Pascua: El Gran Intercambio | Pastor John Cruz

Saludos, mi nombre es John Cruz y soy el pastor de North Place en Español aquí en el área de Dallas-Fort Worth y durante los últimos 25 años he tenido la oportunidad de pastorear un grupo de personas increíbles en distintos campuses, distintas localizaciones y hoy ustedes son una de esas localizaciones. Me siento honrado, privilegiado y realmente es un regalo de Dios poder llegar hasta ti, poder llegar hasta ustedes, ahí donde estás, con el mensaje de esperanza, un mensaje del evangelio, un mensaje transformador, dejándote saber que Dios es un Dios que te ama, el Dios en el que yo confío tiene planes para ti de transformarte y demostrarte un propósito que tiene para tu vida. Quiero que sepas que eres parte de nuestra familia espiritual y que estamos orgullosos de que hoy te hayas conectado a nosotros. Regreso al final de la programación para darte información importante. Gracias por conectarte con nosotros hoy. Mi corazón entona la canción Cuán grande es Él, Cuán grande es Él, Mi corazón entona la canción Cuán grande es Él, Cuán grande es Él, Mi corazón entona la canción Cuán grande es Él, Cuán grande es Él, Mi corazón entona la canción Cuán grande es Él, Cuán grande es Él, Cuán grande es Él, Cuán grande es Él, Cuán grande es Él, Cuán grande es Él, Mi corazón entona la canción Ale, ale, aleluya, te alabaré siempre Ale, ale, aleluya, te alabaré siempre Tengo a Dios a mi lado Haber caminos por mí Siempre pelean todas mis batallas La gloria le doy hasta el fin, amén Tengo un Dios que no falla Grande es su fidelidad Cuando soy débil le da nuevas fuerzas Y una canción que cantar

Vine a alabar A todos vinieron a alabar Vine a alabar A sus mami se sí Y mi razón al despertar Eres un señor Vine a alabar Vine Ale, ale, aleluya Le alabaré siempre Ale, ale, aleluya Le alabaré siempre Tengo un Dios que es a mí En mi vergüenza morró Salió de la tumba Venció el infierno En tres días resucitó Vine a alabar Vine a alabar Mi razón al despertar Vine a alabar Vine Ale, ale, aleluya Le alabaré siempre Ale, ale, aleluya Le alabaré siempre Yo canto en la mañana Y la noche también Yo canto en la batalla Siempre lo haré

Yo canto en Cristo Una y otra vez Yo canto en Cristo Y siempre lo haré Yo canto en la mañana Y la noche también Yo canto en la batalla Siempre lo haré Yo canto en Cristo Una y otra vez Yo canto en Cristo Y siempre lo haré Yo canto en Cristo Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale

Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Ale, ale Bye Vine a lavar Mi razón al despertar Vine a lavar Vine a lavar Vine a lavar Pa'n que tu Estavas efectos Pa'n que tu estavas efectos En este momente estaba yo En tu gracia lucho Por mi respuesta A la puerta me despego Dentro Te hice por mi Por mis sufiencias Por rescatarme Cambiaste interior La maldición Tu cambiaste I am not an answer We had to amor Para salvar Fuiste a morir Te entregaste en mi lugar

Lloraba Me ves eterno Y vi de nuevo No hay nada que me aparte de tu amor Mi aspiración Y mi deseo Es rendirte un abrazo Tu amor Para salvar Fuiste a morir Te entregaste en mi lugar Vino tu amor Para salvar Fuiste a morir Te entregaste en mi lugar Tu nombre santo es Tu nombre santo es Con todo lo que soy Te cantaré Cuanto te amo Tu santo eres Dios Tu nombre santo es Con todo lo que soy Te cantaré Cuanto te amo Tu santo eres Dios Tu nombre santo es Con todo lo que soy Te cantaré Cuanto te amo

Tu santo eres Dios Tu nombre santo es Con todo lo que soy Te cantaré Cuanto te amo Y digno es el Señor En su trono está Y hoy te coronamos Y en las palmeras Altísimo Señor Jesús, Hijo de Dios El Amado del Cielo en la Cruz murió Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Jesús no está Hoy de moro naco ser Y reglas con poder Altísimo Señor Jesús, Hijo de Dios El Amado del Cielo en la Cruz murió Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor

Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Digno es el Señor Pablo said to the Colossians, He forgave us, He forgave us all our sins, annulling the act of the charges that were against us, and He took it away from us by nailing it to the cross. Pablo says that our sin, our guilt, our mistakes, our rebellions, is like a legal file with our name. That's what he's saying to the Colossians. It's a document of accusation, it's a moral debt, it's an impossible bill to pay. But Pablo says, Jesus took that file and nailed it to the cross. What you wrote on that file, or what you should have written on that file, Pablo says, Jesus took it and nailed it to the cross. That's what He nailed to the cross. That which weighs on you today, that feeling of shame or guilt, sin, a broken story,

or broken, a failure that we try to hide from others, an unresolved pain, the cross is where you bring it. The cross does not minimize your sin, but it does declare that Jesus already carried it in Him. He already carried it on the cross. But listen to this, the cross is not the whole story. Because if Jesus had stayed in the tomb, we would have a dead Savior and a dead hope. Pablo says it like this in 1 Corinthians, and if Christ has not risen, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. But He did not stay in the tomb. The stone was removed, death was overcome, the sin was defeated, and shame lost its last word over your life and over your destiny. And that's why today I can tell you with conviction, and you can tell me with conviction, I am not defined by my worst moment. I am not defined by my sin. I am not defined by what they did to me. I am not defined by what I lost. The cross is where you bring all those things, and the empty tomb is the reason why you can live again. The cross is where you bring it. The empty tomb is the reason, it is why you can live again. And the bridge between one thing and another

is called the grace of God. The grace of God. And before we continue, I want us to understand something. The grace of God is always deeper than what you and I think. The grace of God is deeper than what you and I imagine. It is broader than what you think. It is even more scandalous than what many people can accept. A few days ago, part of our work team was in the H.E.U.S. unit, a penitentiary center of maximum security here in the state of Texas. And what we experienced was something so profound that we were able to capture some of that. Because as a church, we had the opportunity to minister to men who are, let's say, in prison, inside a prison. They are not only in maximum security. They think the worst of the worst. They are people who, after being in prison for a commitment of a large number of years, have made additional mistakes and are now in prison, inside prison. What they call administrative segregation. And as a church, we had the opportunity to be there. They are considered the most dangerous, the most isolated. I had the opportunity to be with them in that section. It really is gloomy, it is dark. It is what the world would call the discarded,

the unforgivable, and the too broken and damaged. But this is what happened a couple of weeks ago. The Gospel came in. The grace of God came in, where many would think that nothing comes in anymore. And several of those men, thanks to the ministers of the field who work there, we have a prison campus, and we have developed ministers of the field. And these ministers of the field, they go and minister in the administrative segregation. And thanks to them, they accepted the Lord. They have been disciplined. And when we did the service two weeks ago, they decided to be baptized. They decided to baptize me. I want to share that with you. It's the first time in the history of the justice system of the state of Texas where they allow to remove prisoners from the segregated area, the administrative segregation, and bring them to be baptized. It's the first time they wore clothes that said public confession, which were not the clothes they wear in prison all the time. And this is the interesting thing. These are people that the world has discarded, that society has discarded, but that the grace of God has not discarded. That there is no place that is too deep, nor too great an error, so that God does not take that burden. If God reached them, he reaches us too. And you know what's interesting about all this? We didn't have to change the gospel for them. We didn't have to soften the message for them.

We didn't have to say, well, the blood of Christ works in certain circumstances, except for you, because you are already beyond. What we did was preach the whole gospel, with all its grace, with all its strength, with all its hope, with all the hope that the gospel brings and the power of the resurrection, because the blood of Jesus still has power. The blood of Christ has power. The promise of the gospel is still valid. Paul, in the first century, said this message is worthy of credit and deserves to be accepted. And then Paul says that Christ Jesus came into the world to save the sinners, of whom I am the first. But it was precisely for this that God was merciful to me, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus could show his infinite patience. Thus I come to serve as an example for those who, believing in him, will receive eternal life. Paul was not being humble. Paul was a murderer. He was a persecutor of the church. Paul had been extremely violent. Paul had a dark past. And even so, Paul says, the grace reached me. The grace reached me. Paul says in Romans, God showed the great love he has for us when he sent Christ to die for us when we were still sinners.

Not when you are already clean, not when you are already fixed, not when you deserved mercy. But one day he says, while he was a sinner. In fact, Jesus said, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. The gospel was never for the people who seem to have everything under control. The gospel is not designed for the people who have everything already fixed. The gospel is for the people who need a Savior. And this is the thing, if the grace of God can enter a cell of maximum security, if the blood of Christ can reach these men that the world has discarded. So I want you to listen to this well. What you wrote on that card, or what you should have written on that card that you have not dared to write, is not out of God's reach. It is not out of God's reach. You have not gone too far. You have not ruined your story too much. You have not ruined your marriage. You have not ruined your family.

