So this is part two, baptism,
our union with Christ, and his life, and his death, and his
burial, and in his resurrection. Last week, we opened up with
this verse from John 11 that says, I am, Jesus said to Martha,
I am the resurrection and the life, John 11, 25. He that believeth
in me, notice, who are these who are joined to Christ? Who
is joined to the Lord Jesus Christ and who is the resurrection life?
He that believeth in me. Do we believe on him? To believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ is to abandon all confidence in our
own selves. It's to realize that there's
no hindrance with God to save us from our sins because the
Lord Jesus Christ is almighty to save. Even my sins can't keep
me from God because of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a boldness
that comes based on God's declaration that he's laid it all on his
son. So he says, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. If we die in our
bodies, because Christ is the resurrection and the life and
we're joined to him, we'll live. Our bodies will rise again. And
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." We'll
never experience the second death. And even though our bodies die,
it's no longer a death. It's not a punishment for sin.
It's a sleep in death. You'll never die. We are joined
to him who is life. We cannot die. That's what he's
saying here. And the way that this is to us
is because we are joined to the Lord Jesus Christ. How did this
union come about? And that's what we're professing
in baptism, is that we are joined to Christ, and this union, and
by virtue of what he did, is our salvation. It is all of our
salvation. There's nothing left. There's
never been anything for us that we could do. But because Christ
has done it all, there's nothing left to be done. So we want to
look at this. First thing is that since resurrection
is life from death, isn't that what resurrection is? Resurrection
is life from death. And since Christ is the resurrection
and the life, and that we contribute nothing in our own resurrection
because we're dead. You can't produce any motives
or actions if you're dead. You can't think God has raised
us from the dead because Christ is a resurrection of the dead.
If this is the case, if he is the resurrection and the life,
and I am a sinner dead in my sins, Therefore, what is the
conclusion for that poor sinner who can't do anything? If Christ
is the resurrection and the life, what does that say to you as
a sinner? There's hope for you, isn't there? There's not just
hope, there's great reason for joy and peace, because Christ
is the resurrection and the life. If he's the resurrection and
the life, and his word cannot fail, and he has all power, and
he has already answered all charges against us, then we have reason
for hope. There's hope here, isn't there?
This is the reason. Resurrection is life from the
dead, there's no doubt about that. Now, why do we die? Why
does anyone die? Because of sin, right? If resurrection
is life from the dead, and death is the result of sin, then I
have a question. What has to happen before I can
be raised from the dead? Something has to be done about
my sins. And what's done about my sins
is the Lord Jesus Christ bore our sins in his own body on the
tree, and he put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and
he will come the second time without sin to salvation. Because
he was raised from the dead, it proves, God has proved, that
he really put away the sin that was the cause of our death. Okay? So, for him to be the resurrection
and the life, the first thing that has to happen is, he has
to deal with sin. I want to read this verse in
Hebrews chapter 9, verse 26. He says, And just in the middle it says,
but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared, listen
carefully to these words, Jesus Christ appeared in the end of
the world to put away sin, how? By the sacrifice of himself.
What part did you play? No part. Who did the sinning? I did the sinning. What hope
do I have before God? That Christ by himself put away
my sins. That he is the resurrection.
He can raise me from death to life because he put away my sins. Look at verse 28 of the same
chapter, Hebrews 9, 28. He says, so Christ was once offered
to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him,
those are the many, Shall he appear the second time without
sin unto salvation? One time he offered himself once
and he got it all done. Our sins were put away. Therefore,
we can see how he is the resurrection and the life because he dealt
with our sin by the sacrifice of himself. I remember when I
was with the children at Sunday school, I drove this home to
them by asking them this question repeatedly and having them go
to the scripture and read it. What did Jesus offer Himself? Why? To put away sin. So this
is such a precious truth, such a central truth. This is the
gospel. Christ offered himself to God
for our sins. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. I never get tired of this. When
I doubt that I have any comprehension of the truth of scripture, or
when I am under the burden of my sin, This is comforting. This is a rock on which we can
stand. This is the argument. I need
no other argument and no other plea but that Jesus died and
that I, as a sinner, can look to him who is the resurrection
and the life as the one who both died for my sins and rose again
for my justification. OK, so that's the first thing
about this. Since he is the resurrection
and the life and life from the dead, requires nothing from the
dead man, then I as a sinner have great hope. And since to
raise someone from the dead requires first dealing with his sins,
and he by himself, when he offered himself once, dealt with sin,
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and he will come
again without sin to salvation, therefore we know that he did
put away sin and he rose from the dead because of that. Our
sins are put away in the death of Christ. So He not only put
away our sin, but in His death He established our righteousness,
and that's the clothing. That's what we're covered with.
