The Baptism of Jesus.

Steve Gentry

[0:05] Well, good morning. [0:06] Welcome to Village Church. [0:08] I think it’s still morning. [0:09] I lose track on Sundays, but I’m so glad you’re here. [0:14] My name’s Steve. [0:14] One of the pastors here.

[0:16] And if you have a Bible, go ahead and turn it to Matthew chapter three. [0:19] We’re going to be starting in verse 13 this morning. [0:22] But before we get to that, I do want to remind you that we are entering into the week of [0:28] Easter. [0:29] And so this Thursday, we’re going to be having a tenebrae service here at Village Church. [0:33] And what that is, is we are going to reflect on the cross of Jesus Christ through song

[0:39] and through the scriptures. [0:40] This Thursday, it’s a wonderful time for the church to get together. [0:44] I think it’s going to be great. [0:45] Get here early so that you can get a seat. [0:48] Last year, we ran out of seats. [0:51] So if you’re going to be late, understand that you’re going to be sitting in the middle.

[0:55] So you want to get early so you can sit on the cushion. [0:58] And so then next Sunday, we’re going to be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. [1:03] And so there should be invite cards on your chairs somewhere around you. [1:08] Take those and invite people to come to the Easter service this coming Sunday. [1:13] You all have been called to be ambassadors for Christ in this culture. [1:18] And what’s great about Easter, other than the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is that

[1:23] it is a time of the year where many people are looking for a church to attend. [1:28] And you have a church and we are going to be preaching the gospel. [1:32] And I’m just going to tell you right now, we’re going to be preaching about the resurrection. [1:35] We’re going to be talking about the hope of the resurrection. [1:37] We’re going to be talking about the validity of the resurrection. [1:39] And we’re going to be talking about the implications of the resurrection.

[1:41] I just gave you the entire outline for next Sunday’s sermon. [1:45] And so the great thing about that is that you know that if you invite a coworker, a [1:51] family member, a friend, you know that they are going to hear the life changing message [1:56] of the new life in Christ through the resurrection. [2:00] And so have a goal. [2:01] Be praying towards bringing someone who needs to hear the gospel next Sunday morning.

[2:07] And I believe the Lord will bless your efforts. [2:11] We’re kind of knee deep in the book of Matthew. [2:13] Now we’re entering into the adult life of Jesus Christ. [2:17] Last week, we talked about the baptism of John the Baptist, that he was calling the [2:22] Jews out into the wilderness to be baptized for repentance, because, as he said, the kingdom [2:27] of heaven was at hand.

[2:29] And what he meant by that was is that Jesus was coming and they were practicing a hollow [2:35] religion that was self centered rather than God centered. [2:39] And so he’s telling them, if you don’t repent of your sin, if you don’t follow God into [2:45] this, the kingdom of heaven is going to come and he’s going to walk right in front of [2:49] you and you’re going to miss it. [2:51] And so often we struggle with the exact same thing because we don’t repent.

[2:56] Instead, we just miss all of the activity that God is doing right in front of us. [3:01] Well, John then received the shock of a lifetime when he is baptizing in the wilderness and [3:07] Jesus comes and requests that John baptize him. [3:11] And this is fascinating because, as we know, Jesus has no sin to repent of. [3:17] Jesus is perfect. [3:19] Jesus is righteous.

[3:21] But what happens through his resurrection is so supernatural that we often miss the [3:27] implications of his baptism. [3:30] And we see the kind of crazy part of it where a body is floating in the air. [3:35] The dove, which represents the Holy Spirit, is falling onto him and a voice speaks out [3:41] of heaven. [3:42] And so because that is so spectacular, so often we pass over this as if there is no

[3:48] part of it to apply to our lives. [3:50] But there’s a lot here that you need to understand about what and why Jesus is doing in this [3:56] baptism. [3:57] And so look in verse 13. [4:00] Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John. [4:04] He did this to be baptized by him.

[4:06] John would have prevented him saying, I need to be baptized by you. [4:12] Do you come to me? [4:14] But Jesus answered him, let it be so now. [4:18] For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. [4:23] Then he consented. [4:24] What other option did John have?

