Every amazing contribution that mankind has had throughout history has at least one thing in common: a beginning. Anything meaningful and significant happened because someone started. The first step was taken. The rough draft was drawn up. The initial trial run took place. While the first attempt is rarely the final attempt, since polishing and trial and error are typically required to fine-tune things, none of that happens without a start, without a beginning. Countless good thoughts or ideas never amounted to anything because without taking a first step or beginning, those thoughts and ideas remained just that – thoughts and ideas. Beginnings are hugely important.
Beginnings are also undoubtedly on our minds at this start of the new year. There is a 100% chance that every one of us will experience new beginnings this year. Some of them will be by choice; others will not. The start of high school or college will mark a new beginning. A new beginning may be in store regarding a job or relationship.
But 2024 may also bring the beginning of a new treatment plan or surgery. For those having lost loved ones, this year will include new responsibilities that used to be carried out either by or with that loved one. Beginnings, both the ones we choose as well as those we don’t, can serve as major turning points in our lives.
The start of Jesus’ public ministry was one such turning point. As he carried out his work as preacher and teacher of the Word and Savior of the world, how did it all begin? With his baptism.
During the season of Epiphany, we celebrate that the child born in Bethlehem was born to serve as the Savior not just of one nation or race, but of all people everywhere. And the start of Jesus’ saving work of everyone everywhere began at his baptism. In the days of the early Christian church, in one of his sermons that he preached in the house of a Gentile named Cornelius, Peter highlighted the importance of Jesus’ baptism when he said, “You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how 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 10:37-38).
Jesus’ baptism was the beginning. It marked him as loved and chosen by the Father. It anointed him with the Holy Spirit, arming him with the power necessary to take the battle to the devil, healing the hurting and freeing those under his control. It was a milestone in his perfect life of obedience, not because he needed to be baptized for the forgiveness of his own sins, but to give power to our baptism for the washing away of our sins.
Baptism didn’t just mark the beginning of Jesus’ ministry; it also marked the beginning of his work in many of our lives as well. Baptism marked us as loved and chosen by the Father. Baptism anointed us with the Holy Spirit, arming us with the power necessary to continue taking the battle to the devil. Baptism was a milestone, a turning point in our lives, because through it God applied Christ’s perfect life of obedience and washed away our sins.
When others limit baptism’s significance to only being reflective of our devotion or commitment to God, they bottle up baptism and the full measure of its power. Baptism is so much more than our effort at grabbing God’s attention so he takes note of our intended allegiance to him! Rather, it is God grabbing us and claiming us as his own to demonstrate how devoted he is to us and to our salvation. Can you think of a better way to begin?!?
There is something we’re drawn to about beginnings. They hold out promise. Beginnings make us optimistic. We get excited about possibilities. Think of the beginning words of a new book or opening scenes of a movie that instantly grab you. Think of that great first day of work or school that far exceeded what you had expected. We love beginnings.
But as important as they are, beginnings are also just that: beginnings. While a beginning can offer unlimited possibilities and potential, what happens after the beginning is going to determine the finish. The statistics of failed new year resolutions serve as a proof that what happens after the new beginning matters very much! Many a sports team has started strong at the beginning only to fall apart after that. Many businesses get off to a flying start at the beginning but still end up bankrupt and broke. What happens after the beginning matters, too!
So, Christian, how has it been going in your life since your beginning, since your baptism? What happens after the beginning matters, too! Like the doting grandparents commenting on how big their grandchildren have grown, would God say the same about you, spiritually speaking? Would he look at how far you’ve come since your baptism and say, “My, how you’ve grown!”?
Are the fruits of the Spirit more abundant in your life, or would you have trouble even being able to list one of the fruits? Are you more likely to invite a friend to church because you’re so excited for them to experience what you have in Jesus? Or, do you tend to be the one explaining to others that a person doesn’t have to go to church to be a Christian? Do you find yourself proud of how consistently you give an offering but quickly overlook that your giving hasn’t increased in years? Do you view needy people as an obstacle or an opportunity? Is your prayer life as active as your social media accounts or is it more like 9-1-1, reserved only for emergencies? Do you have a devotional life? Is it daily? Is it driven by duty or delight? Are you more forgiving? More loving? More discerning? More humble?
Which one struck a chord? If you need help, it may have been the thing I wrote that caused you to think, “there he goes with that again.”
When we take the time to assess our spiritual growth – which is itself an indicator of growth, as so many don’t ever even bother to do that! – not only do we see areas where little to no growth has occurred, but we also see troubling trends of digression. Instead of making progress, we digress!
Forgive us, Lord, for our lack of attention to the most important matter of our spiritual growth! Don’t treat us with the same indifference that we treat our sanctification! Don’t hold against us that we have made so little of our Christian living that started out with such promise at our baptism! Don’t give us the wretched end we deserve for taking for granted the beginning you graciously worked in us!
And here is what makes baptism so profound and powerful: it isn’t just the beginning; it is everything after as well!
How can this be? Because by your baptism you are handcuffed to Christ. What was his is yours. When he died, was buried, and rose, via your baptism, you died, were buried, and rose. Paul put it this way: “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:3-4). New life! New beginning! Newness in Christ each and every day – all of which began at our baptism.
Again, how can this be? Paul explains, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin” (v.6-7). The old sinner in you was nailed to the cross with Christ. So if that sin has been paid for, then you are no longer a slave to it. If you have already died – which you have, with Christ – then you have been set free from sin.
Now let us make sure we understand the full extent of this freedom that our baptism offers. Baptism isn’t just freedom from the condemnation of sin; it is also freedom from the control of sin! That accuser Satan cannot charge you with sin that has already been paid for and forgiven. By that same token, sin that has already been paid for and forgiven has no power or control over you, either! You are free to choose a different path, the path of righteousness.
At your baptism, the Holy Spirit didn’t just zap you with some spiritual superpower; he completely changed who you are. See in these verses that Paul is revealing how powerful baptism is – it doesn’t just give you the power or ability for good in your life, but also entirely changed your status. You were a slave to sin with a reservation in hell. Now, though, you are free and to you belongs a reservation in heaven, where Jesus still lives in service to God.
You know the Wanted posters from the wild west. They showed a picture of of an at-large criminal with the promise of a reward if the criminal was turned in – whether dead or alive. One or the other – it didn’t matter, so long as the criminal was no longer a risk.
In baptism, we aren’t dead or alive, but rather dead and alive. “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v.11). You were baptized, but that was just the beginning. Because of it, you are now very much alive to God in Christ Jesus. This year, perhaps more than any other, let’s begin to live like we’re alive in Christ – because by virtue of your baptism, you are!