hate the word of God and hate you say are you a Zionist the way that they frame it you go I don't know I don't know really show it maybe am I I don't know what are you doing stand up stand up and say yeah God is so I am too yeah that's right God is so I am too so you do you believe in Jesus the Jesus who died on the cross and rose again from the dead yet by sure do yes I do why because he's your only hope we're living in an amazing age don't be discouraged because every day your loyalty is going to be tested as to who Jesus is in your life this is not a time to get scared or weak need it's a time to lovingly stand and say yes I love the Lord he's amazing he's been so good to me you should know him too respond in a way he says let each of us please his neighbor and for his good leading to edification and that's how Jesus is to us Jesus builds us up with with his love and so we should mimic the same and the word please here this is a good word for us to to look at the Greek word for to please is to make glad is to make glad to create a pleasant atmosphere oh this is cool to set a table as in welcoming in a stranger I like that isn't that neat you know some people the one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the gift of hospitality have you ever seen people with the gift of hospitality it's almost so amazing it's uncomfortable you ever been where somebody's got the gift of hospitality you walk into their home and it's like the lighting is perfect it smells perfect they're so sweet and nice they thought about everything and you want to be there and then it's time for you to go home and you don't want to leave because they have the gift of hospitality and if they were to say well we have an extra room here okay because you know there's going to be a souffle or something in the morning love just comes out of them they care about every little thing and if humans can be like that under the possession of the Holy Spirit how much more God he loves you and these beautiful things well there's so much wrong in the world of course there is but there's so much good also don't know don't don't get fixated on one thing you'll get depressed Psalm chapter 23 verse 1 the Lord is my shepherd notice the possessive origin of this that by the way see the caps on LORD that's Yahweh Yah in the in the scriptures it's Yah Yahweh is my shepherd that's beautiful that's the name of God Yah I shall not lack or want he makes me to lie down in green pastures he leads me beside the still waters he restores my soul he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake yay I've always heard it in my head this way yay yay yay though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death listen you're gonna want to remember verse 4 because every single one of us will experience verse 4 you will walk through the valley of the shadow of death you say what is it like when I breathed my last and I that's what when I die when I body dies is that when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death once I die nope listen to walk through the valley of the shadow of death is living through this life now and to the moment you breathe your last breath and then to be absent from the bodies to be present with the Lord you go home you see Christ God opens up the gate says come on in this is what Jesus has done for us it's awesome so yay yay though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil no COVID there for you are with me you're brought in your staff they come for me instruction encouragement and discipline comfort me you prepare a table here it is before me in the presence of my enemies wow God can give you incredible control and peace in the most hostile ugly situation because the spirit of the Lord listen is not only where you're at the spirit of the Lord has to be wherever you're at because Jesus tells us regarding the fact that the spirit of God dwelling with you new he says I will never leave you or forsake you and Jesus does that by the power of the Holy Spirit first Corinthians chapter 9 verse 19 says for though I am free Paul to speaking from all men in other words nobody can buy me says Paul nobody owns me I have made myself a servant to all that I might win the more and to the Jews I became as a Jew which is funny he was a Jew why is he saying this because it didn't matter to him anymore is this amazing the super Jew Paul was the super Jew by the way if you're Jewish today please listen if you're Jewish don't stop being Jewish my listen our God's Jewish our Messiah's a Jew if you're Jewish you need to come and meet your Messiah man he'll take care of the rest it's amazing to think some people have said Jesus was the first Christian do you know what Christian means it means Christ follower and it's also a slang word it was a derogatory statement Antioch in Antioch the unbeliever has started making fun of Christians by saying look at the little Christians you guys just walk around talking like Jesus acting like Jesus oh you're so cute your butt's a little we're gonna call you Christians a little little Christ walking around and the Christian said I mean the the the believer said that's we like that we're gonna hang on to that no friends Jesus was not the first Christian Jesus was the Jew who pointed us to the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob were the Gentiles who have been grafted in to the commonwealth of Israel says the scripture so listen if you're Jewish you're just a little bit ahead of us you just need to understand that your Messiah is not coming for the first time you're not waiting for your Messiah to come for the first time he's coming again we're waiting for him to come back and you need to know that you've been focusing on the wrong one the Messiah came and died for our sins at the cross rose again from the dead and he's coming back so listen Paul says listen when I was hanging out with Jews I became like a Jew that I may win Jews to those who are under the law as under the law in other words when Paul was hanging out with a bunch of legalistic people he just walked a very straight line with them that I might win those who are under the law verse 21 to those who are without the law unbelieving or Gentile world as without the law not being without law toward God but under the law toward Christ in other words love I'd never I never compromised my love that I might win those who are without law to the weak I became as weak that I might win the weak I became all things to all men that I might by all means save some is this sweet now this I do for the gospel's sake that I may be a partaker of it with you to be the kind of a believer that never compromises truth we stand on that unwaveringly like so many things in life it's how we communicate it do we communicate the truth of God by the fact that we love other people because we love God first and that we minister by carrying one another's love this Jack Hibbs podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are listener supported will you consider partnering with us through a special gift go to jackhibbs.com to learn more and stay connected