[4:27] Verse 16. [4:27] And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water. [4:31] And behold, the heavens were open to him. [4:33] And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. [4:39] And behold, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. [4:46] Number one, this morning, Jesus’ baptism displays his righteousness.

[4:51] Jesus’ baptism displays his righteousness. [4:54] And we know this because Jesus looks to John when John hesitates to baptize him and he [4:59] says, John, you need to do this to fulfill all righteousness. [5:04] So there is some activity going on here. [5:07] There is some form of Jesus’ action here that actually serves to fulfill the righteous [5:14] life that God called him to fulfill with his life.

[5:19] Now, Jesus came with a mission to redeem his people from their sin. [5:22] But Jesus had no sin of his own that needed redemption. [5:26] And so that is why John reacts in the way that he reacts. [5:31] It’s not that John is wrong in balking at doing what Jesus said. [5:35] It’s actually quite natural what John says. [5:38] It’s what we should do if Jesus were to come to us and say, hey, I need you to do something

[5:43] for me. [5:44] I think you got things backwards here, Jesus. [5:47] I offer you nothing. [5:49] You offer me everything. [5:50] That is the arrangement that we have with Jesus Christ. [5:54] Yet he comes to John.

[5:55] Note also that he doesn’t correct what John says. [6:00] See, John says, do you want to be baptized by me? [6:03] I need to be baptized by you. [6:05] Jesus doesn’t then look to John and say, no, John, you have so much to offer me. [6:10] No, I need you, John. [6:12] No, he just looks to John and he says, let it be so.

[6:15] You need to do this so that I can fulfill all righteousness. [6:19] There is a needed emphasis here for us to understand the life that Jesus lived. [6:26] See, so often we spend a lot of our time, and I understand why, and it’s it’s rightly [6:30] so, on Jesus’s substitutionary death. [6:34] And so we look to the cross and we say Jesus was our substitute on that cross. [6:39] But we can’t do that to demean the life that Jesus lived.

[6:44] See, his earthly ministry lasts about three years, and this event is actually kind of [6:50] Matthew uses it as a way to inaugurate his life’s ministry. [6:55] And so Jesus, in doing this baptism, he shows us something very important that he needs [7:01] to fulfill a set of righteousness. [7:04] Why? [7:05] Was it because Jesus had something to prove?

[7:08] No, Jesus had nothing to prove. [7:10] It was because we need that righteousness. [7:13] See, Jesus was baptized so that our baptism would serve purpose. [7:19] Without Jesus’s baptism, our baptism is completely meaningless. [7:23] Every baptism that John performed before Jesus came would have been meaningless had Jesus [7:28] not entered into those waters.

[7:31] Every baptism that has happened for the last 2000 years or so of church history would have [7:36] been completely meaningless had Jesus not entered into this baptism because Jesus’s [7:43] life was just as substitutionary as his death. [7:47] Everything that we have to be and do for obedience to Jesus Christ, Jesus himself entered to [7:56] give it meaning so that it would not have a value from our standpoint that we are adding [8:04] anything to the salvation that Jesus brings into our lives.

[8:08] And that’s why baptism is so significant. [8:11] It finds its significance in the activity of Jesus, and it does not find significance [8:16] in our activity or else it wouldn’t be about grace. [8:20] So Jesus enters into those waters, and that is why your baptism is so vital for your [8:27] faith in Jesus Christ. [8:28] So you’re not baptized to be saved.

[8:31] You’re baptized because you are saved. [8:34] Every command that God gives us in the Scriptures is a way for us to exercise our faith, is [8:41] a way for us to enter into an obedient relationship to him. [8:45] And when he calls us into those waters, he is calling us to show a display of the work [8:51] that he has done in our lives, not a work that he needs us to do for our lives. [8:58] Here’s the reality.

[9:00] Baptism represents repentance, and repentance is something that we all struggle with. [9:04] Sometimes we struggle with seeing our need for repentance in our lives because, quite [9:09] frankly, sometimes we don’t think that we’re living that bad of a life. [9:13] But repentance is the partner of faith. [9:16] Without repentance, you have no faith. [9:18] Without faith, you have no repentance.

[9:21] If you are turning to Christ in faith, what are you turning away from? [9:26] Sin. [9:28] But what does it mean to turn away from sin? [9:29] It means to repent. [9:31] If you are turning away from sin, you are turning to something. [9:35] What are you turning to?