It hides our shame. His beauty is given to us. Isaiah
61, verse 10. The garments of salvation are
given to us to dress in. We appear before God in the fine
linen of the righteousness of the saints, and that righteousness
is the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not our own, but
His. Now, the second thing I want
you to understand, well, let me read one more verse of scripture
to you first. In 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse
18, look at this verse of scripture carefully. I was in connection. It's always the case when you
study scripture in connection with this or that topic, you
see new things. And here in 1 Peter chapter 3
and verse 18, we're going to see that. Notice, here's the
substitution. Here's the one who did the job.
He says, for Christ also has suffered, hath once suffered,
for sins. The just for the unjust. We're
the unjust, he's the righteous one. We're the unrighteous, he's
the righteous. That's what just means. It means
someone who's righteous. Unjust means someone who's not
righteous. The righteous one, Christ, died for the unrighteous
ones. And notice why. Why did he do
this? That he might bring us to God.
And notice how he did it. Being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit. When Jesus died, this is kind
of a mystery. We always wonder, well, how could the Son of God
die? He died in the flesh, in His human nature. His soul was
made an offering for sin, and He bore our sins in His own body.
His body died. He suffered in His human soul.
But as the Son of God, He's eternal. He can't die as the Son of God.
And we see here that He died in the flesh. But He was quickened
by the Spirit, His own Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit
of God's dear Son, the Spirit of Christ. He was quickened by
the Spirit, okay? So here we see that our resurrection
with Christ is because He was quickened by the Spirit of God,
having suffered for our sins and put Him away in the death
of His body on the tree. Now, secondly, to understand
that Jesus is the resurrection and life, we must understand
that resurrection and life are, here's the answer, in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Resurrection and life are in
the Lord Jesus Christ who lived and died and rose again. Jesus
said that God is a God to his people. God said this in the
New Covenant. You remember that in Jeremiah
31 and Ezekiel 26 and other places, the New Covenant is promised
in the Old Testament. And one of the promises in the
New Covenant was, I will be a God to them, and they shall be my
people. Remember that? When was God? a God to his people. At what
point in time did God become a God to his people? I will be
a God to them and they shall be my people. Well, nothing with
God happens as a sequence based on time. Whatever God thinks,
whatever God does, he determined and decreed long before time. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. That choosing us in Christ made
us his people, and it made him our God. So it happened before
time began, and he says in Jeremiah 31 3, that I have loved you with
an everlasting love. Therefore, because of that everlasting
love, with loving kindness have I drawn you. The result of his
love is that we're drawn to Christ. But the love was always there.
The love preceded time. I have loved you with an everlasting
love, and that love was given to us in God's counsel and decrees
in Christ. Because He chose us in Him. And
it was a choice of God in love. Because He loved us, He chose
us in Christ. He loved us in Christ. He chose
us in Christ. Everything has to do with Him.
So that God being our God is something that happened from
eternity. He revealed it in this covenant in time, in Scripture.
But what does He say about this covenant in Hebrews 13, 20? That
it is an everlasting covenant. An everlasting covenant, right?
He said, now the God of peace that brought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of
the everlasting covenant. So it's an everlasting covenant.
It had no beginning, it has no end. Therefore God made promises
in that covenant before time began. And that's why he says
in places like 1 Peter 1, verse 20, that the Lord Jesus Christ
was foreordained before the foundation of the world as the Lamb by whose
blood he would redeem us, his people. It was before the world
began that God became our God. And being our God then, and since
God is, it says in Psalm 68 20, He that is our God is the God
of salvation. And unto the Lord our God belong
the issues from death. So because God made himself our
God and because he is the God of salvation and to the Lord
our God belong the issues from death, he stands in relation
to us, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit
is our God, but particularly in Christ, who is the resurrection
and the life, therefore we are raised from the dead in the Lord
Jesus Christ because he is our God. Remember what Thomas said
when he saw the nail prints And he was invited to take your hand
and put it right here on my side and feel that place where the
spear was. And he said, my Lord and my God. That's what he called the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so God is God to his people
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we know God in any way other
than what we know of the Lord Jesus Christ? No. We can only
know him in Christ. If you've seen me, Jesus said,
you've seen the Father. If the fullness of the Godhead
dwells in him bodily, then we need look no further than to
Christ as our God and our Savior. And in Him, we know the Father.
