Jesus’ Baptism –It’s for Real!
Full obedience was Your path;
You, by death have consecrated
Water in this saving bath;
Dying to the sin of Adam,
Rising to s life of grace;
We are counted with the righteous,
Over us the cross You trace.
Baptized Savior, Bless Thy Word; that we may trust in Thee!
For Jesus His
Baptism was a real personal experience. According to Mark only Jesus saw the
dove and heard the voice. In Jesus’ experience, baptism was as real as the
things we can see, feel, and hear. Your baptism is the real thing – It’s the
real deal!
I. River – Jesus’ baptism was as real as the water He feels – V.9 “At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in
Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan”
A. Why did
Jesus submit Himself to a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins? John
was reluctance to baptize Jesus: "But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need
to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to
fulfill all righteousness" Matthew 3:14-15
When Jesus walked into the river Jordan your sin was
placed on Him. While His righteousness, His perfection, is given to you. Jesus
took your sin as His own. And in
exchange – you receive Him. The good news of the gospel is simply this – you are
reconciled to God. You are justified by God not on the basis of what you did
but on the basis of what has been accomplished for you by Christ.
At the heart of the gospel is a double transfer. You
sin is reassigned to Jesus. His righteousness is given to you. And in this
two-fold transaction; you sin goes to Jesus while His righteousness comes to
you. And you are free; free from sin, free to live before God in righteousness
and purity forever.
B. In His
baptism Jesus is identifying with a sinful race. When Jesus was baptized the
work of man’s redemption was begun. “Could Jesus forgive my sin?” One might
ask. Jesus knows you, “warts and all”. Furthermore, He makes it His business to
forgive you by identifying with you in His baptism.
C. Jesus had
to identify Himself with sinful humanity at the very outset of His ministry.
This He did by submitting to the Father’s will in His own baptism. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for
us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians
5:21
D. Christ is
treated by His Father as if He were a sinner. Christ became the object of God's
wrath and bore the penalty and guilt of sin. So complete was the identification
of the sinless Christ with the sin of the sinner; including its dire guilt and
its dread consequence of separation from God, that Paul could say profoundly,
"God made him . . . to be sin for us."
A question could be asked. Will I be judge in order to
get into heaven by my own righteousness or by the righteousness of Christ? If I
had to trust in my own righteousness I would completely and utterly despair of any
possibility of ever being redeemed. But when we begin to see that the righteousness
that is ours by faith is the perfect righteousness of Christ, then we see how glorious
is the good news of the gospel.
Transition: How real is this baptism? It’s as real as the water
you feel. It is as real as the dove we see.
II. Dove – This baptism is as real as the dove He sees – V.10 “As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he
saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.”
A. Jesus is
now anointed by the Spirit for ministry. In His first sermon in the synagogue
at Nazareth Jesus would say to His hearers "The Spirit of the Lord is on me" -Luke 4:18. Jesus Himself
claimed this anointing was the Father’s own doing. All that Jesus will teach us
in this New Year comes from the Father.
1. When Gentiles
heard the good news Peter stood up and said, “God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went
around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil,
because God was with him.” - Acts 10:38
2. Luke would
remind us, "At daybreak Jesus went
out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to
where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, “I must
preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because
that is why I was sent.” And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of
Judea. - Luke 4:42-44
B. Not so
with the antagonists. They will claim that Jesus has a false spirit, an evil
spirit; one is from the prince of demons. “I
am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me.” John8:49
Transition: How real is this baptism? It’s as real as the water
you feel. It is as real as the dove you see.
It is as real as the voice you hear.
III. Voice
– Baptism is as real as the voice He hears – V.11 “And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I
am well pleased’.”
A. We are
encouraged to purchase those products which has Good Housekeeping’s TM
stamp of approval. Jesus receives the Father’s stamp of approval! God the Father confesses Jesus as His Son
and witnesses to His approval of His Son. The Father is well pleased in not
only sending His own Son but He is well pleased in what He was sent to do, to
redeem the world of sin and death. Jesus will make all things new as He goes to
the cross and breaks free from the tomb.
B. The
Father knows the unique mission He has given to His Son and states His
confidence in Him. Will Jesus be able to accomplish His mission? The Father has
placed all of His confidence in Jesus. Jesus is able to accomplish all that the
Father has asked Him to do. If the Father has complete confidence in His Son
why should we tremble or doubt?
How real is this baptism? It’s as real as the water you feel. It is as real as the dove we see. It is as real as the voice we hear.
Passive Sentences –12 %
Readability –80.7 %
Reading Level –5.2
Image copyright © Ed Riojas Higher Things
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