THE COMFORT OF CHRIST'S BAPTISM
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Epistle Lesson; Acts 10:34-38
Old Testament Lesson; Isaiah 42:1-7
Sermon Text; Matthew 3:13-17
Several weeks ago our two dogs got into a terrible mess. They came home and were literally caked with mud, dried mud. It was my duty to put on my swimming trunks and clean them in our bathtub. So, I washed those filthy, dirty dogs in that bathtub. The water got those two dogs nice and clean! However, the same water that got those dogs nice and clean…
Guess what it did to me???
It got me filthy dirty! A transfer took place in that water. They became clean and I became dirty.
A transfer also takes place in the water of baptism. When Jesus went to the Jordan River, he went there clean. He went there Holy, sinless and spotless, which is why when he came to be baptized John the Baptist said to him, "You come to me, to be baptized? I need to be baptized by you."
He knew that Jesus was Holy, sinless and spotless. Baptism was for sinners, who needed their sins forgiven. Jesus was clean and he didn’t need his sins forgiven. And, yet Jesus said to John the Baptist, "Let it be so for now, in order to fulfill all righteousness."
And, so Jesus entered the waters of Holy Baptism. By doing that, what did Jesus do?
Here is the One who is without sin.
By entering baptism, which is for sinners,
Jesus there was claiming our sins.
He was claiming before God, that he was a sinner!
He was lifting upon his shoulders
the sins of the whole world!
And, so as Jesus entered the waters of baptism, he entered clean and holy. And as he walked out of the waters of baptism, he walked out having claimed our sins as his very own, guilty in God’s eyes. And, he ultimately carried those sins to the cross.
When you and I walk into the waters of baptism a transfer takes place. We walk into baptism dirty and sinful, in God’s eyes. And, when we walk out of baptism, we walk out of the waters of baptism, clean, cleansed, forgiven with the Holy life of Christ as our very own. That great transfer takes place in the waters of Holy Baptism.
If you look at today’s scripture reading you see just how highly God honors baptism. How greatly God esteems baptism. Consider these three things that happened at Christ’s baptism.
This is the only place in all of scripture (think of all the great events that have happened in all of scripture), this is the only place in all of scripture where the Triune God made Himself visibly and physically manifest. God the Father was there with the voice from Heaven, who said, "This is my Son whom I love, with Him I am well pleased." The Son was there being baptized. And, the Holy Spirit was there, who landed on Jesus in the form of a dove! The only place in all of scripture, where the Holy Triune God made Himself visibly manifest. How highly God must honor and esteem baptism! That was the place He chose to make Himself manifest.
After Jesus walked out of the waters of baptism, the Bible says, "The Heavens were opened." I believe that this is the only place in all of scripture, where this profound phrase is found! The only place in all of scripture where it literally says that the Heavens were opened! How highly God must honor baptism! How highly He must esteem baptism, that this is the one time in all of history that the Heavens were opened up!
How highly God must honor baptism that God Himself, in human flesh, went into the waters of baptism! God Himself, in human flesh was baptized! How important and necessary baptism must be, that God so highly honored baptism that He Himself was baptized.
Now, today as Christians, we need to ask ourselves,
"Why does God so highly honor the Holy Sacrament of Baptism? We discover in God’s Word, that God does two things in baptism. He cleanses us from sin and forgives us our sin. Secondly, He drives out sin, giving us the ability to live a new life! He cleanses us and He forgives our sin. He drives out sin and He gives us the ability to live a new life! He does those two things for us!
Let’s consider those two things and why baptism is so very important.
In our baptism, God cleanses us from our sin. He forgives us of our sin. The question we need to ask is, "How can water, how can water, do such great things?"
Let me ask you this question, "Here is a check. It is a blank piece of paper. It is not worth anything. It is not worth even a single penny. How can I take this piece of paper to the car dealership, knowing that this piece of paper is worth nothing and yet is so powerful that I can buy a car?"
There are two things that give that piece of paper the power to purchase a car. My signature, my name, attached to it (which stands for my reputation), gives it the authority necessary to purchase a car. And secondly, the credit, or the money that I have in the bank can back up what this piece of paper says. And, so a simple, little piece of paper, that by itself has neither power nor ability, has the power and ability to buy a car or house, because my name is attached and because of the credit I have in the bank.
