“At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’” Mark 1:9-11 (NIV)
An important area of obedience for every believer is water baptism. Jesus commanded us to participate in water baptism because it is spiritually dynamic. It not only indicates that you have turned from your past to Jesus, but it can also cause a release in your soul whereby you sever bonds to your past and make room for the Holy Spirit’s unrestricted presence in your life.
At Jesus’ baptism, there came an infusion of things from heaven (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22). Those are the things He wants to release in our life:
1. Baptism provides an occasion for a heavenly announcement to your soul (Mark 1:11).
When you are immersed in the waters of baptism, you are announcing, “My former life of self-will and sin is being buried in these waters as though they are buried in a tomb.”
2. Baptism provides a setting for spiritual breakthrough in your circumstance (Mark 1:10).
Through the power of Jesus’ resurrection, when you come up out of the water you declare a victory of renewal – you choose from that moment to live with Christ, free from the failure and bondage of your past (Romans 6:1-7; Colossians 2:12).
3. Baptism opens the way to a ceaseless overflowing of the Holy Spirit upon your life (Mark 1:10).
When we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are redeemed to live in new dimensions of life in the Lord, in the purity and power of the Holy Spirit with the same unlimited measure of resource Father God gave to His Son, Jesus. Water baptism not only opens this resource to us, but it provides a continuing supply of availability upon which we can draw throughout our lives.
If you are interested in being water baptized, contact Cindy Ousterhout at cindy@thecause.cc or 714.255.0930.
(This material was adapted from Newborn: Your New Life with Christ and “Three Benefits of Water Baptism” [Sermon notes] by Jack Hayford.)
