Yesterday we were privileged to witness Dennis and Lovanna being baptized into Jesus Christ. It was such a powerful testimony to the work of God, Christ and the Spirit in their lives. Baptism is a beautiful metaphor enacted in the context of a community of faith. Its beauty is witnessed in the following dimensions: initiation, commission, resurrection and identification.
Baptism initiates us into the family of God. This is the language and picture of birth. Being “born from above” makes us aware that baptism is a physical, symbolic act of an inward transformation that connects to the people of God. It is a communal act.
Baptism commissions us to go forth as a witness. In obeying the Great Commission, we are commissioning others. Every person baptized in the water and Spirit is commissed to go forth and share the good news of Jesus.
Baptism resurrects us with our Lord. We re-enact the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus at every baptism. Those being baptized have been united in the death and resurrection of Jesus in a way that is hard to understand. But, we are raised “from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
Baptism identifies us as people of grace. Sin and death no longer have mastery over us. Since we are dead to sin and alive to Christ, our identity is rooted in the giftedness of salvation. Consequently, we offer ourselves back to God as a graced-gift!
Baptism is a gift from God. It symbolizes transformation and humility all wrapped up together. It is a work of God in which the Spirit is imparted. Yes, indeed—baptism is beautiful, both in what it symbolizes and what it does. Thank God for his unspeakable gift in Christ!
In Christian love, Curtis