[9:36] Christ. [9:38] That’s faith. [9:39] And so the turning away from sin is repentance to faith in Jesus Christ. [9:44] If you don’t have repentance, you don’t have faith. [9:46] If you don’t have faith, you don’t have repentance. [9:49] They are partners that work together.

[9:51] And so we have to have a fully formed view of what it is that Jesus did for us right [9:58] here in fulfilling his righteousness so that we can understand just how our repentance [10:04] has any meaning in our lives. [10:08] Jesus came to be our substitute in every single way that we need him to work in our lives [10:17] because we could not be any part of it for it to be real. [10:22] We couldn’t.

[10:23] We couldn’t do it. [10:25] And baptism is you understanding the weight of sin in your life. [10:31] I don’t baptize anyone under the age of 12. [10:35] And I know for some people that come into our church from other churches who will baptize [10:40] people of any age, and then that’s a struggle. [10:43] And so I think a good conversation comes out of that because they first want to know

[10:47] why 12 years old. [10:49] And I’ll be frank with you. [10:50] I wish first hesitations to to gave an exact age where baptism means anything, but it [10:56] doesn’t. [10:56] All right. [10:56] So I don’t have a verse to defend the age.

[11:00] All right. [11:00] But I understood in the years of ministry that I have had, it’s almost two decades [11:05] now. [11:06] I’ve had so many conversations with two groups of people between the ages of 18 and 30. [11:13] About their faith. [11:14] The first group are people who say, man, I’m struggling with my baptism because I was

[11:19] baptized when I was about five or six years old. [11:22] My parents wanted me to do it, but it really didn’t mean much to me. [11:27] And I feel like God has done a work where I understand the gospel in a way that I’ve [11:32] never understood it. [11:33] Do I need to be re-baptized? [11:35] And the way that I communicate with them, no, you don’t need to be re-baptized.

[11:38] You just need to be baptized. [11:41] Because you’ve come to faith in Jesus Christ and once you come to faith in Jesus Christ, [11:45] you practice believers baptism. [11:48] And then there’s another group. [11:50] And this is the hardened heart group. [11:53] And in the suburbs, I deal mainly with people who have a background in church.

[11:59] And so a lot of the people even that I grew up with and as I get to 40, it gets sadder [12:04] and sadder the older I get because so many of them have walked away from the church. [12:10] They have walked away from following Jesus and they never really exhibited fruits of [12:15] salvation to begin with. [12:16] And they completely have no fruits of salvation in their lives. [12:20] And they’re walking away from Jesus in every moment of their lives.

[12:23] And they’re just making a wreck of their life. [12:25] But because of a false doctrine that’s put in their head, they say, but it’s OK because [12:30] I have eternal security. [12:32] I was baptized when I was four.

[12:35] So I ran into those two groups and because of that, as a pastor, I’ve seen the need [12:42] to put a little bit of a fence around the pool. [12:45] I’ve seen the need to put a little bit of a fence around the water and kind of engage [12:50] people and understanding that you have great intentions for why you think your little [12:57] child should be baptized. [12:59] But as a pastor, my goal is to make sure that they understand faith in Jesus Christ.

[13:04] And not just make you feel better about the position of your child in the church. [13:10] And so just to make this personal, my nine year old son is by all profession, a more [13:20] devout follower of Jesus than I am. [13:22] I mean, I’ll be honest with you, the kid loves him some Jesus. [13:25] All right. And so no matter what conversation we have, he gets it to Jesus because he loves [13:31] Jesus. And I’ve asked him so many times, are you going to follow Jesus with your life,

[13:35] son? And he says, oh, yeah, there’s no other option. [13:39] And so he is by profession what I would say a blood bought Christian. [13:45] All right. Now, here’s the reality that I live in. [13:48] His life will tell the validity of that proclamation. [13:52] But I feel very comfortable saying my son is a follower of Jesus Christ. [13:57] I’m seeing the fruit of that in your life.

[14:00] And so he comes to me and he says, hey, here’s the deal.

[14:06] The Bible says I need to be baptized.

