Gods love in relation to… The Doctrine of Christ…
(3) Baptisms…
The first picture that comes to mind when thinking about baptisms is a young child being sprinkled with water or new Christian’s being fully immersed in a river…
It may surprise you to know there are more than one baptism in the bible, on the surface each is completely different but when you look closer they have common elements…
The most referenced baptism was started by Jesus cousins John.
Mar 1:4: “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”
But what EXACTLY is baptism…?
The Greek word means… to make fully wet.
So what was Jesus talking about when he said to his disciples…
Mark 10:37
They (James and John) said to him, “Permit one of us to sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I experience?”
Obviously Jesus was not talking about baptising in the river…
Jesus was referencing John’s baptism but not as many think…
Firstly John’s baptism was a public demonstration of faith…
The person getting baptised had excepted John’s repentance message and were then taking the first steps to a new life in God.
To do this in public was a public declaration of what they believed to be true…
Many think Jesus was talking to John and James about his crucification… but there is a lot more context to Jesus life than just the final days…
Firstly The cup Jesus drank from was a cup of joy flowing from Gods love.
James and John’s question related to receiving a position of honour…
Jesus answer related to receiving a position of…. Service.
The greatest servant in Gods Kingdom is…. God the Father.
Remember God is not building a kingdom based on privileged Hierarchy but a Family where all are equally respected.
John and James’s question showed where their priorities lay in being exalted before others…
they were not content to stand at the back of the church welcoming people as they enter… and it wasn’t good enough to be in the front row in one of the reserved seats… they wanted to be on stage… next to Jesus…
This was what Jesus was addressing…
Its ok to be up on stage just not for the reasons James and John were following… Mammon (personal gain…)
Jesus exalted position doesn’t come from being Gods son… but from Jesus understanding of Gods love and how to flow in it…. through obedience to the Father’s love…
Let’s look at Jesus answer again…
“Are you able to drink the cup (of joy flowing from the Father) I drink or be baptized with the baptism (fall emersion into Gods love ) I experience?”
Both answers were in the… Present! Jesus was not asking them to be crucified or even arrogantly saying… “I bet you can’t do what I’m about to do…”
The baptism Jesus was talking was and is about a…
LIVING, PUBLIC, FULL EMERSION LIFE FLOWING IN GODS LOVE… just like Jesus was living…
To live in Christ is to surrender your personal gain… (lay down your life)
for a greater good… Gods love.
50% just won’t do it because you will always be torn between your love for Gods love and your love for mammon….
Jesus said…
Rev 3:15-16: “I know your works, that you art neither cold nor hot:
I would that you were either cold or hot.
But because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.”
(This comes from the word “Abomination”… to make sick to the stomach)
This is why baptism is so important…
Most people give careful consideration to finding a marriage partner. Not just anyone will do…
Then there is the engagement…
Counselling with an elder…
Then the wedding with public vows…
The honeymoon…
Then two lives coming together as one in the same house…
Baptism is more important than marriage and yet it is treated with lukewarm attention…
Baptism is a full emersion, public commitment, to follow the flow of Gods love just like Jesus did.
This is what it means to live in Christ and to qualify for eternal life…
So much more than the meaningless tradition it has become…
It is easy to be a Christian in church… just like it is easier to diet on a full stomach…
Don’t be scared to share Gods love whenever it is appropriate…
It really is easy to talk to people about Gods love especially in a world that is starved of any true lasting love.
We don’t called to be crucified like Jesus was because that was his cross to bare… we just have to flow in Gods love like Jesus and be sensitive to gentle guiding voice of Gods spirit…
Jesus said…
John 5:30: “I can of my own self do nothing:
as I hear (what’s going on around me) I judge: and my judgment is true because I seek not my own will, but the will (love) of the Father which has sent me.”
Heaven is not much different to our current earth… all that is missing is mammon… (personal gain)
In heaven everything harmonises together in Gods love..
God made the this earth 
to His personal values and this includes you.
The only way for you to experience Gods love is to live it… every day… as you do every day, what it takes to live…
Baptism takes a conscious decision to follow a new public path that began in Repentance… flowed into Faith… flows into full immersion commitment… flows into greater levels of Gods love…
Jesus said…
John 15:9-13: “As the Father has (flowed His love into) me, so have I (flowed His love into) you:
continue (flowing) in my love.
If ye keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love;
even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
These things have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might (continue to) be full.
This is my commandment, (baptism)
That you love one another, as I have loved you.
Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”…
Summary….
- Repentance… turning away from personal gain to a greater love in Gods family…
- Faith towards God… a confident expectation or Gods love in and through your life…
- Baptisms… full immersion public commitment (marriage ) into Christ…
Next… laying of hands… The common unity of Christ…