- Jesus Christ’s water baptism has great significance for our redemption.
Every Old Testament ritual or
ceremony is a shadow of Christ, who is the substance. Jesus said, “You search
the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures
point to me!” (John 5:39, NLT). At the baptism of Jesus Christ, two important
things happened which were veiled from the Jews of His day. However, today, we
know because of the Holy Spirit who teaches us.
These two things made it possible for Jesus to proceed to fulfill His
ministry as both our High Priest and our sin-bearer.
In a message series entitled “The
Priestly Ministry of the Believer”, Rev. Dr. Chris Oyakhilome D.Sc. D.D.
expounds with clarity what happened at the baptism:
“Concerning Judah nothing was said about priesthood; the kingship was
given to Judah, and Jesus came from Judah. So how was He going to get the
priesthood?...On that day the anointing came on Him at the baptism at the River
Jordan when John the Baptist laid hands on Him. John saw Jesus- he had been
given a sign- the One on whom you see the Holy Spirit descend in the form of a
dove is the Messiah and John was waiting for the Messiah and he kept speaking
to the people: “There is one among you, the latchet of His shoes I am not
worthy to untie. When He comes He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and
with fire:”…He said this again and again until Jesus stood right before Him and
He saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus in the form of a dove.
He said, “This is He.” The he said, “Lord! You are here. I’ve been
waiting for you. Baptize me. It’s my turn to be baptized.”
Jesus said, “No, John! No! Go ahead and baptize me.”
“Why?!” John queried.
Jesus said, “Suffer it to be so for now to fulfill all righteousness.”
[Study Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11;
Luke3:21-22 ; John 1:29-34]
He had to fulfill all righteousness. He was not going to steal the priesthood.
He was to be the Lamb of God slain! How was He going to fulfill all this
without John? John was from the tribe of Levi. He was a priest, and also a Prophet.
And Jesus stood before Him. When He laid His hands on Jesus, Jesus became the
goat- the scapegoat to bear the sin into the wilderness and that was what the
priest was supposed to do- lay His hand on that goat and heap all the curses of
the people on the goat and send it away by the hand of a fit man…a qualified
person…to take him into the wilderness [See Leviticus 16:20-22].
When he laid his hands on Jesus, first, the Aaronic priesthood was
transferred from the House of Judah so He got it by the laying on of hands.
Secondly, Jesus became the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the people. And
who was the fit person to take Him? Remember, right after the baptism, the
Bible says, “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness.” The Lamb
of God was taken straight into the wilderness with the sins of the people. The
next day, the Bible says John saw Jesus. He said, “Behold, the Lamb of God
which taketh away the sin of the world!” John was a Prophet- He knew what
transpired at the baptism- He knew it by revelation. He knew that it was God’s
Lamb to bear the sins of many…the priesthood came to Judah. Judah had the
kingship. No wonder He was said to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek
because Melchizedek was the king-priest…and what does the Bible say? “You are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood…” (1 Peter 2:9)…We are king-priests!
Glory to God! So, at the baptism
of Jesus two things happened. First, the priesthood was transferred from the
tribe of Levi to the tribe of Judah and the sin of the world was heaped on
Jesus! This made it possible for Jesus to be our High Priest who would present
His own blood to God the Father after being slain and rising from the dead (Hebrews
9:11-15)
Water
baptism symbolizes our identification with Jesus Christ in His death, burial
and resurrection.
The Greek Word used for baptize
is ‘baptizo’ and it means ‘to dip, sink, submerge or immerse’. So when a
believer is baptized, s/he is immersed into the water completely such that they
would no longer be seen. And that is exactly what happens when you die and are
buried. You are not seen anymore. When you come out of the water, it is no
longer you, but a new person- Christ- who comes out of the water (symbolic of
the grave). The Bible declares, “For we died and were buried with Christ by
baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of
the Father, now we also may live new lives.” (Romans 6:4, NLT). Elsewhere, it
says, “[Thus you were circumcised when] you were buried with Him in [your]
baptism, in which you were also raised with Him [to a new life] through [your] faith
in the working of God [as displayed] when He raised Him up from the dead.”
(Colossians 2:12, AMP)
R. Kent Hughes relates a powerful
experience of Ron Ritchie in Freedom from
Sin:
Ron Ritchie, a pastor on the West Coast, experienced a beautiful
illustration of this when he was conducting a baptism service in the Pacific
Ocean.
