The Principle of Exchange and Substitution

UV 3380/10000 The Principle of Exchange and Substitution
Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver, and instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. And instead of the tyranny of the present I will appoint peace as your officers, and righteousness as your rulers.

Isaiah 60 v 17

Exchange and substitution does not exist only in human interactions but in the spiritual realms as foreshadowed by the sacrifice of animals and birds under the old covenant relationship. In this uni-verse, the Lord is promising to bring, into our lives through the new covenant relationship, the most precious instead of the cheap, useless and barren things that we filled our lives with in the past. Instead of the mixed up and man-made ideas and man-made religion and ideologies, the Lord will bring into our lives pure faith which is like gold. He will also test and refine our faith like gold in a furnace of afflictions that we come out of it reflecting the image of God in our lives. Like silver is purified seven times in fire and then is cooled in water, He will cause us to go through fire and water. He will cause the impact of our lives and our legacy to endure and not to end abruptly.

The Lord will save us from the tyranny of our present selfishness, the tyranny of our own desires and whims. He will deliver us from the arbitrariness and fickleness of the opinion and judgement of others. He will deliver us from the tyranny of the fear of death and punishment. He delivers us from the tyranny of the curse of sin or “hamartia”, the tyranny of an uneasy conscience that weighs us down with guilt. He delivers us from the tyranny of our own flaws and weaknesses, anxieties, addictions and bad habits. He delivers us from the tyranny of the wicked and powerful of the land as well as the tyranny of the lifeless system. He replaces or substitutes our myriad insecurities, real and imagined with the certainty, peace and security of faith.

We cannot know the Lord as our personal Saviour, be freed from our insecurities and return to be our default selves. Jesus, the Prince of heaven was sent , historically speaking, to purchase our eternal peace and our earthly peace. This is why He is referred to as Prince of Peace, by Isaiah the prophet, long before His birth on earth. The healing we need is obtained from the 39 lashes of the spired iron ball attached to the leather thong that constituted the Roman whip, the Roman instrument of punishment Jesus received prior to being nailed to the cross, the Roman instrument of execution. The mental peace is obtained from the crown of thorns that pierced the scalp and head of Jesus all round. His death on the cross obtained for us eternal peace with God. Peace then becomes our governor, all round, 360 degrees, both internally, externally. We can make peace with our past, present and future. Righteousness or integrity is our new ruler which rules us from within and establishes His kingdom and His righteousness within us.