OUR LIFE IN CHRIST
A small group of men and women huddled in a second floor
room wondering what to do. They realized that the church they were part of was
not fully obedient to Scripture and they needed to break away. But how? One man
suddenly stood up and went to the leader of the group and said “Baptize me!”
Somewhat stunned, the leader baptized the man who in turn baptized others in
the group. This was the beginning of the Anabaptist movement in Switzerland on
January 21, 1525, the first time in about a thousand years that adults were
baptized upon their faith in Christ.
I
believe they were poured rather than immersed. Do you know how I know? It was January
21st. Otherwise they would have had to chip a hole in the ice and jump
in quickly.
One key
theological point that separated this baptism from infant baptism was that
baptism does not save you. What I mean is — and I know you know this too — the
application of water to the head or body does not in itself wash away your sins
or make you right with God. Baptism is not necessary for salvation. We are
saved from the penalty of our sin when we profess to believe that Jesus is the
Son of God and died for our sins.
But, as
one preacher put it, if you are saved, what in the world would prevent you from
publicly identifying with the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ through the act of baptism? Especially considering
that Jesus was crucified publicly for you. He goes on to say, and I would
agree, I would not say, "You're not saved
if you haven't been baptized." I would ask, however, "If you're
refusing to be baptized, are you sure you're saved?" Baptism is obedience to the
command of Christ and it indicates that we have identified our life with the
life and death of Jesus Christ.
In the letter to the
Colossians we read about what that life in Christ means for the person who has
been (past tense) baptized. (Colossians 2:8-15)
1. In Christ we are complete
This morning you will hear two testimonies. I described them as sharp and
to the point. They are an excellent example of two people declaring that they
want to follow Christ. You will also hear these two guys admit that they have
not made it yet. And I would add, “good,” because none of us has reached
perfection. We are incomplete.
Before talking about the
benefits of being in Christ, Paul writes of the fullness of Christ. He says, “For in Christ the fullness of God lives in
a human body,” (9 NLT). This is a wonderful place to start because the
focus is on Jesus. And who is Jesus? In a word, God. But this revelation is far
too profound to leave it there.
Jesus, the man, embodies
all that God is: He is the “I AM,” the King of kings and Lord of lords, the
Great Shepherd of Ps. 23, the agent of Creation, the Immortal and Eternal One,
the Great and Sovereign Lord…the indescribably immense and awesome God is fully
found in the man, Jesus Christ. This is amazing stuff.
Now what comes next
should blow our minds. “…and you are
complete through your union with Christ” (10a NLT). Many of us feel that
something is missing in our persons. We feel incomplete or lacking. We may even
feel that something is wrong with us. When it comes to the Law of Moses or the
standards of the Gospel, we feel that we come up short. Graydon Penner will say
he feels incomplete; so does Darryl Klassen. We are not all that we should be.
However, in Christ, we
are made complete. Whatever we lack, wherever we feel inadequate, whatever
shortcoming we have in morality or perfection, is made up by the person of
Christ. He completes us. Yes, we strive to be holy and godly and good
disciples…we strain toward the prize. But when we fall short, and we will,
Christ makes up the difference. All the fullness of God is found in Christ; and
all that is Christ is found in you and me. In Christ we are complete.
2. In Christ our old life is buried
Through our faith in Jesus as the Son of God who died for our sins, we
are united to His person. Paul had said “…you are complete through your union
with Christ.” That union is represented by the ritual of baptism.
Paul describes three
actions that occurred when you came to put your faith in Christ. First,
when you came to Christ you were circumcised in the heart. Paul carefully tells
his readers that this is not the circumcision done with hands. That was an
outward symbol that set a people apart, but was never lived up to in reality.
Circumcision is a purposely crude metaphor for cutting away the flesh. In the
spiritual sense, Christ cuts away the flesh from our lives so that we are
cleansed, purified, made right with God. When Paul talks of “flesh” he does not
mean our physical bodies, but rather the sinful nature. Christ rips out the
sinful nature from our lives. We still struggle with sin, yes, but its power is
neutralized so that it can’t condemn us or kill us.
Second, through
baptism we buried with Christ. We identify with Christ’s death, the death he
died on the cross, when we are baptized. We are buried with him as though dead
ourselves. Then sin says, “Where did Austin go? Oh, he’s dead. Guess I can’t
touch him now.” As Christ identified with us by becoming a man and dying, we
identify with him through public baptism.
Third, we are
raised to life by the power of God – the same power that raised Christ from the
dead – that power is at work in us (see Eph. 1:18ff).
These three facts
related to our faith are represented by the water of baptism. In Christ our old
life is buried as if we were dead. The stark reality of this comes to me
through the death of both my parents – I can no longer visit with them or share
life with them – they are in so different a place that they no longer exist in
this realm. That starkness illustrates the separation of our lives from the
life of sin.
3. In Christ we are free
Now, we believe in the doctrine of free will, that we choose to believe
in Christ. I strongly believe in this doctrine. Yet there is a sense in which I
in myself was powerless to come to God. I was helpless and weak and unable to
reach out to God and cry “save me.” This is where God rescued me; He rescued
us.
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your
flesh, God made you alive with Christ” (13 NIV), Paul says. So, in this
sense, God came to you – you did not go to Him – and thus we can say “God saved
you.” We can do nothing to save ourselves, not even reach out to God, unless
God comes to us. But when He does come (here’s the paradox) we can still say
“no” to Him.
Through baptism, we
declare that we said “yes” to God through Christ. And then we can claim this
poignant little phrase “He forgave us all
our sins.” Isn’t that the sweetest sound in our ears? Can you imagine
hearing anything better?
I had a misunderstanding
with a brother (not from KEMC) this week. Texting is terrible for meaningful
and clear communication. I had a sleepless night because of this thing. The
next morning I went to him and talked face-to-face and we worked it all out.
That is the beauty of two people who love Jesus wanting to restore the peace of
Christ in our relationship. Nothing felt better than that. It was a small piece
of that great truth: “He forgave us all our sins.”
God nailed the charge
that was against us, the indictment of our sins, to the cross of Christ.
Whatever offenses we committed, God nailed to the cross. The worst things we
have done, our moral failures, our careless words and actions, and even our
most deliberate offenses, are nailed to the cross.
And I love how this
piece ends: God disarmed the powers and authorities – those voices in your head
that accuse you of being worthless and imperfect and undesirable – God shamed
them, God humiliated them, God made a public spectacle of them on the cross of
Christ. I just love that so much. The powers that want to put you back in
chains to sin are broken. In Christ we are free.
As I meditated on the celebration of baptism and the water we will apply
to these two young men, to Austin and Graydon, my thoughts turned to those that
are not baptized. I began to see your faces, the faces of all the parents whose
sons and daughters have not chosen Christ and been baptized. There were so many
in my mind’s eye it was astonishing and heartbreaking.
I thought to myself,
what if those parents would stand up and lift a hand to God pleading for their
child. Just standing there quietly pleading. I can make no promises that those
children would come to the Lord, that is not for me to promise. But I would
also be remiss to keep that opportunity from you to stand and cry out to God
“save my child!” Should we not pray together as a church for such a marvelous
act of God.
And if you are not
baptized but you love the Lord Jesus, could I not appeal to you to take this
step of obedience? Christ hung on the cross for us; can we not bear a short
testimony and a bit of water for Him?
Our life in Christ is a
life of completeness; In Christ we are free. Let’s celebrate that this morning
in the water of baptism.
AMEN
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