So, how can water, simple water do such great things? We know that it is not the water that does great things. What exactly happens in baptism? Just like when I write that check, I attach my name to it. In baptism, God individually, personally attaches His name to you and He writes His name on you. And, as the words are spoken, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit", God attaches His name, His authority, His reputation to you. There He calls you His child!
Now, how can God call you His child, when you are a sinner? The reason God can do that is because of the credit, we could say, that He has in the bank. It is because of what He has stored up, in His Great Treasury.
And, what is it that God has stored up in His Great Treasury? Well, there in God’s Treasury, is stored up the very forgiveness of our sins. There in God’s Great Treasury, is the Holy, spotless, sinless life of Christ, with all of His merits, and all that He has done for us. There in God’s Great Treasury, is the entire payment, for all sins. And, that payment took place on the cross. That payment of forgiveness is in God’s Treasury. When God brings us to the Holy waters of baptism, He attaches His name to us, and He calls us His child.
How can water do such great things? It is not the water that does these great things, but it is the Word of God, which is in and with the water, and faith that trusts this Word of God, in and with the water.
In our baptism, as it were, God wrote out a check to us, and signed His name to it. On that check it says, "Your sins are forgiven! I will not hold your sins against you anymore. I will not count them against you anymore."
Think about what God says about baptism. He says, "Baptism also now saves you." Those are powerful words. He says, "Be baptized and wash away your sins." He says that all of us, who were baptized with Christ, are clothed with Christ. With those words, God promises us, He literally promises us, forgiveness. He signs His name to that check in baptism. He delivers to us everything that Christ won for us. He makes a covenant with us, a covenant that He will not break. He makes a covenant with you, that your sins will never be counted against you, again.
What a comfort our baptism should be to us. Even though I was baptized many, many years ago, what can I do when my sins bother me and trouble me, (which they do, many times)? I can go right back to my baptism and I can say, "There by my baptism, God personally put His name to me, and He personally made a covenant with me. He will not impute my sins to me. He will not count them against me. He forgives me and I am cleansed." Our baptism, all of our lives should be a profound comfort and source of strength to us, as God’s People.
So the first thing that God does in baptism, is cleanse us from our sins, and deliver everything that Jesus has done for us.
The second thing God does in baptism is to drive out sins! He gives us the ability to live a new life for Christ! There is a Bible passage that says, "All of us who were baptized in to Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death, in orderd that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we also should walk in newness of life."
That passage tells us a drowning took place. A death took place. Our old, sinful nature was drowned and put to death. In baptism God granted us the ability to despise our sin, to hate our sin, to wish our sin was gone, and to wish that we were rid of our sin forever and ever. He granted us that ability to daily drown that old, sinful nature.
A resurrection also took place in our baptism. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, scripture says, "So also just as God has raised Christ from the dead, so we also should walk in newness of life." A new man came out of the waters of baptism. Alive with faith in Jesus as our savior, with a new heart that says,
"I want to live for God, my savior!
I want to please Him!
I want to serve Him all of my life!"
Now we know this. However we also know that our old, sinful nature is not completely dead. Every day it struggles up out of that water and comes back to life, attempting to get us to fall into sin. Every day there is a struggle between that old, sinful nature that comes back to life, and that new man that wants to live for our savior. And, we know that the struggle began on the day and the hour that we were baptized, by God’s grace.
And, we know that the struggle will not be completed until the day we die. On the day that we die, that old, sinful nature, that old man will finally, totally be put to death, forever. Never again will he rear his ugly head. And, that new man on the day of our resurrection will be brought to life forever! We will be made Holy and perfect in God’s eyes.
We see that in our baptism, a great struggle has begun. The day and hour that we were baptized, God worked in our hearts the desire to be rid of that old, sinful nature and the desire to live for Christ our savior!
Unfortunately, people can make two mistakes, when they look at their own baptism. On the one hand, some people may think, "I have been baptized, and God has given me a ‘free check’ that says my sins are forgiven and that I am His child. So, why try to put to death that old, sinful nature? Even if I sin, my sins are forgiven."
