EPIPHANY 1 – BAPTISM OF JESUS – January 10, 2021 – Rom. 6:1-11
“UNITED IN CHRIST”
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from Romans 6. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Today is designated within the church as the day to remember and celebrate the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, in the Jordan River.
- Now, it’s not that even one thing that Jesus does can somehow be unimportant. Everything that He did and said is of great importance and blessing to us and all people! And there is the whole context of the initiation of Jesus’ messianic ministry and John’s role as the man sent from God to bear heavenly witness to Jesus. And in Jesus’ baptism God clearly identifies Him as the Divine Son of God. All of this is of great importance and strength for us.
- However, from the perspective of Jesus “receiving” something in John’s baptism, there is a bit of a disconnect. John was proclaiming “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus had no need for personal repentance or forgiveness since as Scripture asserts: “He was tempted in all points just are we are, yet was without sin.” [Heb. 4:15]
- So we wonder why this is such a big deal, and why it is surely something for us to celebrate! The answer to this question is found in our text, and also reiterated in other places in the New Testament. What Jesus did when entering Holy Baptism is provide a place, a means, a mechanism by which we are united with Him. And united with Him in such a way as to become participants in His suffering, death, burial, resurrection, and new life. And this is a big deal and something to celebrate really every day of our lives!
- We are “UNITED IN CHRIST” and this brings blessings and beautiful consequences into our lives! Our text reveals that:
I. We Are United With Christ In Our Baptism
A. We Were United With Him In His Death
Text: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?”
B. We Were Also United With Him In His Burial
Text: “We were buried with Him by baptism into death.”
C. We Are Now United With Him In His Resurrection
Text: “If we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.”
Statement: So you see the connectedness that Christ has established with you in your baptism. This is what was initiated in Christ’s baptism – this place where we become “UNITED IN CHRIST.” One might ask just what the advantage is to this. Well, consider that Christ was victorious over sin, death, and hell. It might be a good thing to be united with such a glorious person, sharing in His victories! And now He reigns over all things, at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. It certainly can’t be a bad thing to be united with Him.
Application: It is important for us to consider what is important to God, to our Lord Jesus Christ. It is important to recognize and understand how close and intimate He desires to be with. God joins husband and wife together, so that they become one flesh. God joins us to Himself in and through baptism – so that we are “UNITED IN CHRIST,” united with God! And just as marriage changes one’s life forever, so also:
II. Being United In Christ Makes Us Alive With Him Even Now
A. We Have Died To Sin And The Dictates Of Our Sinful Nature
Text: “ How can we who died to sin still live in it?
B. We Have Been Freed From Sin By Our Connection To Christ
Text: “We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.”
C. So Now We Live With Christ, Living To God
Text: “Now if we have died with Christ we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Statement: These realities are all provided to us with our inclusion in God’s kingdom by faith. As the apostle wrote: “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” [Col. 1:13,14] You are no longer in the “domain of darkness”! You are in “the kingdom of His beloved Son. You are dead to sin and darkness; you are alive to God in Christ Jesus!
Application: This does not mean that we do not sin any longer. We still sin – but we are not oriented toward sin or committed to sin. Just the opposite – when we fall into sin we return to our baptism, repenting our sin and claiming God’s redemption in Christ Jesus, the forgiveness of sins. So you continue to be free from sin. And having turned away from sin, our commitment and orientation are now to God. We look at our lives as being lived toward God, to God! And we look for the time when this body of sin is set aside for the perfect, heavenly bodies that God has promised to us!
Conclusion: All of this is initiated for us and to us in the Baptism of Jesus. The connection is permanently made in our own baptism into the Name of Jesus, in Holy Baptism. This connects us eternally to the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus, and His glorious resurrection victory!
This puts us in the category of life, eternal life. This blesses us and privileges us to live a significant life – one lived to God! We are even now delivered from darkness and transferred into the kingdom of Christ!
So we celebrate Christ’s baptism. This was no mere ritual, no mere going through certain motions. This is an integral part of our redemption and eternal life. And because of it we celebrate our own baptism – through which we are “UNITED IN CHRIST,” in His redemption and His resurrection! Thanks and praise be to God, Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.