Genesis 1:1-5 (2b-3)
[Romans 6:1-11; St. Mark 1:4-11]
The Baptism of Our Lord
1st Sunday after the Epiphany
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Sermon
...........................................................................................................
Genesis 1:2b-3
“Water-and-God’s-Word Provide Life Now and Forever”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord [Amen.]
“Come, Lord Jesus, by Your Spirit
In our hearts Your work begin,
Bring the healing restoration
Of Your image lost by sin;
From Your fullness all receiving
Grace on grace, new life within!”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
914:4)
Old Testament
Reading............................................................. Genesis
1:1-5 (esp. 2b-3)
2bAnd the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3And God
said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Prologue: “Epiphany” is a word that many people don’t understand
and very few (if any) use in everyday conversation. “Epiphany” means to
reveal, to make known, to manifest. “Epiphany” is what God has done
throughout the pages of Holy Scripture … He revealed Himself, made Himself
known, manifested Himself as the one true triune God, who is both righteous
and just as well as merciful and gracious.
For instance, after Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s simple
command by following Satan’s temptation, God pronounced curses upon them
that included banning them from the Garden of Eden and at the same time
promised to be with them and rescue them through the future Messiah. When
all the world’s population except for the lone eight members of Noah’s
family refused to honor and revere God, He cleansed the earth of them with a
worldwide flood but preserved Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their
wives (as well as a representation of all land and sky animals) in the
safety of a massive barge-like boat. When His chosen people, the
Israelites, posed a perceived threat to the ruler of Egypt, where they had
been living in peaceful coexistence with the Egyptians ever since God spared
the world from a widespread famine through His Israelite servant Joseph, and
the Pharaoh made them slaves, God imposed on the Egyptians a massive
execution of their firstborn sons but spared the Israelites from Yahweh’s
divine sword by the smearing of lambs’ blood on the doorways to their
dwellings. Throughout Old Testament history, God revealed Himself to His
chosen Israelite children through prophets (such as Elijah, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and others) who declared God’s message of just
and righteous anger over their sinful rebellion and rejection of Him and, at
the same time, assured them of His steadfast love and faithfulness.
In the present New Testament era, God manifested Himself in the
Virgin-birthed Baby of Bethlehem, whose person and work revealed His
identity as Yahweh, Jehovah, and, yes, Jesus, the Savior of mankind. God
made Himself known as the atoning shedder of holy cleansing blood in the
circumcision of Jesus when He was only eight days old. God further
manifested Himself as the Redeemer of sin-infected mankind when He was
presented at the temple at the ripe young age of 40 days and a bloody
sacrifice of two birds was offered. As Pastor Marks so eloquently
proclaimed this past Tuesday evening when we celebrated The Epiphany of Our
Lord, God revealed Jesus to be the Savior of all people—Jews and Gentiles
alike—through the visitation of the magi from an eastern foreign land who
came to worship the toddler Jesus with words and gifts. And, as Pastor
Marks also eloquently proclaimed last weekend, God made known to the temple
priests and rabbis that Jesus was the Son of God through His astonishing
questions and answers at the adolescent age of 12 years-old.
Today we’re privileged to celebrate another meaningful epiphany of
the now-30-years-old Jesus … His Baptism by His cousin John in the Jordan
River. John’s Baptism was one in which he called people to repent of their
sins and look forward to the soon-to-be-sacrificed Lamb of God, who was on
the horizon. Although Jesus had no sins of His own to confess and be
forgiven, He had more sins than anyone else because He bore the sins of all
people of all time. His Baptism, therefore, was a “divine proxy Baptism” as
He stood-in for you, me, and all sinful human beings for whom He would three
years later suffer the cruel, inhumane, and agonizing beatings, mockery, and
finally crucifixion death on Calvary’s cross as the Lamb of God, whose
self-sacrifice defeated sin, Satan, and death itself. The Reverend Doctor
Dale Meyer, President of Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis and The Lutheran
Hour Speaker Emeritus, explained it this way in his January 9, 2015, “Meyer
Minute”: “Many of us this Sunday will hear about Jesus’ baptism. The Bible
teaches that Jesus is sinless, so He wasn’t baptized for forgiveness as we
are (cf. Acts 2:38). He was baptized to identify with us. We, on the other
hand, are baptized to be identified with Him, the sinless one (Cf. Romans
6:1-4). That identification brings us into struggle, struggle against the
sin within us so that we live a life consistent with His holiness.”
As we commemorate that important epiphany event in Immanuel’s
life, we have the opportunity once again to review our own Baptism. If you’d
like to follow along in your Lutheran Service Book hymnal I’ll be reading
what Martin Luther wrote about “The Sacrament of Holy Baptism as the head of
the family should teach it in a simple way to his household” on page 325 …
page 325.
“First: What is Baptism? Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the
water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word.
Second: 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.
Third: How can water do such great things? Certainly not just water, but
the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the
faith which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God’s word
the water is plain water and no Baptism. But with the word of God it is a
Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the
new birth in the Holy Spirit … . And,
Fourth: What does such baptizing with water indicate? It indicates that the
Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die
with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and
arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” (Lutheran
Service Book. Page 325.)
Now, you may be wondering just how do today’s Old Testament
Reading, John’s Baptism of Jesus, and our Baptism correlate? Well, the
simple answer is that …
“Water-and-God’s-Word Provide Life Now and Forever.”
You see, water is necessary for all life that God created—both
physical and spiritual. As you ponder that simple truth, realize that …
I. The Overwhelming Power of the Holy Trinity Is At Work in Both
Creation and Baptism. (1-2A)
1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2aThe earth was
without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.
