Today, you are reading my contribution to the Group Writing Project being held over at Faithful Bloggers.
As we draw closer to Easter - the time of year when we commemorate the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, my thoughts are not only of the traditional images of Easter, but also of the wonderful images of that glorious and life-changing day of a believers Baptism.
The glorious day, when we display outwardly, our inward faith in Jesus Christ and the day, when we are identified with Jesus Christ in His three acts, which secured and sealed our salvation - His death, burial and resurrection.
Baptism is the outward symbol, of what has already transpired in the heart, of the one who has repented and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for full salvation. The word baptize means to dip, plunge, immerse, submerge.
Almost, the last words of our Lord, in Matthew 28:19, were to, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost". Listen.....this command is as valid today, as is the command to preach the Gospel to all nations - Jesus was baptized......why not us!
His Death - as we go down into the water, we are saying that Jesus Christ died for our sins, therefore we now die to the sin in our lives. We are sharing in His death.
His Burial - Just as Jesus Christ was buried in the tomb, so when we are lowered beneath the water, our lives as sinners, are regarded as put out of sight. Our old nature, with all its failings are buried with Him.
Resurrection - As we rise up out of the water, we arise in the fullness of a new life, which the Lord demonstrated by His Resurrection.
Wow! :) Isn't it a fantastic moment, when we emerge from the waters, to bear witness that we have shared in Christ's victory over sin and death, and that we now intend to live in the power of His Resurrection? Oh! what tears of joy are shed, and what Divine laughter, as we are now dead to sin and alive to the wonderful living God, and we are now walking in the newness of life. The life, we live as a follower of Christ, must now truly express this truth found in Galatians 2:20:
The glorious day, when we display outwardly, our inward faith in Jesus Christ and the day, when we are identified with Jesus Christ in His three acts, which secured and sealed our salvation - His death, burial and resurrection.
Baptism is the outward symbol, of what has already transpired in the heart, of the one who has repented and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for full salvation. The word baptize means to dip, plunge, immerse, submerge.
Almost, the last words of our Lord, in Matthew 28:19, were to, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost". Listen.....this command is as valid today, as is the command to preach the Gospel to all nations - Jesus was baptized......why not us!
His Death - as we go down into the water, we are saying that Jesus Christ died for our sins, therefore we now die to the sin in our lives. We are sharing in His death.
His Burial - Just as Jesus Christ was buried in the tomb, so when we are lowered beneath the water, our lives as sinners, are regarded as put out of sight. Our old nature, with all its failings are buried with Him.
Resurrection - As we rise up out of the water, we arise in the fullness of a new life, which the Lord demonstrated by His Resurrection.
Wow! :) Isn't it a fantastic moment, when we emerge from the waters, to bear witness that we have shared in Christ's victory over sin and death, and that we now intend to live in the power of His Resurrection? Oh! what tears of joy are shed, and what Divine laughter, as we are now dead to sin and alive to the wonderful living God, and we are now walking in the newness of life. The life, we live as a follower of Christ, must now truly express this truth found in Galatians 2:20:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
25 comments:
Sis I always am refresh when I come to your site, I know you don't write often because you are busy but when you do you have a word to give as always. Love you.
Aww! How sweet of you to say Desiray. Praise God. I give Him all the glory that as He is changing me from the inside out, I can refresh others with my experiences.
Thanks for popping bye again :)
I love Easter this is my favourite time of celebration.
I am so glad that your computer is up and running again.
Thanks for this word,
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Great post! I agree fully with what you said and I love Gal 2:20
God bless,
Ken
Child of God, I am the same, I always look forward to Easter, such a Holy time.
Ken, thank you for your comment, I am so delighted that I am on the right track and that you agree. That encourages me.
God Bless you more
Carole,
This is a wonderful and thought-provoking article about Easter and its deep meaning for our lives as Christians. Thank you.
P.S. Also, thank you for featuring my crafts. This is such a blessing for me and my business. I am humbled.
Cynthia, May God continue to Bless the works of your hands and favor you with many sales. I am so excited for you, as I would for my own sister.