You have not ruined your relationship with God. The grace of God reaches you. That is what we celebrate today on Sunday of resurrection. His grace reaches me. It is not just about forgiveness. It is not just about emotional relief. It is not just about feeling better. It is about something much deeper. It is about a divine exchange. Paul said to the Corinthians, He who did not know sin for us, sin was made, so that we might have done God's justice in him. What does that mean? Jesus took what was ours. Jesus took what we deserved to give us what is His. That is the great exchange. The great exchange is our sin. He exchanged it for His justice. Our shame. He exchanged it for His honor. His rejection is what gives us adoption. His rejection is our adoption, really. His exposure to everything He lived through is our coverage. I am saying with that, Jesus, Jesus took our clothes stained by sin and dressed them on Himself on the cross of Calvary and then through His death and resurrection

He dresses us with clean, new, and full of hope clothes. Just and perfect. The resurrection, listen to this, is not the story of you trying to fix yourself. The resurrection is not you trying to reach the personal improvement and then present yourself to God. The resurrection is the story of God producing justice to give it to you in Christ without deserving it. That is the gospel. God is not asking you today to bring Him a better version of you. God is not asking you to fix yourself, to clean yourself, to position yourself. He is inviting you to give Him your broken and broken life. He is inviting you to dress yourself with the life of Christ. And for that, not only today do I want to preach to you a concept, I want to take you to a moment of exchange, the great exchange. Because the sermon is not a conversation to admire, it is a moment to respond. You have to respond to the resurrection. And today, today you can bring the burden. Today you can bring the heaviness. Today you can bring what seems impossible to you. Today you can bring what seems hopeless to you and let it go. Because this is the thing, one thing is to bring it and another thing is to let it go. There are people who have been in the church for years, bringing it, bringing it, bringing it, bringing it,

but they never let it go. They live with hope, but they are hopeless. They sing of the power of the resurrection, but all the struggle, sense of inferiority, sense of guilt, mistakes, shame, they keep bringing it and carrying it. Every Sunday, every Sunday they bring it and carry it. Today, the power of the resurrection is available to you. Maybe you came carrying something, but you haven't let it go at the feet of Christ. Don't keep carrying the same shame, don't keep carrying the same wound, or the same broken identity. Today the Lord invites you, not only to bring it, He invites you to let it go. And I still have to complete the message, but since today is the day of answer, I want to give you a moment to pray with me and respond to what God is already doing in your heart and in your life. We are going to put a prayer on the screen and more than a religious formality, I would like it to be a real moment in this day of resurrection between you and God. A God that even if you feel connected, disconnected, He is connected to you and loves you deeply. And maybe today is the first time that you are going to give your life to Jesus. Or maybe you met Him years ago, but you are still carrying what you should have let go. Carrying something that you never really let go. Today can be your day. And if this prayer expresses what is inside of you

and you do it in a sincere way, you know what? It can transform your life. It can transform your life. So there where you are, in a moment of reflection, and if you dare to do it in a loud voice, and it doesn't matter if you do it in a loud voice or in a low voice, the most important thing is what is inside of your heart. What do you bring to God today? What do you want to leave to Him? What burden do you want to leave to Him? Because you are not too far from His grace. You are not too far from His love. He covers you, transforms you, and saves you. Let us do this prayer in a loud voice, all of us in unison. Jesus, I don't want to carry this burden anymore. I am tired of hiding, tired of pretending, tired of trying to control what I was never designed to carry. Today I bring before you my sin, my shame, my pain, my guilt, my past, and all that I have been trying to hide. I believe that you went to the cross for me, I believe that you carried my sin, I believe that you took my place, and I believe that you rose again to give me a new life. Today I give up completely, not in half, not just the easy parts, everything. Forgive me, cleanse me, heal me, change me, make me new. I give you my past, I give you my present, I give you my future, I give you my fear, I give you my identity. I don't want to carry what you already paid. From this moment on, my life belongs to you. Be my Savior, be my Lord. So today, by faith, I bring it and I release it, in the name of Jesus. Amen, amen, and amen. I would like you to take the card that you brought, or that you filled, and if you haven't opened it, and you were able to resist until now, open it.

Open it, because what you wrote on the outside represents what you brought, your shame, your burden, your sin, your pain, your struggle. But inside is the truth of the Gospel. The reality is that because He died, I can bury my shame. And because He lives, I can live again. That is the part of the honor, that is the truth of what you are in Christ. That is the great exchange of the Gospel. He takes your sin and your shame and gives you justice and honor. Now I want you to do something physical, because sometimes we need our body to participate in what God is doing in our hearts. The card is pierced, and I want you to break it, to take it off, as an act of separating shame from honor. As an act of separating the past from the new life. As an act of separating what you are today in Christ. You separate what you were from what God says today that He is. I want you to make the great exchange today. And for some, this is not only going to be something symbolic of taking off a card. For some, it is going to be a 180 degree turn in your life. Be a believer for a long time. God is about to transform the rest of your days. Everything that you are carrying and you say, I can't do it anymore, I can't change it, I'm already like this. Today is the day of resurrection. And by the power of the resurrection, by His authority that has been granted to Him, your life is about to change. Your life is about to change. I want to tell you this, it is not too late. The men of the House of Unity did it. When we were with them. In front of others who knew them, in front of those who could criticize them. In front of others who know them well and doubted them. In front of people who perhaps looked at them with cynicism. And they didn't care, they didn't worry, because they didn't want to carry it on for another day. And what did they do? They brought it and let it go. And they left that chapel a few days ago, wishing to live again. And if they could leave it there, you can also leave it here.

