What is Baptism?

WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE DOING?

We read in Acts 8 the story of a man…a very religious man, trying to understand part of the Bible.

He knew a lot about God…been to Jerusalem to worship God. But there was something missing in his life…and he wasn’t quite sure what that was.

The Bible was confusing for him. So God sends to him a man by the name of Philip…and Philip offers to explain the Bible passage to him.

Many people are confused about what God says in His Word (Bible)

They want to know about Him…they do their best to try to gain His approval…but there is still something missing…

They may do all the right things…they may go to church…they may be very religious…yet the meaning of WHY seems to evade them.

The story goes on to describe how Philip used the Scriptures to share with this government official what it means to have a relationship with God. This man obviously was ready for what he heard because he wanted that relationship with God really badly. He wanted God in his life…and so Philip explained to him that the only way to have God in your life is THROUGH the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us that this government official accepted Jesus into his life and was a changed man.

The story doesn’t stop there…because they are going along in the chariot and come to a body of water…maybe even a oasis.

And the official asked Philip: “What stops me from being baptized right here and right now?”

Philip said to the man: “If you believe with all your heart, you may be baptized.” And they went down into the water and he was baptized.

So…WHY should we be baptized?

Why is baptism so important?

This morning I want to consider the

PAST…PRESENT and FUTURE parts of Baptism.

1. THE PAST…BAPTISM IS A LOOK BACK…A REFLECTION

When these 5 students entered the baptismal tank…they are showing you and I something that happened in the past. 

We enjoy looking back at significant events in our lives and say… “That was a turning point.”

Today, we are looking back at a significant event. A turning point in each of their lives.

ILLUST: We love the pictures on our phone/scrap books/photo albums because they remind us of past events.

BAPTISM…is a reminder of a significant past event…as if we are looking through a rearview mirror showing something significant in our past.

It is a reflection on what God has done for us, on our behalf through His Son Jesus Christ.

FACT#1 God Hates Sin…the Bible says that God can’t even look at sin. 

God has created the world to enjoy a beautiful relationship with Himself. But His creation…thought God was holding out on them so they thought they could do things better so they did things their own way. 

Romans 5:19 “For by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners”

FACT #2 Because of Our Sin We Deserve to Be Punished for Our Sin

Commit a crime you do the time…stand before a judge who pronounces you guilty.

God is the perfect Judge…perfectly just…knows all things hidden and unhidden…and when He says we are guilty even if we have only committed one sin in our life time then we deserve to be punished.

FACT #3 God Has Provided His Own Son to Pay the Horrific Penalty For Our Sin…

In effect, God says: “YOU matter to Me so much I will do what it takes to bring you back into a relationship with Me.”

FACT #4 Jesus, God’s Son PAID the Penalty for Our Sin…

The wages for my sin is death…I/You should have been the one to pay the penalty for my/your sin….but Jesus took our place.  

God loves you and I so much that He did this for us! “By this we know what love is…because He laid down His life for us.” 1 John 3:16

FACT #5…Jesus is Our Saviour!

When we accept this by faith…when we believe it with all of our heart…then we can be baptized. So in BAPTISM…we are looking back to the One who saved us…if we have put our faith …simple trust in Him. 

We are looking back at the One who has loved us enough to have forgiven us and has taken the penalty for us.

2. THE PRESENT…BAPTISM IS AN IDENTIFICATION…

The Bible says when we are baptized we are identifying ourselves with the Lord Jesus!

We IDENTIFY ourselves with His death…He died in my place.

We IDENTIFY with His Burial…

We IDENTIFY with His Resurrection.

Romans 6:4  “Therefore we are buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so se should walk in newness of life.”

In Baptism we identify with the Lord Jesus.

ILLUST: Identify…my ID…driver’s licence, birth certificate, credit card etc These things identify me as David Virr

QUESTION…HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY A TRUE CHRISTIAN?

Go to church? No!  Do good things? No! Read Bible & Pray everyday? No! Maybe wear suits on Sunday? No!

The only way you can IDENTIFY a true Christian…is one 9-letter word…O.B.E.D.I.E.N.C.E.!

Jesus said: “If you love Me you will keep My commands.” John 14:15  

In other words, “The one who has genuinely trusted the Lord Jesus to be their Saviour…will want to obey Him.

Obeying Jesus identifies me as a true follower…and one thing Jesus commanded His followers…is to be baptized.

Acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Saviour means for us to obey Him in water baptism. He has commanded it…so we are to do it.

ILLUST: Imagine for a minute that I play for the Toronto Maple Leafs…Just before the game I suit up in all my hockey equipment…and finally I will pull on my Blue and White Jersey the one with the maple leaf on the front. And I will go and play for my team…the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Now what would happen if I took that Maple Leaf jersey and replaced it with an Ottawa Senator jersey? There would be a whole lot of confusion. Nobody would really know who I was going to play for… the same can be said for those who choose to not obey Jesus.

The reality is…there are those who say they follow Jesus…they know Jesus…but they do not live to obey Him!

The Bible says: 1 John 2:4-6 “He who says: “I know Him” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth of God is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought also to walk just as He walked.” 

Baptism is an act of obedience…obedience is the ID of a believer.

But there is also a FUTURE part to Baptism.

3. THE FUTURE…BAPTISM IS A COMMITMENT…

Not only is Baptism a REFLECTION of the past…and IDENTIFICATION of the present…It is also a COMMITMENT for the future.

I wish I could stand here this morning and say that these five students are going to be “perfect” from this day forward. I am sure the parents are sitting here as well wishing the same thing. But I can’t. 

BAPTISM DOES NOT CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT THEM…BECAUSE THE CHANGE HAS ALREADY TAKEN PLACE!

But one thing their baptism does do is…PROCLAIM loud and clear that they believe in what Jesus has done for them and they believe in the power of God to change their lives.  And their lives are changing! 

Claire, Ella, Elyse, Julia and Hailey are not the same students they were once before Christ transformed them.

The same God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead….has raised these young people to a new life…they are a brand new creation (2 Cor 5:17) The old has gone and the new has come. The moment they placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ…God gave to them a brand new heart.

Colossians 1:13-14

When we identify ourselves with the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ we show our freedom from the power of sin in our lives. Because of their faith in Jesus these students are freed from sin….NO…they are not perfect…they will still succumb to failure…like we all do…we are sinners saved by grace…and we are being transformed into the image of Jesus.

They will still struggle with sin…but God is doing a perfect work in them…and God promises that He will complete it…He will finish it.

Philippians 1:6 “I am confident of this very thing that He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

BAPTISM is a SYMBOL/PICTURE of a life that has been changed by the grace of God.

That change can only be explained by being born again into the family of God.

It doesn’t stop here either…God continues it until the day that we will stand together before Him.

BAPTISMS… 

Elyse Winter…

This is Elyse Winter…

Elyse is the second eldest in the Winter home.…

Quiet but not silent…

Julia Maxwell…

This is Julia Maxwell… 

And now she wants to follow Jesus in baptism.

Hailey Maxwell…

This is Hailey Maxwell

The oldest of three in the Maxwell home.

Do you believe Jesus died for your sins and that He was buried and that He rose again on the 3rd day?

On the profession of your faith…I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the name of the Son and the name of the Holy Spirit.