Bless you - God will continue to increase you more and more as you have stepped out in faith.
Hi Carole -
Thank you for this potent message.
You expressed, "We are now dead to sin and alive to the living God, and we are now walking in the newness of life. The life, we live as a follower of Christ, must truly express this truth found in Galatians 2:20:..."
That spoke abundantly to me. Praise our Lord for His wonderful truths.
Thank you so much for sharing this "fresh fruit" message.
Lioneagle, I praise God, that you have been refreshed with a fresh fruit message.
God's Word is alive and sharper than any two edged sword, and it is wonderful, when we receive a fresh revelation from a familiar scripture,
Bless you for popping by again and thank you for your comment.
What a powerful and eloquent message you've delivered here Carole... I pray we're all inspired and awed by the celebration of God's Gift of Salvation brought through Christ Jesus.
Have a Blessed Day!
Thank you so much for your comment Phil. I am so looking forward to this Easter celebration, as I do so every year. It is always a time for great reflection on my spiritual walk and a great time to share with others the sacrifice that was made.
God bless you more.
Amen, and it's exactly why Believers Baptism should be done by immersion. Gal 2:20 is a special verse to me.
Wonderful post!
Hi Laura, welcome to The Faith Lounge and thank you for your comment. I checked out your site(s), loved your quilting.
God Bless
What a blessing you are!
Also, thanks for visiting my blog, your comments encouraged and lifted me up!
Rita, I thank God I was able to refresh you here in The Faith Lounge.
May we continually bear each other up on this wonderful journey.
Blessings :)
Carole, thanks for a great post! I agree 100% :-)
BTW, thanks for your recent visit to my blog and all you nice comments :-) And yes, I do read all the comments that nice people like you leave :-)
God Bless You and have a great weekend :-)
ronj1946@gmail.com
Aww! Thank you for popping by again and for leaving a comment.
Ron, I love your style of writing, it is always a blessing and such a wonderment (if there is such a word!), that God is connecting me to such encouraging brothers and sister in Christ. What a great family :)
Thanks Carole for this post. That scripture reminds me of something I said to myself recently - "I do not live here anymore..." i.e. in this body. Christ does.
Identification with Christ at every stage of the redemptive work is a powerful truth which if we allow to dawn on us, the world will see through our lives that Jesus Christ truly died and rose again. It is not religion, it is reality.
At times when we say we are dead to sin and to the world, it sometimes seems at least in my mind, that we feel we are losing something of value. I think we need to see that we have gained new life that cost God his life and that will take eternity to mine, to fathom and unravel. God bless you Carole.
Thanks Tolu, You have got me thinking.
Mmmm (thoughts!)
I am His temple, Christ is ALIVE and lives within me, I do not live here anymore!
I am His feet and His hands, and Christ wants to live through me. I just need to continually SHOW that Christ is ALIVE, in EVERY aspect of my life.
Glory to God!
Blessings to you and your family.
Baptism is such a beautiful symbol of our faith and what Christ has done for us, thank you for reminding me of this. Lovely blog!
Thank you too Rebecca for taking the time to read and comment.
I welcome you amd pray that you were refreshed as you visited The Faith Lounge today.
God bless you more :)
I was baptised 59 years ago. I will never forget that day. I have added myself as a follower. God Bless you.
Wow! 59 years ago, how wonderful to know we are all united in this wonderful act. Glory to God.
Thank you for visiting JT.
Hope to see you pop by again.
Blessings to you and your family.
Hi Carole. Thanks for your comment on my blog...it is well appreciated.
Lovely post you have here...as someone who has recently (in the past year) been baptised by water immersion, I can so relate with your message.
Thanks for sharing this.
The following comment was left by a user called 'Anoda Phase'. However when Blogger had problems in May during maintenance recently this comment did not publish correctly....Thank you for the comment
Hi Carole. Thanks for your comment on my blog...it is well appreciated.
Lovely post you have here...as someone who has recently (in the past year) been baptised by water immersion, I can so relate with your message.
Thanks for sharing this.
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