Power is something that many people crave … power in physical
strength, power in financial wealth, power in control over others, power in
academic success, and the list could continue indefinitely. One of the
triune God’s attributes is omnipotence, that is, “almighty or all-powerful.”
(Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation. Copyright © 1986, 1991
Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 105.) In fact, He declared
about Himself: “I am God almighty” (Gen 17:1 ESV) and Jesus told His
disciples: “With God all things are possible.” (Matt 19:26 ESV)
The triune God first revealed His divine power when “in six days
He created all things, out of nothing, simply by His word.” (Luther’s Small
Catechism with Explanation. Page 110.) He further manifested His almighty
power over what He had created when He promised King Hezekiah victory over
the king of Assyria and sealed that promise with the miraculous reversal of
time. (Isa 38:4-8 ESV)
The grandest display of power was given by Jesus when He exercised
His power over death itself by raising Lazarus from the dead and, sometime
later, He Himself arose from the dead in a mighty display of power over sin,
Satan, and death itself whereby He proved that He is the Son of God; what He
taught was pure truth; His heavenly Father accepted His innocent suffering
and crucifixion death as the sacrifice that appeased His righteous anger;
and all who trust Him with Spirit-given faith will themselves rise to
everlasting life in heaven. (Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation.
Pages 139f.)
Saint Paul testified to that and connected it to Holy Baptism when
in today’s Epistle Reading he stated: “Do you not know that all of us who
have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were
buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as
Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might
walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death
like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
(Rom 6:3-5 ESV) That’s why your Baptism is so very important and
meaningful. It’s the blessed sacramental act in which God powerfully
“plugged you into” Himself by means of which you receive His precious gifts
of forgiveness of all your sins, healing of your sin-sick soul, and eternal
life in His glorious heavenly mansions that Jesus won for you and all people
with His atoning death and victorious resurrection from the dead. That
blessed element of H2O that was first present before God created order out
of chaos is a necessary ingredient for both created life and life that’s
recreated in Jesus Christ. So it is that …
II. The Overwhelming Power of the Holy Trinity Gives Both Physical and
Spiritual Light. (4-5)
4And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the
darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And
there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Even as water is essential to sustain temporal life, so also light
is necessary. And so He created that life-sustaining element on the very
first day. The truth that Psalm 33 verses 6 and 9 declares, “By the word of
the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their
host. For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood still.”
(Psalm 33:6, 9 ESV) reveals that almighty God not only perfectly planned and
prepared all created things but He also spoke them into being. But note
this: “Light itself was created on the first day; the bodies that regulate
light were not created until three days later.” In addition, light
“perfectly served the purpose for which God designed it.” (John C. Jeske in
People’s Bible Commentary: Genesis. Copyright © 1992 Concordia Publishing
House, St. Louis, MO. Page 13.) That is, light radiates the solar energy
and other ingredients that are necessary for the health, growth, and
vitality of all created temporal life.
In Holy Baptism the Holy Trinity rescued you out of your
woefully-dismal condition of sin-darkness with the light of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. That sacred Good News that Christ lived, Christ died, Christ
rose from the dead, and Christ ascended back to His heavenly throne is what
gives the dark waters that God created their magnificently-meaningful
light-power. In that sacred “washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy
Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior”
(Titus 3:5-6 ESV), almighty God transferred your entire being—body, soul,
and spirit—from sin-darkness into the eternal holy light of His glorious
grace. As baptismally-transformed children of the heavenly father you now
strive by the Holy Spirit’s power to live sanctified light-lives “according
to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which
he has blessed us in the Beloved.” (Eph 1:5b-6 ESV) Also, as today’s
Introit directed: “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling, for
his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessèd are all who take refuge in him.”
(Psalm 2:11 & 12c ESV) Do so in the secure confidence that, as today’s
Gradual stated: “For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the
faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.” (Psalm 117:2a ESV)
In conclusion, therefore, as we travel through these
Christmas-extended pre-Lent weeks of Epiphany, always remember, be comforted
and strengthened by, and thank God for the divine message that …
“Water-and-God’s-Word Provide Life Now and Forever.”
After all, …
I. The Overwhelming Power of the Holy Trinity Is At Work in Both
Creation and Baptism. (1-2A) That joyful truth was manifested in today’s
Collect: “Father in heaven, at the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River You
proclaimed Him Your beloved Son and anointed Him with the Holy Spirit. Make
all who are baptized in His name faithful in their calling as Your children
and inheritors with Him of everlasting life.” In addition, …
II. The Overwhelming Power of the Holy Trinity Gives Both Physical and
Spiritual Light. (4-5) Our Savior Jesus Christ both participated in the
creation of that physical light and Himself brought into His created world
that became darkened by sin that spiritual light about which He proclaimed:
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.” (St John 8:12 ESV) Yes, He is the one
about whom today’s Gospel Reading revealed that “In those days Jesus came
from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when
he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the
Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You
are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’” (St Mark 1:9-11 ESV)
So, regularly, frequently, and faithfully drink deeply from God’s
life-giving Word by daily recalling your Baptism, being renewed with God’s
merciful and gracious forgiveness, dining upon His Holy Word, and properly
partaking of Christ’s real body and blood that are hidden in the consecrated
bread and wine of Holy Communion. For therein lie the life-sustaining
blessings that Christ gained for you and the triune God freely offers to you
and all people alike.
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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