We brought the cards of the men of Hughes, and Pastor Oscar is putting his cards. And through this morning there were hundreds of people who also came to leave it. And they left it there. We want you to leave here, leaving the burden you brought. If they could leave it there, you can also leave it here. I want to ask you two things. The part of honor, take it with you. Put it in your car, in your mirror, in your Bible, in your wallet, in a place where you see it this week, and you can continuously make that declaration and agree with God about what He says about you. Because this week, the enemy will want to remind you of your past. But you will answer with the Gospel. I no longer live under shame, now I live under the honor of Christ. Don't take it home. Don't take what you brought with you today. Don't keep it again. Don't carry it again. I invite you to leave it here in front of you. In a moment I will give you the opportunity to answer. On this Resurrection Day, leave what you brought. Maybe it doesn't seem convenient to you, but it can be a very, very significant moment. You need to bring it to the altar and leave it here. Today I tell you, you will need to walk forward, mark this moment and draw a line in the sand, because your physical act of surrender can become the spiritual memorial of a new season for your life,

of a new moment. So before we leave today, let me leave you with this. Easter is not just a date in the calendar. The Resurrection is an announcement about how you can live the rest of your life. Paul said in Galatians, My old self has been crucified in Christ. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. I no longer live. You can leave here repeating the same thing. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. You are no longer who you were. You are not what you did. You are not what they did to you. You are not your worst moment. You are not your shame in Christ. You are loved. You are forgiven. You are received. You are covered. You are free. You are adopted. So today, bring it, let it go, and live again. That's the phrase for today. Bring it, let it go. Letting it go doesn't mean, listen to this carefully, I'm going to give you a sermon for a moment. It doesn't mean that you won't feel the struggle again. Letting it go, that's not what it means.

It means that from today, say today, you don't carry it as an owner, you deliver it as a disciple. The struggle can return, it can knock on the door again, but it no longer governs your identity. Listen to this carefully. You no longer govern me. You no longer govern me. That's what you have to say. By the grace of God, who resurrected on the third day and left the tomb empty to show you that neither death nor sin nor shame have the last word in your life. He has the last word. He has the last word. But you have to learn to live in your new identity. For that, there is a ministry called regeneration. Regeneration. In fact, on Monday the 13th, we have an informative meeting. And you are a believer, and I say that I am always giving you the same. And I walk in a vicious circle. And I don't know how to get out. I recognize that God is God, but He is not intervening in my situation. I invite you to come on Monday the 13th

to the informative meeting at 6.30 pm so that you learn to live your new identity. So that you learn to live. After letting go, what do I do when the enemy comes to distract me? I have to live in His Word. I have to live in community. Listen carefully. I have to live in community. I can't live alone and then say that God abandoned me. No, He says, I want you to live in community. I want you to learn to confess. I want you to learn to trust. I want you to learn to live in your new identity. Your new identity. So don't miss it. Don't miss it. The word for you today is, the tomb is empty, but your future does not have to be. He died and rose again, so that today may be your day. I want to tell you, if today you gave your life to Christ for the first time, in the lobby there is a place called Proximos Pasos. And there they will give you information and resources. In fact, they will give you an incredible gift that commemorates the decision you made today. In fact, it's a great gift because it really represents what you did today. You brought it, you released it, and you're going to live again.

I'm not going to tell you what it is. If you're interested, go and find out there because they have it for you and it's super cute. Yes, you gave your life to Jesus. Next steps. A special way to commemorate today's decision. In a moment, I'm going to give you the opportunity to come. But remember this, the empty tomb not only changed history, it can change your story. Don't leave here the same. And I want to leave you this pastoral blessing, different from the one we always do, but it's the pastoral blessing of the day of resurrection. And now, may all the glory be for God, who can achieve much more than we could even ask or imagine through His great power that acts in us. Glory to Him, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for all generations, from today and forever. Amen and amen. Thank you for being with us today, and for keeping you throughout the program. I hope today's service has been a blessing for you. Both the praise and the worship, I hope you have brought hope, transformation, and above all, purpose in your life. We would love to hear from you. Here on the screen, there is information about how to write to us, how to send us your prayer requests, and how to let us know what God is doing in your life. May God keep you, and I hope to see you again very soon.