We know Him. So God is a God to His people
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this happens in several ways
in scripture. The first way is that, as I mentioned in Ephesians
chapter 1, look at this with me. I'll take you to some of
these verses so that you're assured that these are the words of scripture.
Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 4, let me read verse 2. I'll
start with 2. Grace be to you. He's speaking
about those who are faithful in Christ Jesus, believers in
Christ. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from
the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. There you go. Those two words, in Him, in Christ,
Those are the key to the gospel. This teaches us that in Christ,
everything was given to us. all spiritual blessings and more.
He says, well, there's no more than all spiritual blessings,
but he's gonna explain what they mean. According as he hath chosen
us, this is one of those blessings, according as he hath chosen us
in him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love. There's the love of God that's
eternal before the foundation of the world. God chose us that
we should be holy. He chose us that we should be
without blame. And how are we made holy? Isn't it by the blood
of Jesus? Hebrews 13, 12. That we are sanctified
by the Lord Jesus Christ, by His precious blood. And we're
made without blame, again, by the Lord Jesus Christ, by His
precious blood. It's all in Christ. And he goes
on about having been predestinated to the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.
He says, to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he
has made us accepted in the beloved. in the Lord Jesus Christ. All
of His church is accepted in Christ. In whom, verse seven,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of His grace. What did you do
to redeem yourself from your sins? Nothing. It was by His blood. Redemption
through His blood. The forgiveness of sins is all
through His blood. Everything is through His blood. The forgiveness of sins our redemption,
the remission of our sins, the propitiation to God, our peace
with God is through his blood, our justification is by his blood,
Romans 5, 9, our sanctification, Hebrews 10, 10 and 13, 12, are
by his blood. Everything, we're made perfect
by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. We have access
into the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus. Everything is
by the blood because the blood fulfilled the all-righteousness
and made satisfaction to God according to the everlasting
covenant. Okay? So, this union with Christ
was made by God from eternity in the Lord Jesus Christ. We
were chosen in Him, we were given all blessings in Him, and we
were predestinated to the adoption of children by Him. We were made
accepted in the Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we were
redeemed by His precious blood. We were forgiven our sins in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what he says in 1 Corinthians
15, 20, he says, as in Adam all die, even so in Christ, in Christ
shall all be made alive. Our resurrection is because we're
in Christ. Just like we died because we
were in Adam, because we're in Christ, we're raised from the
dead. Okay? So it was an election. by God
that put us into this relationship to His Son before time began. You see? That election by God
was God's counsel, His will, and His will is never changed. He put us in relation to His
Son, and because of that, it says that He gave us to Him. Look at John chapter 17, for
example. Let me read, hold your place
in John 17 and go back to John 10 first. John chapter 10, he
says in verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and
they follow me and I give them, I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish. That's pretty secure, isn't it?
All of Christ's sheep know him, follow him, and he knows them,
and he gives them eternal life. Without exception, not one is
left out. And they shall never perish. Neither shall any, neither
man nor devil nor angel, pluck them out of my hand. My Father
which gave them me, notice, my Father which gave them me, is
greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. Look at John 6 and verse 37. All that the Father giveth me,
John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. All right. When did they come? After they were given. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. So they were given to
Christ before they came. That's why they come. And him
that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. For I came
down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him
that sent me. And this is the will of him, this is the Father's
will which has sent me, that of all which he hath given me,
I should lose nothing. but should raise it up again
at the last day. So everyone that the Father has
given to Christ, without fail, will be raised up at the last
day. You see that? They're all sheep, they know
His voice, they follow Him. That means that they're going
to be given faith. Look at now John 17, same thing. John 17, verse 2, As thou hast
given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given Him. Again, they were given when? When they were declared by God
the Father to be His. When He chose them in Christ.