[14:10] What’s the holdup? All right. [14:14] And so I explained to him, I say, son, you know, I’m so glad you want to have this [14:18] conversation. And what I need to do as a dad is I want to keep talking to you about Jesus. [14:23] And I want to I want to keep seeing your faith grow so that you can have some gospel fruit [14:29] because I don’t want you to believe something about yourself that isn’t true. [14:34] I want to make sure that I’m doing my due diligence as a father to make sure you

[14:39] understand the weight of the gospel. [14:42] And after all of that brilliant theologizing, he looks to me and he says, when [14:49] you don’t care, just wants a date. [14:53] Says his son, when you’re 12, we can have that conversation. [14:57] And I’m telling you, he’s got a day planner in his room that’s like three years ahead. [15:01] He’s marking it down.

[15:03] All right. He’s like, I’m filling out the interest form on December the 11th, three [15:07] years from now.

[15:11] Why am I doing that to my son?

[15:14] Because I don’t want to give him a false sense of something that isn’t true, because I [15:19] was in youth ministry for about eight years and I paid my dues and I retired very young [15:26] from youth ministry. It was very difficult season in my life. [15:29] I’m still in counseling because of the things those monsters did to me.

[15:36] If you ever go on a ministry trip with 15 year olds, you are not safe.

[15:43] Ever. Ever. [15:45] All right. And I always did high school ministry. [15:47] So I worked in churches that had high school ministries and middle school ministries. [15:51] Middle schoolers. Let me tell you something. [15:53] If you’re almost a middle schooler or if your child is almost in middle school, here’s [15:57] what you need to understand.

[15:59] They’re going to lose their minds and it’s going to make no sense for about two years. [16:03] I don’t know if it’s hormones. [16:04] I don’t know what part of adolescence happens. [16:08] But but up is down. [16:09] Down is up. East is west. [16:11] West is east. There’s no barometer for what’s happening in their lives.

[16:15] They’re just nuts. [16:16] All right. So I didn’t do middle school ministry because there’s no reasoning with them. [16:20] All right. So I did high school ministry. [16:22] But I will tell you that something happens. [16:25] And this is why 12 around the age of 12, where you can begin to see a difference with [16:34] the way they deal with the weight of their sin.

[16:38] All right. And a negative aspect, they become better at being deceptive. [16:44] They become better at hiding. [16:46] All right. But that’s you know, that’s a weight of sin realization in their lives that [16:51] they now understand, I don’t want to be exposed for who I really am. [16:57] And then in talking to them about the cross of Jesus Christ, there is a difference when [17:02] you talk to a 12 year old than when you talk to a five year old.

[17:05] A five year old can memorize tons of facts about Jesus. [17:10] And I’ve done interviews with them. [17:12] And so what I do is I’ll turn a corner and I’ll start to talk about repentance. [17:17] And the five year old is completely disarmed.

[17:21] Hmm. Mommy, I got nothing. [17:25] I don’t know what does he want from me. [17:27] All right. A 12 year old, when you start to talk about turning from your sin and trusting [17:33] in the cross, you can see it almost visibly that a crushing weight of the gospel of Jesus [17:40] Christ and a realization of why Jesus is to be treasured comes into their minds. [17:46] And so I have chosen a path to err on the side of that weightiness.

[17:55] Then to give someone a false notion of repentance. [17:59] All right. And so I know some people just you want to talk, you want to talk to me about it. [18:02] And I invite those conversations. [18:04] I do. But I will tell you that their baptism at seven or eight years old is not going to [18:12] impact their discipleship in a detrimental manner for waiting till they’re 12 for a little [18:19] child. And I’ll tell you, the number one key for discipleship in my son’s life right now,

[18:24] really in all three of my children’s lives. [18:25] But the other two, they’re serious apologists and they’re atheists at this point. [18:29] But my oldest, I’m joking. [18:32] Calm down. Goodness.

[18:35] Some of y’all. But my oldest, the number one form of discipleship in his life, you know what it [18:41] is, it’s one command, honor your father and your mother. [18:45] And that’s the biggest fruit of his salvation. [18:47] And that’s what I call him to. [18:49] All right. And so if you’re a parent and you’re worried about that, they need to honor their [18:53] father and mother. That’s the number one goal.

