Conquering The Chaotic Waters

For the last three weeks, we’ve been exploring this design pattern of ‘water’ in Scripture, specifically in the Old Testament. And I before I get started today, I want to thank all of you for being a part of this journey with us.

Slide: Overview

We’ve looked at a number of stories, and we’ve looked at the many links between the stories. It’s a lot to take in, especially if we used to only read Scripture like a collection of individual stories that aren’t connected to each other.

[Shawn pointed out that these stories are no coincidence] But we do believe that Scripture is meant to be read as a unified story, and that’s part of its beauty and authority.

Slide: Linked

Everything is connected backwards and forwards. It’s designed so that we don’t get the full meaning on a first reading, but we return to it again and again, and we see that the earlier stories foreshadow and set up later stories, while later stories look back to and fulfill the earlier stories.

And here’s what that means: through different people living in different times and cultures and circumstances, the pattern holds true: God rescues His people through the chaos of sin and death, and they emerge into new life and blessing on the other side. And we can have confidence that the story extends to our times as well.

Unresolved Chaos

As we’ve been going through these stories, perhaps you’ve noticed there is always something a bit off. Something is left unresolved.

Starting in Genesis 1, after God first separated the chaotic waters to create the world, Adam and Eve sinned and chaos returned to the world.

God delivered Noah and his family through the Flood, but then Noah immediately slipped up. Genesis 9 records how Noah got drunk and his son Ham saw his nakedness. Noah ends up cursing Ham’s descendants, and the world spirals down into chaos and violence again.

We saw that Israel crossed the Red Sea and emerged as God’s chosen people. But in the very next chapter, they forgot how YHWH delivered them and they started complaining about not having food or water. Chaos fills the people of God.

In the story of Jonah, he gets rescued out of the chaotic waters and even though he goes to preach to Nineveh, we see that he is still full of anger and resentment at the people God lovingly forgives. Something’s not quite right there; chaos still lives in Jonah’s heart.

Slide: It’s still chaotic

So as we read through the Old Testament, we find that it’s still chaotic. The story isn’t finished—there is still so much chaos and sin and death in the world!

But that’s the point of the Old Testament. It is constantly teaching us to look forward.

Slide: Conquering

It is preparing us for the day when God will not only rescue us from chaos, but conquer the chaos once and for all.

One day, the chaotic waters will totally and permanently lose their power to destroy.

One day, sin and death will no longer trouble the world.

One day, these waters of chaos will be transformed into rivers of life.

Slide: New everything

We just need to keep looking for a better Noah, a better Moses, a better Joshua, a better Jonah, and this Person will be the perfect Chosen One—

Slide: Messiah

literally a Messiah— to fully and finally rescue God’s people and conquer the chaos waters for good.

Before we talk about who that Person is, I just want to recognise how valuable these Old Testament stories are to us. They teach us one of the most powerful lessons known to man: how to hope. How to hold on to God’s promises, even while we live in the middle of chaos, that all will be well and that this chaos shall be calmed.

There are people here who are going through that now. Some of us have suffered sleepless nights because of some burden in our hearts. Maybe it’s family drama. Maybe it’s finances. Maybe it’s a work situation or a betrayal by someone we thought was our friend. Some of us are struggling with sin that is too painful to reveal and it fills us with shame. Some of us obediently bow our heads in prayer but we question whether anyone is actually listening on the other side. Some of us have lost our direction in life, and we struggle to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Well, you are not alone. We look into Scripture and find people who have their entire worlds drown into chaos—literally in Noah’s case! But God always came through, and promised an even fuller and more complete victory.

Christ and the Chaotic Waters

And that brings us to the story of Jesus. He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One whom God has chosen to rescue all creation from chaos, and this time for good.

Slide: Crucified

But He accomplishes that in a way that nobody expected. The way that Jesus confronts and conquers the chaos of sin and death is by being killed on a cross. At first glance, Jesus doesn’t conquer the chaos; the chaos seems to conquer Him!

But even that was part of the plan.

Slide: Glorified

Because it is through Jesus’ death on the cross that He is glorified. The cross of shame becomes His throne of glory. Because He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, He is exalted and given the name above every other name. Chaos has done its worst and can drown Him no longer. Death exhausted all its power against the Son of God and lost when Jesus came walking out of the grave. He has passed through the waters of sin and emerged alive, never to die again. And Jesus says, so it shall be for all those who join me. So also all who identify with me shall win a victory over chaos and sin and death that can never be taken away.