They're yours. They were given to Him in election. And having been given to Christ,
they were joined to Him in that representative union. And that's
what we want to talk about next. So they were given, they were
joined to Christ in an election union, and by a covenant union
because of an everlasting covenant, and by a representative union
just as they had a representative union with Adam. Remember, as
in Adam? What does it mean to be related
to Adam? Well, there's this term called
a federal head. And I don't want to distract you with these kind
of terms you're not familiar with. But there is a concept
that we have that we should be familiar with to help us understand
the term of federal headship. In our nation, we have a federal
government. That means it's over all the
people in the nation. That's what federal means. And
so when the federal government makes a treaty with another government,
everybody in the federal government is obligated to that treaty.
Did you know that? Did you know that there's people
in our country who can obligate you to terms of an agreement
that you make no contribution to the treaty? You don't get
a say. They go off in their dark corners
and they make a treaty, and now you're obligated. And those people
in that other country can hold you accountable to the terms
of that treaty. Well, thankfully, most treaties
are made in their kind of, you know, things like, you know,
we declare ourselves to be friends or something like that. amongst
us. But the point here is that even
though you didn't do it yourself, someone acting for you as your
representative did something. In our federal government, there
are those who representatively make agreements, and we're bound
to them. It's called a treaty. But God
made Adam our federal head. That means that what he did,
everything that he did, he represented us in doing it. And he only did
that in that one sin, when he sinned against God in the garden.
So when Adam sinned, everything he did, we did in him. Now that
seems like bad news because it all went down from there, but
it's actually good news because before that federal headship
was established, an earlier and more all-encompassing federal
headship was established. Adam was only our federal head
in that one obedience or disobedience, but Christ is our federal head
in everything. So that God says in 1 Corinthians
1.30, remember what it says? of Him, of God the Father, are
you in Christ Jesus as our federal head, and every other way, who
is made unto us, Christ Jesus is made unto us, listen to the
list, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification or holiness, and
redemption. That's a pretty all-encompassing
list. In fact, in Colossians 2, verse
10, it says, and you are complete in him. Nothing lacking. In other words, even though Adam
acted as a federal head, he was just a figure. He just signified
his life and that relation to his people just signified something
much greater and more eternal. Adam's was just a temporary one.
but Christ is eternal. And as Adam acted as a representative,
a federal head to us, so that what he did we did, much more
Christ in everything acted for us as our representative, our
federal head. And that's a union we have with
Christ. Because of our union, because
God chose us in him and made a covenant with Christ on our
behalf, which was sealed in his blood, Then, what he did, we
did in him. And this began before the world
was created. This union with Christ was already
established. Alright? Then, the next kind
of union that God has made with us in the Lord Jesus Christ is
a union of marriage. Remember? Christ loved, who? The church, and gave himself
for it. Just as Adam, God took Adam's
rib and made Eve and brought Eve to the man, and he said,
now this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, that's
a union. In Ephesians 5 he says this relation of Christ to his
people is a union of marriage where he as the husband loved
the church and gave himself for it and they are, according to
Ephesians 5, one with him. Let me read this to you. Turn
to Ephesians chapter 5. This is the third way, at least
there's many ways, but this is the third way that we are joined
to Christ and this also took place before time. He says in
Ephesians chapter 5 verse 25, husbands love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. This
is what husbands are to do as a reflection of Christ's love
for his church. But look down at verse 29, for
no man ever yet hated, what? His own flesh. but nourisheth
and cherisheth it even as the Lord the church. So he calls
the church his own flesh. And then look at verse 30, for
we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Wow. This is a great mystery, he says
in verse 32, but I speak concerning Christ and the church, that a
man would leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.
Christ? joined himself to his church
in a marriage, a love that was established before the ceremony
had taken place in time. That's why he died on the cross.
That's what he's saying here. He died on the cross because
of a prior love, a love that he had for his people before
he died, and that love compelled him to lay his life down for
them, and they are bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. He would leave his father and
mother and cleave to his wife, I won't get into that right now,
but the two shall be one flesh, joined together. So you can see
now, and when did Christ, when was Christ offered up? Well,
we know in time he was offered up around, you know, when he
was 30 to 35 years of age, but before the foundation of the
world he was the lamb slain, wasn't he? He was ordained before
the foundation of the world to be the Redeemer and the one who
would shed his blood to redeem us from our sins, according to
1 Peter 1.20. Okay, so now we see that there's an election
union, there's a covenant union, there was a representative federal
head union that God established before time, and we know that
these were there before time because he said it was before
the foundation of the world, and God's covenant is everlasting.
And also there was a marriage union, which we know is also
before time, because Christ loved the church and gave himself for
it, and he was the lamb slain before the foundation of the
world. So all these things stack up now to convince us and to
assure us that our union with Christ is not something we did,
nor did we even offer any counsel or influence in this. God did
it of his own will. It came from his grace, and it
is therefore what? Holy, and therefore eternal. Because all God does is holy,
and all that he does is eternal. There's another way in which
Christ and us are joined together. and this will be our last one
for now, is that Christ stands in relation to his people as
their surety and their redeemer. Now in Leviticus chapter 25,
it says that only a near kinsman could be someone to redeem. He
says in Leviticus 25, 49, either his uncle or his uncle's son
may redeem him or any that is nigh of kin to him of his family
may redeem him. But Ruth, remember Ruth in the
book of Ruth, Naomi told her that he is a near kinsman to
us. And therefore she said, and Ruth
told Boaz, Ruth told Boaz in Ruth chapter 3 verse 9, spread
therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near
kinsman. And we know what happened next.
Boaz redeemed Ruth. He bought her and bought the
land that was hers. And she became his wife. So there's
the redeemer relationship. And Christ has redeemed us. from
the curse of the law because he was made a curse for us. So
he laid his life down for the church. He redeemed the church.
He was a near kinsman to her. That near kin relationship was
established before time and in time he took our nature. He says,
because the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same. The children, wait a minute,
he hadn't yet come into the world. Ah, but they were children before
because they were predestinated to the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ. And because they were God's children,
Jesus Christ, their brother in this covenant, took their nature
to redeem them. He's their Redeemer, the near
kinsman. And of course you remember the relationship of surety when
Judah to his father Jacob promised to be surety for Benjamin, his
youngest son, and he stood before Joseph the judge and Judah answered
every charge. with himself, and he pleaded
not the innocence of Benjamin, but he pleaded his father's love
for Benjamin, and he pleaded his own engagement with his father
as his surety, and then he substituted himself for Benjamin when he
said, take me instead of the lad, a bondman to my lord, and
let the lad go up free with his brethren to our father again.
Now those relationships that God has established, the surety,
Christ as our surety, Christ as our redeemer, Christ as our
husband, Christ as our covenant head, and Christ as the one who
shed his blood to make that covenant and our election union, everything
you can see here is in the Lord Jesus Christ. All of the Old
Testament scriptures speak about a place of being where you're
safe from destruction. Remember in the ark? What happened
there? Noah and all of his family in
the ark were preserved. The flood of God's judgment came
down upon the earth. Everyone was destroyed on the
earth except those in the ark. In the ark and in 1 Peter 3 it
says that is a figure of our salvation. And it was also the
case that it was only in Abraham that anyone could have a part
of the inheritance. They had to be one of Abraham's
children. They had to be the seed of Abraham.
And we know from the New Testament that only those who believe Christ
are Abraham's true seed. So, in Abraham. And then also
we know they had to be in the house where the Passover blood
was sprinkled in order to be preserved and not destroyed by
the destroyer. When God saw the blood, then
he passed over them because they were in that house where the
blood was sprinkled. And we could go on. In the nation
of Israel, there was only a priest in that nation. There was only
a king and a prophet in that nation. You had to be part of
that nation in order to receive any inheritance or blessing from
God. All these things are all like a, have you ever seen a
plumb bob? They're like this heavy little thing made of brass
and it got a sharp point on it and you drop it and it drops
to the ground. You say, that's a plumb because it just followed
gravity right to the earth. These things are like a plumb
bob, they all come as a brass cone that's got a point on it,
and that point is on the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything in scripture
is teaching us about our salvation by virtue of this relationship
God has made between us and Christ, established before time began. But in baptism, we confess that
because of that prior work of God in establishing this relationship
to Christ, and because of Christ who fulfilled that will of God
in shedding his blood, answering every charge, fulfilling the
conditions of the covenant, fulfilling our righteousness, we were credited
It was God accepted Christ and accepted his people with him.
