Sunday Re Cap (25th Oct 2009)

What REALLY Happened At Baptism? Part II

What is really Baptism? To which act of Jesus is it pointing to? These verses themselves are so pregnant with so much of truth concerning Jesus. Baptism points to the CROSS!

Rom 6:1-11

The parallel for this scripture is found in Ex 12-14

• Ex 12: The LORD instituted the Passover. The Passover is a shadow of the Holy Communion. Jesus on the same night that He was betrayed shared the Passover meal where He instituted the Holy Communion and spoke of the New Covenant. The Passover is celebrated by the Jewish people annually to this day. It is a continual reminder of the victory over Egypt. Ex 12:27. This is why we repeat the Holy Communion "as often as we partake of it".
  
• However what happened after that? The Crossover. What happened at the Red Sea? Ex 14:13-31. They crossed over the Red Sea. How many times? Once. Why? Because Jesus went only once to the cross! Heb 10:12-14
  
• As far as the children of Israel were concerned, they were no longer slaves to the Egyptians. The parallel is we are no longer slaves to SIN! Sin has lost its power over us. We are no longer slaves but we are sons The Baptism is a picture of Cross which is a picture of the Red Sea Crossing. We have crossed over!
  
• Now will sin still be there? Yes. The children of Israel had the Amalakites, Jebusites, etc…but we are no longer slaves to them but we have mastery of them! They went back to The LORD and found direction, strength and triumphed over their enemies (sin). We go back to the Holy Communion! Sin is still there but we don't face sin as slaves but we overcome it as sons!
  
• NOTE: Even in the NT Jesus celebrated the Passover before He went to the Cross (Over).
  

Let's read Rom 6:1-10 again. Do you see the parallel? Let's allow the Holy Spirit to unveil Christ! Let the truth set us FREE!

1. V3: What is baptism? It is a powerful picture of the cross shown to the world and the devil hates it! It reminds him of his failure and it is a reminder of our victory once and for all over sin. (v9-10).
   
2. V4: We were buried just as Christ was buried in a tomb. But the tomb could not hold him. A new life under the new covenant!
   
3. V5: Likeness of His death. Likeness of His resurrection. What does the baptism unveil of Christ? He is resurrected in a new body, glorious, healed, whole, complete! As He is so are we.
   
4. V6: Sin has no more body; virus needs a host to latch onto. However if there's no body, it cannot land! We are no longer sinners.
   
5. V7: God cannot punish sin again and again. When His Son took our place, it was as if we were there. And because Jesus paid the price in full, it is as if we have paid the price and punished. It is finished; God cannot punish it again! We are now FREE!
   
6. It is a reminder of the finished work of the cross. It does not need to be repeated. What is the significance of that? We don't need to repeat our sins again and again to God. It has been paid in full! That is why baptism is only once in a lifetime!
   
7. The more we bring ourselves under grace, Sin can no longer bully us into believing that we are under the law.
   
8. V11: Reckon yourself: The key to breaking the power of sin. Consider, (esteem, judge) yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus our LORD.
   

Samuel Hari © GROW BM