This Sunday is a special one because of the community water baptism at Moonlight Beach.
What is water baptism all about? Is it common for many people to be baptized simultaneously in a large service like we will have on Sunday? In 2024, there have been numerous water baptism services in North America, thousands of people were baptized in Texas, California and in Florida.
So many people are coming to know Christ and are being baptized in large numbers. It's reminiscent of the 1970s during the days of the Jesus Revolution., where thousands of “Jesus people” were baptized in the Pirates Cove, California. The Bible also talks about the fact that on the day of Pentecost, 3,000 people came to know Christ and were baptized on that occasion.
So, can anyone be baptized? Yes and no…it's the cross that makes the change in one’s life.
In the Old Testament there was an event that was symbolic of water baptism … when the Hebrew children a million strong came out of Egypt. They had been bound in slavery, in bondage for centuries but God delivered them with a strong hand.
1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
Paul is alluding to this event that happened 3500 years ago as a type of water baptism. The people were baptized in the cloud… symbolically, by following the Lord who was in the cloud. And they were baptized, figuratively in the sea, the Red Sea - so they experienced a kind of baptism through the Spirit and the water. In order to fully understand the severity of the situation, the people of Israel were caught in bondage and slavery…they groaned under the strong arm of Pharaoh and the slave driver. God has heard their groaning; these are God's people and He wants to deliver them from bondage.
The Lord had devised a way of escape for them to come out of their bondage - He said that they must kill a lamb which is a type of Jesus the Lamb who was slain for us - they needed to take the blood of the Lamb and apply it to the lintel the cross piece of the door frame and to the vertical framework as well, making the sign of the cross.
So, this is the first step to deliverance; they needed to acknowledge their need of a Savior, to accept the fact that they were under the judgment of God, and they needed to apply the blood. Then, when they got to the Red Sea, they had to believe, put their trust in God that He was going to deliver them. This was the spiritual “baptism" that they went through, because they had applied the blood and believed that God would deliver them from their bondage.
So we have this picture of water baptism; today, all of it comes by way of the cross where our Passover Lamb was killed and crucified on our behalf, and by belief in Him, we apply the blood to our heart and we receive the Spirit of God - the Cross brings Change.
Join us in person on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. or via livestream by going to https://www.firstbaptistsudbury.com and clicking on livestream for “The Cross for Change .”
Blessings,
Kevin
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