Basics #3- Baptism
The Symbolism of Baptism
Romans 6:3-8, Colossians 2:10-14, I Peter 3:18-22, Galatians 3:26-27
CHCC: July 19, 2009
Video from Youtube (Cannonball baptism)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5abEm1241kY&NR=1
INTRODUCTION:
At least I can say, that boy was excited about baptism! And, after all, baptism is something to get ENTHUSIASTIC about! For the last few weeks we’ve been talking about some of the “basics” of Christianity --- and baptism is one of those basics.
Most people are familiar with Christian baptism, and a lot of people have been baptized. But it’s good for us to be reminded of why Jesus instituted baptism … what it means, and why it matters.
Today we’re going to take a look at what the Bible teaches about the symbolism of baptism. We’ll start with Romans 6:3-5:
Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
1. Burial and resurrection Romans 6:3-8
Baptism is a way that we retell what Jesus did for us … and more than that, baptism declares that the same thing has now happened to us. The Greek word, baptizo means to dip, plunge, submerge, sink, or bury. When a ship went down at sea, that’s the word that was used. The ship was baptized into the ocean. In Christian baptism, we are submerged in water, then raised up again.
We go down in the water as Jesus was buried in the tomb. We are under the water as Christ was three days in the tomb, and we come up from the water as Jesus came back from the dead. Our baptism allows us to participate in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. It is kind of like a three act Passion Play acted out in the baptistery.
Romans 8 goes on to say, For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. Romans 8:6-8
Baptism is a way of declaring that we believe Jesus has done what He promised he would do. In baptism we show that we are now dead to the world of sin that held us captive. We are set free from our hopeless addiction to sin. We have died to everything that once held us back from knowing and loving God.
And we are now alive to everything God has promised to give us. We are eternally connected to Jesus … and through him to God. The very spirit of Jesus has come to live within us. In baptism we are declaring a permanent change: for the rest of this life … and for life eternal … Jesus IS our life.
The Bible has even more to say about the meaning of baptism. Our baptism serves as a physical sign of a spiritual covenant between us and our God.
2. Sign of God’s new covenant Colossians 2:10-14
When God first made a covenant, he gave Abraham and all his descendants a physical SIGN of this spiritual covenant. This sign was circumcision. To the Jews in the Old Testament, circumcision was not just a fleshly operation but a symbol that a man had become part of God’s covenant with Abraham.
Colossians 2:11-12 makes a direct connection between circumcision in the Old Covenant and baptism in the New Covenant. "In Christ you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead." Colossians 2:11-12
Like Circumcision, Baptism is a Sign of our covenant with God. Just as
Circumcision was the physical representation of belonging to God in the Old Testament - Baptism is the physical sign of belonging to God in the New Testament. It is an example of the principle of cutting off the flesh which is continually fighting against God’s will. In that way, our baptism is a circumcision of sorts done without hands when God sets us free from the law of sin and death.
Just like the New Covenant is superior to the Old, the New Sign of Baptism is better than the old. We can be thankful that circumcision was replaced by baptism. For one thing, it’s a lot less painful! For another, baptism is available to everyone - both men AND women.
The sign of the Old Covenant … of course … was available only to males. Under the Old Covenant when the man was circumcised, then everyone in his household became part of the covenant through their relationship to him.
But the New Covenant is entirely personal. You can’t be saved by something your parents or grandparents did. You aren’t saved because you are part of a certain family or nation … or even because you have joined a certain church. Under the New Covenant, salvation is offered to any individual who puts his or her trust in Jesus Christ. Every person … young or old, male or female … is invited to be Baptized as a sign that they are part of God’s family.
In I Peter chapter 3, we find another interesting picture that baptism paints for us: "In the days of Noah while the ark was being built … only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." I Peter 3:20-21
3. Salvation from sin I Peter 3:18-22
Peter compares the salvation of Noah to baptism. We see a connection between the ark that saved Noah and the salvation that Jesus gives us --- and a connection between the waters of the flood and the water of baptism.
