A Divinely Ordained Exchange

At the close of the last session we had arrived at Isaiah 53:4–6 and I pointed out to you that these are very uniquely placed verses. If you take the last 27 chapters of Isaiah, these verses are in the middle chapter and the middle verse. I think the Holy Spirit is telling us this is the heart of the message of salvation. You know that the name of Isaiah is directly linked with the Hebrew word for salvation. He is the prophet of salvation. Here is the essence, the heart of salvation. We’ll look once more at verse 6 and consider its meaning a little more carefully.

"All we like sheep have gone astray . . ."

“All we” leaves out no one. Do we agree about that? Does that apply to all of us? You don’t have to tell me but you need to make your mind up.

". . . we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him [that is Jesus] the iniquity of us all."

That word iniquity is an interesting and important word. The Hebrew word is avon. That word is here translated iniquity and most times in the King James, the New King James and I think the New American Standard it’s translated iniquity. Its basic meaning is guilt. Another way of rendering it is perversity. What is our guilt? What is the guilt of the whole human race? You won’t find it by looking at my face! It’s down there in the verse. What have we all done? We’ve gone astray and particularly have done what? Turned to our own way. I think the most contemporary translation is rebellion. That’s the universal guilt of the whole human race.

But Isaiah says “the Lord has laid upon him the guilt [the perversity, the rebellion] of all of us.” There’s another sort of free translation which says “the Lord made to meet together upon him the guilt [perversity, rebellion] of all of us.”

I remember the second time I went to a Pentecostal church before I had met the Lord and I felt I was in very strange circumstances. At the end of the message the preacher said, “If you want this, whatever it is, put your hand up.” I knew they were all talking to me because I was the only sinner present. And the previous time I had been two days earlier in a different church the preacher said this, you know, “every head bowed, every eye closed, put your hand up.” I was offended. I’d never been in any place where they told me in church to put my hand up. I sat there in the silence wondering what was going to happen next and what happened next was somebody else put my hand up. My hand went right up in the air and I knew I had not raised it. Talk about emotionalism, I was nervous! Then they said to me in this strange language they used, “There’s going to be revival in the Assemblies of God.” Well, I didn’t know what a revival was and I had no idea what the Assemblies of God were but I thought, “if this is part of this thing I’ll go and see what is going on.”

This is my second service and the man preached on Enoch was not because the Lord took him. He was one of those preachers who believe in making things vivid and up to date. And so he drew a modern picture—this is Britain—of the CID which would be the FBI here in America coming with their tracking dogs to trace the missing Enoch. The dogs followed the scent so far and then there was no more scent, it didn’t go north or south or east or west. So they concluded he must have gone up. Well, with my logical background I can see that’s logical. Then we got to the end of this message and I knew what was coming, every head bowed, every eye closed, and put your hand up. I said to myself, “Somebody did it for me last time, I couldn’t expect that to happen twice. If I really want this I better put my own hand up.” I put my own hand up and after that there was a sigh of relief and they went on with the service. I mean, sinners were few and far between in services in those days. In this quote, revival, I was the only person that raised my hand in one week.

But anyhow—they were disappointed at the result. At the end the preacher came up to me and he looked at me and I looked at him and I think he thought he had a problem on his hands. So he asked me two questions. He said, “Do you believe that you’re a sinner?” My specialty in philosophy was definitions so the natural way for me to answer that question was quickly run through all the definitions of a sinner I could think of. And every one of them fitted me exactly. So I said, “Yes, I believe I’m a sinner.” Then he said, “Do you believe that Christ died for your sins?” I remember very clearly what I said. I said, “To tell you the truth, I can’t see what the death of Jesus Christ 19 centuries ago could have to do with the sins that I’ve committed in my lifetime.” And there I reached a block. And he was wise enough not to argue with me. I’m sure he went away and prayed for me.

Well, then I met the Lord and my intellectual problems were set on one side but they were not totally disposed of. I still didn’t fully understand how something that had happened 19 centuries earlier could relate to the sins I’d committed in my lifetime. But it says here the Lord made to meet together upon him the iniquity [or the guilt] of us all.

But one day reading in Hebrews 9 I found the answer for me. It might not be the answer for others. Hebrews 9:14 is speaking about the power of the blood of Jesus and it says:

"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? "

Notice that phrase again “he offered himself.”

The word for sacrifice I pointed out, he was the priest and he was the sacrifice. As a priest he offered his sacrifice which was himself. But the words that resolved my problem were the words that came before that, “through the eternal Spirit.”

Now because of my knowledge of classical languages I knew exactly what the word eternal means. It doesn’t mean an endless period of time, it means something that’s out of time, in a different realm from time.

And so I understood that what happened at Calvary was in the eternal realm. It wasn’t just limited to a point in human history although it was a point in human history. But in that transaction there, God the Father took the iniquity of all men of all ages, past present and future and laid them upon Jesus on the cross. That resolved my problem.

Going back now to Isaiah 53:6. The word avon that you have up there not only means guilt but it means the punishment for guilt. And in translating from Hebrew you have to determine sometimes by the context shall it be translated guilt or punishment for guilt. And sometimes you have to translate it both. So that God not only laid on Jesus the guilt of us all—now listen, this is vitally important—but he laid upon him the punishment for the guilt of us all.

Just because this is so important I want to take a few examples from the Old Testament where this word avon is used and show you how it’s translated. We’ll turn, first of all, to Genesis 4:13. This is the cry of Cain after God had pronounced judgment on him for the murder of his brother.

“Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.”

The word is avon. Not only my guilt, but the punishment for my guilt.

And then an interesting passage in 1 Samuel 28:10 where King Saul at the end of his life did a very terrible thing and went to consult a witch. The witch didn’t want to respond to his request because the penalty for witchcraft was death. She didn’t know she was dealing with the King of Israel at the time. But Saul made this promise to her. Saul swore to her by the Lord saying, As the Lord lives no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.

The word is avon. You will not have to answer for your guilt. So it’s not so much guilt as punishment for guilt. And then in Job 19:29. We don’t need to go into the context but it says:

"Be afraid of the sword for yourself, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword. "

Where you could hardly translate it the guilt of the sword. You have to translate it punishment.

And then two passages in Lamentations. Lamentations 4:6 and 22. If you’re having trouble finding Lamentation, which could happen, it comes at the end of Jeremiah.

"The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom. "

You’ll see there it’s translated both punishment and iniquity. The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people. You see, it’s a concept that we don’t actually have in English. So in translating we have to be flexible.

And then the same chapter, Lamentation 4:22:

"The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion."

Again it’s translated both punishment and iniquity.

Now that’s very important because it’s the key to understanding what happened when Jesus died on the cross. God the Father made to meet together upon him the guilt, the perversity, the rebellion of all of us and all the evil consequences that follow rebellion. I’m going to say that again because it’s crucial. If you miss me here you’ll be trailing for the rest of these sessions. This is the key. God the Father made to meet together on Jesus on the cross the iniquity, the guilt, the rebellion of us all and all the evil consequences of rebellion.

Now if you can once grasp that, that’s the key to the storehouse. Everything you need is contained in that revelation. We’re going to study and see to some extent how it’s worked out. Let me say it this way: What happened on the cross was a divinely ordained exchange. Think of that key word exchange. All the evil due to our rebellion met together upon Jesus. That’s the left hand. The right hand is the opposite. That all the good due to the sinless obedience of Jesus might be made available to us.

Now I’m going to say that again because I have to imprint it on your mind. It’s contrary to our natural thinking, we wouldn’t reason it out that way. All the evil due to our rebellion came upon Jesus on the cross that all the good due to his sinless obedience might be made available to us. Or, to say it very shortly, the evil came upon Jesus that the good might be made available to us.

Now I’d like you to participate with me in saying that because as a teacher I know that when you act you get more. So I want you to observe me and then do what I do. Don’t do it the first time, just observe. The evil came upon Jesus, that’s my left hand, that the good might be made available to us. I want you to use your left and your right hand. Put your pen or paper or whatever it is down. Don’t follow me because my left is your right. Use your left. Okay?

The evil came upon Jesus that the good might be made available to us.

Let’s say that again. The evil came upon Jesus that the good might be made available to us. Now I want to change one word. This is to help you. Instead of saying us say me. Now it’s very personal, it’s just you and God. You know what they say at the cross? There’s only room for one at the foot of the cross? You’re the one now. You’re looking up at the cross, you see his body beaten, bleeding, a horrifying spectacle, something that you don’t really want even to look at or think about. And then you say this. [Now we’re going to say me, remember.] The evil due to me came upon Jesus that the good due to Jesus might be made available to me. That’s right. It’s when you make it personal. Now you may not have felt any change but you have opened the way to the treasure house when you’ve grasped that one central fact.