Dear Family at Christ Community Church,

This Sunday we will have the joy of witnessing Nathan Wilson receive the sign and seal of baptism. Our sermon text is Mark 5:1-20—the story of Jesus healing the man possessed by Legion. The drowning of the pigs in this story provides a unique window into the significance of baptism. Throughout Scripture, water often signifies God’s righteous judgment of sin. In this way, Christ drowned in the waters of the judgment we deserve so that He might become the One who brings us safely to the shores of salvation in union with Him by the power of His Spirit. In his book, Word, Water, and Spirit, J. V. Fesko explains how baptism signifies all this: “Baptism points to Christ drowning in the waters of God’s wrath and to the outpouring of the life-giving Spirit. Baptism does not save—Christ through the Spirit saves.”

Nathan’s baptism is not something he is doing. It is a gift he is receiving from the Lord Jesus, Who gave Himself for our redemption. The Spirit will use Nathan’s baptism to proclaim to him all that Jesus has accomplished for his salvation. Baptism will regularly remind Nathan who and Whose he is as a redeemed and beloved child of God, someone on whom the Lord has shown mercy. In this way, baptism will equip Nathan to declare how much Jesus has done for him in liberating him from the darkness of sin, Satan, and death forever (Mark 5:19-20).

Take time this week to ponder the fact that Christ came down and dwelt among us so that He could plunge Himself into the waters of the judgment we deserve. Ask the Holy Spirit to use your baptism to remind you that you belong to Jesus and are a redeemed and beloved child of the Father. Take time to pray for Nathan and ask the Lord to continue to grow him in faith, hope, and love in his union with Christ!

Grace and Peace,
Matt