Those people feel no need to struggle against their old, sinful nature.
What happens if we don’t struggle against that sinful nature, allowing it to grow stronger and stronger, more and more powerful? Ultimately that old sinful nature can put to death the new man! And, then there is no desire to get rid of sin anymore. There is no feeling that we need the forgiveness of our sins. Faith can be lost.
The second mistake that people can make in their baptism is to think, "I was baptized. When I was baptized, God gave me the check that pays for the forgiveness all sins I had before baptism. But now my baptism is over. Now if I go out and sin again, there has to be some other way that I can make satisfaction for those new sins. Maybe my past sins are forgiven, but now if I sin, I have to do something good to earn God’s favor. My good works somehow must make up for those new sins."
What a troubling thought it would be, if we believed that. We are not aware of all of our sins. And, we would never know if all the good works that we do, are good enough to pay for all of our sins that we have done.
What a Christian needs to do, is look at his baptism and know that God made a promise to me at my baptism. He will not count my sins against me, ever again. And, when we struggle with that old, sinful nature, daily trying to put it to death, which allows the new man to live for our savior, we sometimes will fall.
When we do fall, should we be troubled, should we be worried? NO. We go right back to our baptism and we say, "I know that God made a covenant with me in my baptism, a covenant that says He will not impute my sins against me, he won’t count them against me. They are forgiven. He made that promise. Now I want to go forward with His help knowing that I am forgiven, striving to live for Him, because I love Him."
How does a Christian go about daily drowning that old Adam and the daily rising of that new man? We do it in the estate that God has given us to live in, in life.
Some of you are married, and you are in the estate of marriage. In that estate of marriage there certainly are temptations for that old, sinful nature. Maybe the temptation is to be selfish or impatient. Daily, a Christian drowns those temptations through repentance and through faith in Christ. The Christian knows that those sins are forgiven. Going forward with God’s help, the Christian says, "I want to be kind. I want to be unselfish. I want to be self giving, because of what my savior has done for me."
Maybe your estate in life is that you are single.
Certainly there are other temptations, for our old, sinful nature. A person may be tempted to lead an unchaste life. Maybe the Christian is the tempted to be discontent with the situation that God has given them in life.
What does a Christian do there? Through daily repentance, the Christian puts to death the old, sinful nature that wants to be unchaste or discontent. Through faith in Christ, the Christian knows that those sins have been forgiven. And with God’s help, that Christian goes forward with contentment, living a pure life for God, our savior.
You may be a parent. You know that there are certain temptations that come with being a parent. We need to drown those sins daily, through repentance. In faith we know that they are forgiven, and will want to live for our savior, with a new life that pleases him.
You may be an employee. There are certain temptations that go along with that estate that God has given us. We may be disgruntled with our boss. We may be disrespectful of our boss. Or perhaps we are lazy. Daily we need to drown that old Adam that lives in us and repent of those sins. We need to turn to our savior for that free forgiveness He has given to us. We will be filled with joy in our new life that wants to go forward, satisfied to serve our savior in that estate of life.
One day my dad and I happened to be driving by a cemetery. It was a beautiful, little cemetery, and we were commenting to one another about how beautiful it was. My dad turned to me and said, "Just think about Nicodemus. (Nicodemus was the gentleman who wanted Jesus to be buried in his own tomb.) Imagine what Nicodemus must have done, when Jesus rose from the dead. Do you think Nicodemus ever went back to his tomb (that he knew he was going to be buried in some day), sat down in that tomb and thought ‘My savior, my savior, lay here, at one time! And, my savior got up out of my tomb!"
He knew Jesus had sanctified his grave. That tomb was a resting place for him and someday he would lie in that same tomb, just like Jesus did. And, someday he would get out of that same grave, just like his savior did."
Jesus has sanctified the graves of all believers! Jesus has done the same with the waters of baptism! Jesus was baptized. He entered the waters of baptism. He sanctified those waters. And, when we enter the waters of baptism, he joins himself to us. He gives us what he won for us, the forgiveness of sins. He gives us new hearts to live for him.
Thank God for our baptism.
Amen!
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