The End Result

The touch of God's Hand

 

Genesis 1:1-5        Psalm 29 

Acts 19:1-7                  Mark 1:4-11

 

I have never been comfortable with the opening chapter of Genesis not because of the inconceivability of what is written but because of the incomprehensibility of what must surely have preceded the Creation. And for many years science has attempted to either disprove what is written or has tried to reconcile what is written with what theories suggest may have happened. It is not enough for many that the Lord God simply “spoke” the heavens and the earth into existence; for these many agnostics, there must be some rational, logical, scientific explanation for the cosmic forces which came together, completely disregarding the concept of the Lord God being able to lord over these forces to an effective end. You must also know that I am every bit as intimidated by science as I am by algebra, so you can at least appreciate my anxiety.

Although there are still some times when I allow my mind to wander about in eternity and try to imagine what must have been before the Creation, I have finally come to the conclusion that what was happening before is not nearly as important as what is happening now and what will happen tomorrow. These are the things which are still somewhat comprehensible and reasonable and logical. And though college algebra is still somewhere in my future, the science of what tomorrow may bring is still beyond my control and, therefore, not worthy of my serious consideration. The faith of the matter is that the Lord God did His thing for a reason and by His Word, a new creation came into being.

So it is with baptism, but this is not about the doctrinal or theological differences between one denomination and another; it is about the change which is effected by the Word of the Lord and what happens when one is baptized according to Jesus’ prescription for baptism given just before His Ascension: in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). That’s it. This is the exclusive baptismal prescription. Jesus does not say how it must be done nor does He suggest when it might be appropriate; He doesn’t even say how much water might be necessary. He simply says a) that it must be done, and b) that the totality of the Holy Father must be involved.

First things first. Baptism is initiation into the New Covenant which is Christ. As I shared previously, the Covenant is the Lord’s promise and is offered to all; it is not ours to withhold. As a Sacrament of Christ’s Holy Church, it is His act by which all are offered the hope of eternal life, putting an end to death’s destruction once and for all. By baptism we are brought into Christ and, as it is written in 2 Corinthians 5:17-18: “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away. See, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation …”

Obviously there is no science involved in such an act, and if there is an algebra test I’m in very big trouble! Yet there is absolutely nothing involved except the promise, the Covenant by which the Holy Father will make us new. It matters not whether we have any recollection of it. What matters is having the faith to believe that the Lord God remembers it, and for eternity. To be sure, in order for any baptism to have any meaning for us, we must first have the faith to believe that the Lord is good for His Word. And the Word being made flesh and walking among us, it is clear that the Lord’s Word is the only certain thing we in this world can count on.

In order to become a new creation, however, something must first be old. That is to say, what is old in the biblical context is that which has gone awry; something is amiss that would necessitate “new”. For many Christians, especially in the divisions between denominations as it pertains to baptism, this can be a tricky course to navigate. To hopefully make it simple, St. Augustine, a 4^th-century church father, believed that “the deliberate sin of the first man is the cause of original sin”. 

Augustine’s understanding of original sin is based primarily on Paul’s words in Romans 5:12-21 which reads in part, “Just as sin came into the world through one man …” and “… just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all …” But the entire chapter must be read and understood, especially when Paul emphasizes that “just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so One Man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.”

A 5^th-century heresy known as “Pelagianism” denied the effect of original sin, insisting that the Lord created man to be free to choose between good and evil and that sin is a completely voluntary act. Pelagianism, then, seems to emphasize the primacy of human effort in spiritual salvation which, of course, runs counter to our understanding of the Lord’s grace, His unmerited favor which flows freely from His own heart. We understand that we cannot “earn” this grace; it is His alone to give, and we are taught that He gives it freely and abundantly. What we must “do” is believe it and embrace it.

Now comes Methodism’s Doctrinal Standard: Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually.”

That “righteousness” to which Methodism refers must surely, then, be the righteousness to which Jesus refers in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism. Though Mark leaves out the detail, Matthew records a conversation between John the Baptist and Jesus when Jesus presents Himself for baptism and John tries to beg out of it because he recognizes that he should be baptized by Jesus. Jesus then responds: “Let it be so for now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” (3:15) 

In order to fulfill all righteousness, then, something remarkable must have happened on that incredible day on the banks of the Jordan River, something that transcends our superstitious practices by which we determine that, short of a biblical mandate, there is a proper method or a proper amount of water or a more appropriate time in order for baptism to be effective or to have meaning. If we attach our own stipulations and the act becomes more that of man than of God, then we just get wet. Oh, we may pat ourselves on the back for “saving” another soul and we may even bask in the glow of having acquired yet another new member of “our” church, but it will all be in vain because we will have taken the glory for ourselves and will have lost our sense of wonderment and awe that must surely have been present on that day so many years ago when the Holy Spirit “descended as a dove” and a heavenly proclamation issued.

Baptism is not merely something we do to satisfy some religious dogma unless or until we actually take steps to control it and restrict its availability, thus diminishing its true meaning. Baptism is the beginning, the birth of the New Creation, restored for all time not by any act or belief of man but by the hand of the Almighty God and Father of the Lord Christ Himself. It is but the beginning; a means and most certainly not the end.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. “Surely I am coming quickly” says the Lord in the Revelation. “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” The sooner, the better. Amen.