Trading places

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9
The contrast between the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and the unrighteousness of sinful man, is immense. Here is God, come to earth, born in a stable, never married nor accumulated worldly possessions (see Luke 9:58), dying the death of the most vile criminal, laying aside His Divine rights – and what for? So that we could be saved from the predicament of our own sin.
All the things Jesus gave up, we gain through faith in Him. He laid aside His heavenly glory. He offered up His relationship with the Father (see Mark 15:34). He became the servant of all, so that we might become the children of God (John 1:10-12). And Christ endured the suffering of the cross and the alienation from the Father, so that we don’t have to. What awesome love He has shown us in this! We don’t deserve any of it – man left to his own devices will not seek God. Yet He draws us, by the Holy Spirit, and offers us this free gift of eternal life. He became what we are, so that we might become as He is – holy and acceptable to the Father.