Expecting Miracles -- Baptism, Part One: Baptism Signifies God's Faithfulness and Our New Life in Christ!

Lawrence of Arabia participated in the Paris peace talks after World War I. Several Arab leaders came with him to Paris and stayed in the same hotel. When they went into their bathrooms they were amazed to find unlimited running water. By simply turning the handle on a faucet, they had an unlimited supply of water. When they got ready to leave Paris, they stole the faucets and hid them in their luggage. They thought the faucets magically created the running water. When they told Lawrence of Arabia what they had done, he laughed. He explained that the faucets were useless without pipes to a source of water.

In the same way, a person who’s not connected to Christ is not connected to the Father. God has no spiritual sons who are not sons by faith in Christ Jesus. No one comes to the Father except through Christ (John 14:6). Baptism is the sacrament that attests to this miracle of the Spirit – when we are sealed to Christ, His power is made available to us.

Baptism is the sacramental sign of the New Covenant -- the covenant established by Jesus. It is a sign of what the holy Spirit does an He seals God’s pledge to those who have been called by God's grace to inherit salvation.

Baptism tells us of several things God does for us. Primarily, it is a sign of the cleansing and remission of our sin as accomplished at the cross of Christ. Also, and very importantly, it signifies being regenerated by the Holy Spirit, being buried and raised together with Christ, being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, being adopted into the family of God, and being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Baptism was instituted by Christ in Matthew 28:19 where he told the disciples to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...".

However, this outward sign is just that--an outward sign of the internal union that the believer has with God. It does not automatically confer the realities that are signified. For example, though baptism signifies regeneration or rebirth, it does not automatically confer rebirth. The power of baptism is not in the water but in the power of God.

Baptism signifies

• The faithfulness of God.

• The washing away of sin.

• Rebirth into Christ

• Putting on the fresh garment of Christ.

• Being sealed by God’s Spirit.

• Adoption into the covenant family of God and into God’s Church.

• resurrection and illumination in Jesus Christ.

Baptism is one of the two sacraments of the church universal. Presbyterians agree with most Christian denominations that baptism is a sacrament given to the church by Jesus Christ. "A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ." The sacraments are in a sense the Word of God made visible. Karl Barth calls them "eventful witnesses to the truth of the gospel."

Christ has appointed material things—water, bread, and wine—not only to represent spiritual truths, but also to seal and apply those truths to the believers. The visible sign in baptism is the washing with water, which signifies our cleansing, our regeneration, our being made new by the work of Christ. The sealing is the work of the Holy Spirit in the person, wherein he is stamped as God's child. Baptism is done in the name of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Just as Jesus at his baptism was anointed by the Holy Spirit, so are we at ours. This the water of baptism symbolizes, immersion in God’s Spirit.

On the day I preach this sermon, we will baptize by immersion in a body of water, in our case, Smith Lake. The symbolism of immersion, based largely on Romans, chapter 6, is that of dying with Christ to sin and rising with him to a renewed life. Immersion is a biblical form of baptism that is rich in meaning, for our sins are washed away by Christ.

"All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We 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." Romans 6:3-4