October-December
I love the gospel story of Jesus’ baptism—that time when He came before John at the Jordan River. John lowered Jesus into the murky waters and when Jesus broke the water’s surface, the Holy Spirit came down and the voice of God was heard, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
Through God’s love and affirmation, Jesus began His earthly ministry, teaching, healing, calling people to a life grounded in love. We, too, are met at the fountain of blessing with love, claimed as God’s beloved children. Baptism is a sacred Christian ceremony in which Christians are immersed in water as a sign of their commitment to Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and of the forgiveness of their sins. We spend our whole lives growing into the person in whom Christ can see His reflection. This is not always comfortable or comforting. While baptism reminds us that this is offered to us freely and abundantly because we are God’s heirs, the tough part is living out this baptismal truth. It is hard remembering who and whose we are. You have been claimed as God’s beloved. You can choose to remember, recalling who you are and living out this truth in every moment, in every breath—or you can dangerously forget who and whose you are.
Following Jesus is not a one-time decision, but a lifelong journey. No matter how long we’ve been a Christian, we all have a next step in our walk with Jesus. If you have asked Jesus into your life, but have yet to be baptized, baptism is your next step!
Like wearing a jersey to a football game, baptism is our opportunity to identify with a person and a team. When we take our next step in baptism, we’re letting the world know we belong to Jesus and we’re on His team. There is no such thing as a private faith. Jesus died publicly for us, and baptism is our opportunity to go public for Him.
Jesus said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19). The first thing Jesus tells us to do after His resurrection is baptism. We can’t say we’ll do anything for God if we won’t even do the first thing. If you have not been baptized since asking Jesus into your life, baptism is your next step.
There is no such thing as a private faith.
In the first recorded sermon in the early church, Peter preached to a crowd of thousands. Around 3,000 people were saved, and Peter told them that after repentance, baptism was next (Acts 2:38). The pattern continues through the rest of the early church. Baptism is a public proclamation of the spiritual transformation that occurs when we commit to following Jesus.
Through baptism, we remember how Jesus saved us. Being lowered into the water is symbolic of how we were dead in our sins. Coming out of the water is symbolic of how our faith in Jesus saves us from death and gives us eternal life. Every baptism is an opportunity to share Jesus’ story. Jesus died to pay for our sins and restore our relationship with God. Then He rose from the grave, showing His power over death. Remember your baptism—remember when God chose you; remember your baptism—remember when you chose God; remember your baptism—when the transforming, transfiguring power of God was manifest in your life; remember your baptism—when Christ claimed you and personally introduced you to God as if for the first time: “This is my sibling. . . . I am well-pleased with this soul and am sending him/her out into the world with a mission.”
Baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace. In other words, baptism is a symbol of what God has already done in our lives. These are some of the things that baptism signifies:
In the same way we wash away dirt from our bodies, God cleanses us from our sins. Baptism is a way of saying publicly that we are turning from our sins and receiving Jesus’ forgiveness (see Mark 1:4, 5 and Acts 2:38). In the New Testament, this is the instruction to a new believer: And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name. (See Acts 22:16.)
Baptism is also the Bible way that people identify themselves as Christians. In Scripture, when people put their trust in Jesus, they were baptized.
The apostle Paul speaks of being united with Him by baptism (Romans 6:5). “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ,” the Bible says (Galatians 3:27), much like you might put on a new set of clothing. When we are immersed in water and feel the water all around us, we experience something of this sense of being “united” with Jesus. By baptism we are also united with all other true Christians as part of Jesus’ church (1 Corinthians 12:13), not just in friendships or community but through the life, death and resurrection of Christ—and with all Christians we celebrate “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5).
The Bible also refers to baptism as a symbol of dying to the old life and burying it when the believer goes down under the water. When he or she comes up out of the water after baptism, the Bible likens it to rising from the grave with Christ to a new life (Romans 6:3, 4; Colossians 2:12).
It doesn’t look like much. You’ve probably seen it countless times. A man in a robe, immersing a person into the water, speaking a few simple words. Then, in a matter of minutes, it’s all over. No, it doesn’t come at you with flashing lights or lots of pizzazz. But it’s a true miracle each time it happens. Simple water, used by God’s command, connected with God’s Word, working a wonder of epic and everlasting proportions. We’re speaking, of course, of holy baptism.
Maybe you remember your baptism. I remember mine, but that doesn’t matter. With my baptism I have a divine gift from which I can take tremendous comfort every day of my life. On that day I was clothed with Christ, washed of all sin, born anew, rescued from death and the devil. My baptism tells me I am now God’s child through faith in God’s Son. As His child and heir I have the sure hope of eternal life. In a mysterious way I was actually buried with Christ in baptism—my old, dead, sinful self buried forever in my Saviour’s tomb. Through my baptism, God gives power to drown my old self, which constantly tries to reassert its wicked ways in my life. In my baptism, God gives strength so that my new self can daily arise and live before God in righteousness and purity both now and forever. Simply put, when I was baptized, God took the victory and power of Christ’s cross and empty tomb and made them personally mine. I am thankful; through baptism I have been given the greatest power of all—the power of the Holy Spirit.
God’s greatest miracles don’t come in showy, flamboyant ways. A humble manger bed was God’s crib. A bloodied cross His altar. An empty grave His portal to life without end. Simple water and a handful of words bring sinners into an everlasting kingdom.
How thankful I am to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost!