The Bath of Regeneration

God’s Big Picture

[SLIDE: God’s Big Picture through Scripture]

The gift we have in Scripture is not just a REVELATION, it’s an INVITATION!

It’s an invitation to get in on how God does things instead of being blinded by the powers and principalities of this world (as Paul calls them).

The name of the book that ends our Bible is Revelation - translated from the word apokalypsis…which means to “pull back the curtain””

Think Wizard of Oz…you get to peak behind the curtain to see what is really real, instead of staring at the talking head on the screen!

2 Timothy 3:14–17 “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it [namely Christ] and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Why is this Bible beneficial to us??

For one reason only…Because it points us to the living Jesus who has given his life so that we can be made alive through Him!

Here’s the claim of our Faith: The Bible is the Word of God

…but what do we mean by that??

The Bible claims to contain a message. A message that will not merely instruct us, not merely inform us about the past, not merely teach us certain ethical principles for how to live, not merely provide a map for our place in the world or provide our lives with meaning.

Much more than that, the Bible claims to be The Living Word of God

1 Thessalonians 2:13 “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

These words are dead words…no better than Shakespeare or Harry Potter…until you read these words BY FAITH in Jesus!

Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and John the Revelator were all told to EAT the Word of God.

Truth: Until these words come alive in your heart by faith and transform you through and through, they remain just words.

Exodus - Through the Waters of Baptism

Exodus 14:10–14 “When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.””

Exodus 14:21–28 “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained.”

The Gospel According to Exodus

God’s People Prosper. The Adversary seeks to destroy God’s blessing.

God’s sons and daughter suffer under the bondage of Pharaoh (Sin).

God’s people call out to him (Exodus 3:7).

God sends a deliverer named Moses.

God saves his people through the waters of the Red Sea.

God’s message in Exodus: Remember Your Baptism!

What I want you see in Exodus is this: The power of Sin over your life has been buried in the waters of your baptism. (Whenever that was for you) You are no longer living under that tyranny!

[Or as Jesus put it]: Who the sons sets free is free indeed! (John 8:36)

Old Pentecostal Hymn: Are you washed in the Blood of the Lamb Are you washed (are you washed) In the Blood (in the blood) In the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb Are your garments spotless, are they white as snow Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb (of the lamb)?

God has delivered you through what Augustine called, “The Bath of Regeneration”

I have this picture of the very first bath Jennifer and I ever gave Alex (this is the kind of embarrassing things dads do to their kids… [picture of Alex in Guatemala in the sink] You can tell by the look on his face that he is terrified! He screamed the whole time!

I remember the first bath the nurse gave Anna in the hospital…she SCREAMED!!!

As much as we celebrate baptisms…and it is a celebration…The reality is following Jesus into our baptism is SCARY….

I don’t feel worthy…I’m not good enough….

What if I fail…I’m not holy enough…

What if God doesn’t come through!!??

I can imagine how terrifying it must have been for God’s people caught between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea … watching the waters rise up on either side…then hearing Moses say, Okay everybody, we’re going to walk across to the other side!

[Second Pic of Alex’s bath] Alex was terrified, but on the other side of his bath, was a first-time daddy who was waiting to hold him, safely in his arms.

There’s only one way to God’s Promise over your Life…not around the storm, not around the water, but through them to the other side!

Here’s what I want you to remember: I don’t know what promise is waiting for you on the other side of your Red Sea…I just know its so much better than the bondage of Egypt waiting for you in your past.

When your enemy reminds of your past, remember…it’s buried in the waters!

When your’e tempted to go back to your old life, remember…it’s buried in the waters!

When the world feels like its caving in around you, remember…you’ve been delivered through the waters.

When you’re facing the impossible, keep still and watch, for the Lord will fight for you.