A BEAUTIFUL EXCHANGE
You were near though I was distant
Disillusioned I was lost and insecure
Still mercy fought for my attention
You were waiting at the door
Then I let You in…
Trading Your life for my offenses
For my redemption
You carried all the blame
Breaking the curse of our condition
Perfection took our place
When only love could make a way
You gave Your life in a beautiful exchange
My burden erased my life forgiven
There is nothing that can take this love away
And my only desire and sole ambition
Is to love You just the same
When only love could break these chains
You gave Your life in a beautiful exchange
Holy are You God. Holy is Your Name
With everything I've got
My heart will sing How I love You
The above are lyrics from the song “Beautiful Exchange” by Hillsong United. Honestly, every time I sing this song, I am reminded of the sheer simplicity of the Gospel. I mean, when you really get down to it, the crux of the Gospel is about the exchange of One life for another. His life for mine. For ours. The actual Son of God giving His life so that you and I might become adopted sons and daughters of our TRUE Father God.
This song so beautifully, poetically, illustrates the simple fact that there is NOTHING that I could ever do that would be enough to gain access to a Holy God. But because of His Holiness, because of how GOOD He really is, our God chose to make a way for us through Jesus. I love the second verse:
Trading Your Life, for my offenses,
For my redemption, You carried all the blame.
Breaking the curse, of our condition,
Perfection took our place.
Everything I’ve done, He’s redeemed. Even though the condition and punishment was my own, He took my place.
This is the God we worship. This is the God we GET to sing to. He’s not a God who’s full of anger or wrath towards us for what we’ve done. Very simply, He’s a God full of Love for us, who’s still in the business of redemption and chain breaking.
As we prepare our hearts for a time of corporate worship, I invite you to listen to the song below, and as we sing this song together on Sunday, may we be reminded that the God of ALL gave up ALL in a BEAUTIFUL EXCHANGE to bring us back to Himself.