The flood waters washed away a sin-filled world and left Noah with a chance for a fresh start. In baptism, the physical cleansing of water represents the spiritual cleansing that is ours because of Jesus Christ. The water of baptism represents the fact that when Jesus forgives us, our sins are washed away.
Which reminds me of a “TEXAS-style” story about baptism. Way back in 1854, the 61-year-old Sam Houston was baptized by a Baptist minister named Rufus C. Burleson at Rocky Creek near Independence Texas. Houston had been known in his younger years as a rough living man and a drinker. A church periodical reported it this way: “The announcement of General Houston’s immersion has excited the wonder and surprise of many who have supposed that he was ‘past praying for…’”
Houston reportedly joined in the joke. A friend slapped him on the back and said, “General, now your sins are washed away!” Houston replied, “Well, then --- I pity the fish downstream!”
The waters of baptism symbolize the forgiveness and cleansing of our sins. Jesus carries us THROUGH the water and we emerge as a new person … washed clean of sin and offered a completely fresh start. Just as the ARK carried Noah safely through the flood waters, JESUS covers us and saves us from the wages of sin.
Galatians 3:27 says, All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. We go into the baptismal waters wearing our sins (symbolically) and we emerge wearing Christ.
· In Baptism, God gave us a wonderful way to show our connection with Him, through the death burial and resurrection of our Savior. Our baptism paints a picture of that same death, burial, and resurrection as it is applied to our own lives.
· Jesus instituted Baptism as the sign of His New Covenant. It is the physical sign that through Jesus, we have become part of God’s family.
· Baptism gives a picture of our sins being washed away. It’s a symbol of our salvation through Jesus Christ who covers and saves us just as God provided the covering of the ark for Noah and his family.
Years ago I heard a well-known speaker talk about how Christians need a way to remember the time and place where they decided to follow Jesus. He suggested that people could put a post in the ground, drive a nail into the post, and make their declaration of faith. Then, they could walk back to that post, point to the nail, and remember the moment when they declared their faith.
I think he was right that people need a way to mark the time and place of salvation, but it occurred to me that God had a better plan! God’s plan didn’t require a hammer, nail, or fence post (after all, not everyone lives on a farm or knows how to handle a hammer.) God’s plan involved the water of baptism and the memorable act of going under the water and then coming back out of the water.
Do you remember your baptism? I do… I was 10 years old, and had just returned from a week of church camp. Though I made my decision at camp, I decided to wait till returning home so my parents could witness my baptism and so my own preacher, Oscar Wild, could baptize me.
I never forgot that day. In fact, I remember the time, the place, the person who baptized me, and even the temperature of the water. I remember that I understood what baptism meant in terms of my connection to Christ. I knew that in my baptism I was declaring that Jesus was my personal savior.
CONCLUSION:
Acts chapter 8 tells one of my favorite accounts of a baptism. Philip was riding in a chariot, telling an Ethiopian official about the Gospel, and here’s what happened: While they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The officer said, "Look, here is water. What doth hinder me from being baptized?” Acts 8:36
(I like the way that sounds in the King James Version: “What doth hinder me?”) I picture that Ethiopian having the same kind of excitement about baptism that the little boy had in the video we watched today! The account goes on to say that Philip and the Ethiopian stopped right there, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him on the spot.
If you want to be baptized, let me invite you to do so! Here is water (motion to baptistery) What doth hinder you? I’ve talked to some people who were baptized as infants and now want to be baptized as an adult. Some worry that this would be a repudiation of what their parents did for them when they were babies. The truth is that believer’s baptism is actually a completion of what parents did for a child when they dedicated their baby to God. As an adult, the grown child can now say, Just as my parents dedicated me to God as a baby; now as an adult, I want to dedicate myself to Christ and thereby choose the same gift my parents wanted for me when I was a baby.
Anyone who comprehends the amazing grace, power and love of God is going to want to DO something in response! God gave us a wonderful action to take which is full of meaning.
It’s not something some clever person came up with. It’s not something some church came up with. Baptism is what Jesus himself commanded for his believers. Baptism is a physical way of acting out the very REAL transformation that God makes in our lives when we put our faith in Jesus Christ.