A woman came up to him and asked him to baptize her 9-year-old
daughter. Ron was reluctant to do so without finding out whether the girl
really understood what was happening, so he began to question her and to teach
her about the reality behind the water baptism. He was gesturing as he talked
to her, and noticed the shadow of his hand as it fell on the sand. So he said
to the little girl, “Do you see the shadow of my hand on the sand? Now that is
just the shadow; the hand is the real thing. And when you came to Jesus, when
you believed in Jesus, that was the real baptism. You were joined to him, and
what happened to him happened to you. Jesus was alive; then he died, was
buried, and then he arose from the dead. And that is what happened to you when
you believed in him.” He pointed to the shadow on the sand and said, “When you
go down in the water and are raised up again, that is a picture of what has already
happened.” The girl immediately caught on and said, “Yes, that is what I want
to do because Jesus has come into my life.”
Baptism is the shadow of what happened to us when we met Christ.
The Early
Church baptized those who believed the Gospel.
When Peter preached his first
sermon to the teeming masses in the Temple, he wrapped up with an altar call,
saying, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
(Acts 2:38) After that heart-pricking sermon, the Bible says, “Then they that
gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto
them about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:41)
There are over a dozen accounts of
new believers being baptized in the book of Acts. And “… whatever was thus
written in former days was written for our instruction” (Romans 15:4). The
Scriptures serve as our standard in everything we do. It is our final
authority. If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and have
not been baptized, you must be baptized. Ask your pastor or shepherd or whoever
witnessed to you to baptize you in water.
Water
baptism is a requirement for complete salvation.
Jesus, in commanding us to preach
the Gospel to every creature, made a very startling statement: “He who believes
[who adheres to and trusts in and relies on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets
forth] and is baptized will be saved [from the penalty of eternal death]; but
he who does not believe [who does not adhere to and trust in and rely on the
Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16). He says
whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved. Thus, being baptized is as
important as believing. Your believing should lead you to be baptized, because
the proof of faith is works.
In Acts 8:36, the Ethiopian
eunuch asked Philip, “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain
water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be
baptized?” He saw in Philip’s message a compelling reason for him to be
baptized. Baptism is as important as believing the Gospel.
Baptism is a requirement for
complete salvation. You see, the salvation of your soul is a continuous process
which I believe starts from the moment you believe and confess that Jesus is
Lord and are baptized. You then begin to renew your mind through the Word of
God. Thus, baptism is an important step to take in this process as it unites
you with Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection.
Someone may ask, “What about the
criminal who was beside Jesus on the cross?” For him, there was no opportunity
to be baptized, because he was almost dead. Moreover, Jesus had not yet died
and risen from the dead. He only instructed that people who believe should be
baptized after His resurrection.
So, take advantage of the
opportunity you have while you live to be baptized.
Water
baptism is the substance of the salvation of Noah and His family.
It was with water that God
cleansed the whole earth of the corruption in this world (Genesis 7). Noah and
his family, however, were saved by the water that ravaged the entire planet
Earth. The Bible says, “…only eight persons were saved from drowning in that
terrible flood. (That, by the way, is what baptism pictures for us: In baptism
we show that we have been saved from death and doom by the resurrection of
Christ; not because our bodies are washed clean by the water but because in
being baptized we are turning to God and asking him to cleanse our hearts from
sin.)” (1 Peter 3:20-21, TLB) The saving of Noah and his family, therefore, is
a picture of our salvation from the corruption in this world.
Water
baptism is the substance of the baptism of the children of Israel into Moses.
Moses and the children of Israel
walked on dry ground through the Red Sea in the midst of a hot pursuit from the
Egyptian army. Their journey through the Red Sea was a type of our deliverance
from our adversary, the devil. It is also a type of our oneness with Christ,
who is grace and truth personified (John 1:17).
The Bible says, “And each one of
them [allowed himself also] to be baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the
sea [they were thus brought under obligation to the Law, to Moses, and to the
covenant, consecrated and set apart to the service of God];” (1 Corinthians
10:2, AMP)
Water
baptism is a command by our Lord Jesus Christ that must be obeyed.
Jesus said, “…Go into all the
world and preach and publish openly the good news (the Gospel) to every
creature [of the whole human race]. He who believes [who adheres to and trusts
in and relies on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] and is baptized will be
saved [from the penalty of eternal death]; but he who does not believe [who
does not adhere to and trust in and rely on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets
forth] will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16, AMP). Matthew puts it this way: “Go
then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19, AMP).
To be baptized after believing
the Gospel is to obey the Sovereign command of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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