He did it, and we did it in him. Now let me take you to one more
scripture here before I let you go. Philemon, which is just before
the book of Hebrews, Here's a couple of my favorite verses in all
of scripture. Philemon, there's only one chapter, verse 12. Look
at this. Paul is pleading to Philemon
concerning his slave, Onesimus, who had run away. When Onesimus,
the slave, had run away from Philemon, the master, he came
to where Paul was and was in prison. And he heard the gospel,
Onesimus became a believer, and he was so dear to Paul that Paul
wrote a letter to Philemon, his master, concerning this fact
that Onesimus had run away, and he's pleading with Philemon to
receive Onesimus. Notice he says in verse 12, whom
I have sent again, Paul sent Onesimus to Philemon, whom I
have sent again, thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own
bowels. The bowels are a way of referring
to the deep, deep-seated love, the emotions that you have. Paul
is saying, I love Onesimus as my own bowels. Therefore, receive
him. And notice in verse 17, listen
to these words. If thou count me a partner, speaking
to Philemon in the letter, if you count me a partner, receive
him as myself. Now this is the truth of Scripture.
God the Father has set up this relationship between His people
and His Son so that He receives us as His Son. He loves us as
His Son. All that His Son did, He considers
ours and He receives it from Him for us. And when we come
to God in faith, we're trusting that God looks upon us and receives
us because of Christ, his merits, his work, and all that he did
is ours. And that's what faith is. It's
looking to Christ, not to ourselves for everything. And in baptism,
we're confessing in the act of baptism by going under the water. That's our death and burial with
Christ. And being brought up out of the
water, that's our resurrection with Christ. And it's all because
God did something. And Christ fulfilled that assignment,
that ministry that he was given to do to lay his life down as
a ransom for us to redeem us from death and from sin. And
he did it because in his resurrection our sins were absolutely put
away because there's no life without righteousness and death
is taken care of by his death. The death of death and the death
of Christ. You see these things? So now
I emphasize our union with the Lord Jesus Christ because this
is the biggest part of baptism. When we're baptized in water,
it signifies something. It doesn't make anything happen.
It doesn't make anything happen. Just like when you, I heard this
example from Todd. When you get married, my son's
going to get married next week on Sunday. When you get married
and you stand before the one who officiates that ceremony,
is that when you start loving your wife? No, of course not. No, you've loved her a long time
before that, right? But when you get married in that
ceremony, you're openly and publicly committing yourself to her because
of that love. In baptism, the ceremony of baptism,
we're openly and publicly confessing that we believe that what Christ
did is all that God required from us. That all God requires,
He fulfilled and provided in His Son, and Christ fulfilled
it and gave it to God in sacrifice when He offered Himself in blood.
That's what we're confessing. That's what we believe. That's
what we hold to in life. Every time our sins overwhelm
us and we're confused, we go back to this. Christ died for
the ungodly. We start over as if it were again.
And we're brought back again. Turn us again, Lord God of hosts.
Cause thy face to shine. Let your hand be upon the Son
of Man. So we ask God to show us Christ
again. And in baptism we're confessing
this. It's a public confession of a relationship established
by God before time, fulfilled by Christ in time, and it is
all of our salvation. And so when we're put under the
water, we don't put ourselves under the water just like we
didn't put ourselves in Christ and we didn't die in our own
action. Christ died for us, but we were
put there then by God. We're completely passive in it,
just like a baby in the womb, conceived, conceived without
any knowledge on the baby's part, and yet that baby receives life
by the action of another. God gives him life, and we receive
life by the action of God in Christ. Let's pray. Lord, thank
you for the salvation we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. What
a privilege it is that by this act, this water baptism, we can
signify by doing so our belief, our trust, that in the Lord Jesus
Christ, all of All that you require from us has been met by your
grace. We didn't do one thing to deserve
it, not one thing to make it happen. You did it and brought
the news of it to us and even gave us your spirit to make us
alive, to create us in Christ, and to give us this birth as
your sons and daughters so that we might believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and know our salvation is in Him, know our election,
know our justification, our sanctification, our redemption, all in Him. What
a blessed truth this is, and how we long to be able to lay
hold on this day by day in our life so that we might not serve
sin, that we might serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
who rose from the dead, and we with Him. In His name we pray,
amen.