Brothers and sisters, the story that we’ve been tracing since Genesis 1, the entire pattern of God rescuing His people through chaotic waters, that story is finally completed in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And look back, we might even say that there is a Jesus-shaped pattern to be found in all these stories.

The Fulfillment of the OT Stories

Jesus is the better Noah. In the days of Noah, there was only wickedness in the hearts of men, but Noah alone found favour in the sight of God, and through him, creation was saved. Romans 6:23 tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, except One. Of all humanity, Jesus of Nazareth has found favour in the sight of God. And because of His righteousness, He carries the hope of all creation to be renewed and restored.

Jesus is the better Moses. Moses led Israel, God’s chosen race, out of slavery to Egypt; so also Jesus will lead God’s chosen people from every tribe and every nation out of our bondage to sin and death. Israel emerged from the waters of the Red Sea a new people, a free people, a holy nation set apart for the service and glory of God. When we identify with Jesus who fell the power of death, we emerge with Him out of the grave a new creation, free from the clutches of evil, and set apart for the service and glory of the King of Kings.

Jesus is the better Joshua. Joshua led Israel across the Jordan river to claim the inheritance that God promised to their ancestors. So also Jesus Christ has led His church through the powers of sin and death to claim the abundant and eternal life that God always meant for us to enjoy.

Jesus is the better Jonah. Just as Jonah gave himself over to the power of the storm and saved the lives of those on the ship, so also Jesus has become obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross, and gave His life so that we might live. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights and then emerged alive onto dry land, so also Jesus lay in that grave for three days and nights and then burst out of that tomb into everlasting life, alive forevermore, never to die again. And just as the preaching of Jonah resulted in the salvation of the city of Nineveh, how much more will the preaching of the good news of Jesus bring about the salvation of all who hear!

How magnificent, how wonderful is the perfect will of God! How glorious is the gospel of Jesus Christ, in whom all Scripture finds its fulfillment!

Pause

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 ESV

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Now, there is no literal ocean or river or lake in the story of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. So how can we say that Jesus completes the pattern of God rescuing through the chaotic waters?

There are at least two occasions where Jesus describes His death, burial and resurrection with watery imagery.

He says in Matthew 12:39-40 that the sign of the Son of Man is the sign of Jonah. Meaning, what was true of Jonah will be true of Jesus, plus plus. Jonah’s sinking into the chaotic waters was just a foreshadow, an appetiser for what Jesus would do in full. Jonah sank into a destructive ocean and nearly died; Jesus went down into the grave and actually died.

But there’s an even more interesting comparison in Luke 12:50, Jesus says that He has a baptism to be baptised with, and from context, we can see that He is referring to His death. Baptism, as good Church of Christ people know, literally means immersion. This is the language of water being connected with death. Going under water and drowning can be likened to being buried, because one goes down under the earth.

So going back to Paul: when Paul says that Christ died, was buried and was raised according to the Scriptures, there is also a sense in which Paul means that Christ was completing this pattern of passing through the chaotic waters, by going in and coming out again. He may not pass through literal waters, but He does pass through what the waters represent: sin and death.

Segue to Baptism

What now? What are we supposed to do in response to something like that?

After the apostle Peter preached the first gospel sermon in Acts 2, the crowds who heard him asked that same question.

Slide: question

Scripture says that they were cut to the heart and asked “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter’s answer was, in effect, you become a part of it.

Slide: answer

“Repent and be baptised, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Because of what Jesus has done, we are all invited to become a part of His death, burial and resurrection; He calls us to enter the waters of death where your old chaotic nature is destroyed, and rise from those waters into new and eternal life.

Slide: John’s baptism

It is no surprise that the early church chose the practice of baptism as the defining sign of Jesus followers. Because baptism was already an established practice that symbolises the removal of one identity—dying to one life—and putting on a new one. What sign could be more appropriate for a Christian than a sign that involves us going through water and rising again?

The Message of Baptism

In the rest of our time today, I want to unpack this view of baptism a bit more.

But first, a clarification: I am not going to talk about how we do baptism “correctly”. In churches of Christ, we take a very high view of baptism. We say that baptism is necessary for salvation, and that a baptism is only valid and accepted by God if we do it correctly, namely that our bodies must be fully immersed, as per the original Greek meaning, and that we must believe and understand that baptism is for the remission of sins and that we receive the Holy Spirit. Historically, churches of Christ have said that if someone was baptised incorrectly because they didn’t hit any one of these criteria, even if they were sincere about it, they aren’t saved yet and need to be rebaptised.

