Baptism: Special Delivery - Monday Morning Devotions - Week 4
Join Pastor Ricky Jacob as he discusses baptism in this 7-week devotion series.
Need to start at the beginning? Read Week 1 here
[Holy Baptism - Part 2] What benefits does Baptism give?
It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.
Dr. Martin Luther explained the blessings of Holy Baptism with these words:
To correct [man's sinful nature] God has devised the plan of making our flesh altogether new, even as Jeremiah [18:4-6] shows. For the potter, when the vessel "was spoiled in his hand," thrust it again into the lump of clay and kneaded it, and afterward made another vessel, as seemed good to him. "So," says God, "are you in my hands." In the first birth we are spoiled; therefore he thrusts us into the earth again by death, and makes us over at the Last Day, that we may be perfect and without sin.
This plan, as has been said begins in baptism, which signifies death and the resurrection at the Last Day. Therefore so far as the sign of the sacrament and its significance are concerned, sins and the man are both already dead, and he has risen again; and so the sacrament has taken place. But the work of the Sacrament has not yet fully done, which is to say that death and the resurrection at the Last Day are still before us. [AE 35:32]
Living Underwater - James Lamb
We are sinful from the moment of conception (Psalm 51:5). Enter Jesus! First, He, too, grew in a womb, living and moving as we did, but without sin. Then He takes our place on a cross, suffering and dying there with our sin. Then He takes our place in a tomb and destroys death by rising again.
When we leave our underwater womb world and are splashed in the waters of Baptism, we live underwater again! Baptism unites us with Jesus and all He did for us. "In Him, we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). We live surrounded by His mercy and grace. His "umbilical cord" of Word and Sacrament provides us nourishment and removes the waste of our sin through forgiveness. What a place to live! . . . Baptized into Christ, we share in His resurrection. He gives new life now and the certain hope of our own resurrection on the Last Day.
We pray: Holy Spirit, thank You for uniting us with Jesus in the waters of Baptism. Help us live and move and have our beings in Him. Strengthen us in our daily walk with Him. Whatever our circumstances may be, give us the hope of anticipating our everlasting walk with Jesus. Amen.