Those are matters that we should talk about and make sure we have a clear understanding on. After all, baptism has everything to do with salvation. But I want to stress today that the message of baptism matters before the mechanics of baptism. When we obssess over the mechanics of baptism, we tend to make baptism about us: we make it an action that we perform and get just right so that we earn God’s favour. We make salvation dependent on how well we follow God’s instructions. Which is completely contrary to the message of baptism!

So my task today is not to talk about the mechanics of baptism, but the message. When we get baptised, what are we getting ourselves into? What happens when we enter those waters?

There are many places we can look, and today I’ll only look at one passage. And I put it to you that what happens in baptism is this: we participate in what Christ has done.

Romans 6:1–4 ESV

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

What is Paul saying here? Through baptism, we are united with the work of Christ in a way that is almost impossible to describe. Somehow, if someone gets baptised today, Paul says that they die, are buried, and are raised with Christ.

Slide: Participate

We participate in what Christ has done. It’s not just symbolic: something actually happens when a person goes down into the water. Not because the water is magical, but because by faith, that water links and connects the one getting baptised with Jesus, into whom they are baptised.

And not only that, but just as Jesus fulfills the grand story of God conquering the chaotic waters, we also become linked to that grand story. Meaning, the water of baptism connects us to Jesus, but also to Jonah, to Joshua, to Moses, all the way to the waters of creation when God first brought creation into existence.

Like Jonah, we fall into the waters of death because of our rebellion, and we emerge from the waters as people obedient to God’s will.

Like Israel, we pass through the waters from slavery into freedom.

Like Genesis 1, God brings us through the waters from death into life.

If that seems mind-blowing to you, that is the scale where baptism operates. Baptism is so much more than fulfilling the legal requirement to get into heaven after we die. Baptism connects us with a story that has been going on for thousands of years and is still being written.

Our baptism connects us with the truth that God is rescuing and redeeming all of creation through the chaotic waters of sin and death through His Chosen One, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our baptism is an immersion into that truth. We jump into it, we dive into it, we become a part of it.

What It Means Tomorrow

So here’s what all that means tomorrow.

If you have been baptised, that means you have died with Christ to the powers of sin and death and you have risen with Him into new life. It’s not just eternal life in that you will live forever, although that’s part of the package, but it is a whole new quality of life that we get to experience. [What Shawn said at Giving]

Baptism means that when I wake up on Monday morning, I see with baptised eyes that this is day of grace, a day that God has graciously provided for me to live and to work and to enjoy for His glory.

Baptism means that when we sit down to our desks to do work, we work with baptised hands. Every word we write comes from baptised fingertips that speak the goodness of Christ.

Baptism means that when we have our meals, we eat with baptised mouths that eat and drink to the glory of God. We see that this is not food and drink that comes by our hard-earned money, but it is the gracious providence of God who lovingly sustains our lives.

Baptism means that when we meet someone else, whether a family member or close friend or complete stranger, we love them with a baptised love. Not the selfish human affections that only love people for what they can give us, not the love that we offer to those who look like us or think like us, but the selfless love of Christ that loves and celebrates everyone as eternal souls made in the image of God.

But Baptism doesn’t mean that the world becomes perfect overnight. Death and destruction in the world are still very present. Yes, they have been conquered, but their ultimate removal is still to come. And so we hear news of war and destruction. Families are still torn apart by sickness and death. We look into ourselves and find ourselves still torn by a desire to honour God and a desire to serve ourselves.

Slide; Final baptism

But because we are baptised, we have become part of a story that is bigger than ourselves. We have joined with a power greater than ourselves, and a promise that will endure forever and ever. That salvation belongs to our God, and we belong to Him.

If you are sitting there and you have not been baptised, you’re missing out, and Jesus is inviting you to join Him.

Maybe you’ve imagined that following Jesus is about slavishly obeying a bunch of rules restrict your freedom. Not in the slightest. It is in Christ that we experience true freedom.

Maybe you’re anxious about getting baptised because you don’t think you’re good enough to follow Jesus. That you have too much baggage and bad habits in your life to deserve to be called a child of God, and it shames you just to think of it now. Well, I can only hope it wasn’t a Christian who gave you that idea. To be baptised into Jesus is precisely us saying that we are not good enough, we are not holy enough, that we are powerless to save ourselves, and we desperately need Jesus to rescue us from the chaos of our hearts. To be baptised is to receive the forgiveness that we don’t deserve, healing for hurts we didn’t even know we have.

So come.