[18:56] As you follow Christ, they follow Christ. [18:59] And for right now, that’s going to give them the greatest growth of a lifetime. [19:02] All right. And when Jesus enters into this water, he is doing it to show us that weightiness [19:10] of righteousness. [19:12] I mean, he looks to the baptism pool and sometimes we treat it kind of with a laissez [19:18] faire attitude.

[19:19] But Jesus says, when I enter into this water, understand that it is so vital to the work [19:25] that I am about to do, that what I am going to do in that water will serve to fulfill [19:32] all righteousness. [19:34] In Romans, chapter three, we read this, it says, Now the righteousness of God has been [19:40] manifested apart from the law, although the law and prophets bear witness to it, the [19:44] righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

[19:49] For there’s no distinction. [19:51] Why isn’t there any distinction? [19:53] Because righteousness has nothing to do with me. [19:55] Righteousness has everything to do with the work and the activity of Jesus Christ. [20:01] And when he enters into that water, he is fulfilling all righteousness because he is [20:10] fulfilling all righteousness.

[20:12] And when he goes into that water, when it represents the cleansing of sin or the [20:17] forgiveness of sin, he did not need that. [20:22] I did. [20:23] And in that sense, he is doing that for me because he’s showing me a beautiful picture [20:31] that Jesus is my repentance. [20:34] Jesus took responsibilities for your life in ways that you don’t and you can’t.

[20:41] See, the issue with righteousness is that we know what unrighteousness looks like. [20:47] I mean, when you think about unrighteousness, you think about immorality, you think about [20:50] some form of wickedness. [20:53] But what we often don’t realize, especially with a passage like this, is that Jesus is [20:59] also exposing self-righteousness in this moment. [21:02] I mean, some of you are perfectionists to a fault.

[21:06] What I mean by that is you being a perfectionist is not about you wanting things to be [21:12] right. It is about you wanting to prove that you are right. [21:16] And that’s totally different because by the way that you live your life, by the way that [21:21] you show yourself, by the activity of your life, by your your sense that you have something to [21:28] prove to somebody, by your sense of you trying to prove that you are worthy, by your sense of you [21:33] trying to prove that you are valuable, by your sense of trying to prove that you are good,

[21:38] you are better, you are right, you will beat them, you will destroy them, you will show how good [21:45] you are.

[21:49] You’re actually exposing your bankruptcy.

[21:54] And not everybody’s going to see it. Some people are going to look at you and they’re going to say, [21:56] man, I wish I was you.

[21:59] Because really, isn’t that your goal? Isn’t that what you want? [22:05] You want people to want to be you.

[22:10] Self-righteousness is nothing more than the idolatry self. [22:16] Because you want to be God to people.

[22:20] And the bankruptcy is, and not everybody sees it, [22:24] but you know it. That when you are alone,

[22:29] you are riddled with self-accusations that you’re not worth it. You’re not valuable. [22:38] You’re not good enough. And there is a void in your life. And so all of your activity [22:46] is about filling that void. All of your perfectionism is about filling that void. All [22:52] of your activity. I mean, have you ever wondered why you are exhausting yourself? [22:57] Why you are burning your candle at both ends? Why you can never get enough rest? Why you can never [23:06] commit to enough activity to make people understand just how good you are?

[23:15] It’s because every new perfectionistic commitment you make serves to prove that you know that you [23:24] are bankrupt and you are unrighteous. See, it’s not the people that know that they’re unrighteous [23:30] that I often worry about because I talk to so many of them. So many people that come to me [23:35] and they say, I blew it again. So many people that come to me and they say, man, I’m so stupid. [23:41] And I’ll say, yeah, you are.

[23:47] Because I don’t have to convince them that they’re a sinner. The people that I worry about [23:52] are those of you that are in here that are so overwhelmed with how righteous you want everybody [23:58] to think that you are, that you struggle to admit that you even need the gospel in your life. [24:03] And really the gospel and gospel activity is just one more way of proving to everyone how [24:08] awesome you are. That’s bankrupt on a huge level. If that was the way you were supposed to live, [24:17] Jesus wouldn’t have needed to do this. Jesus looks to John the Baptist and I think Jesus exposes

[24:22] a little bit of self-righteousness to John the Baptist. Because when John the Baptist looks to [24:26] Jesus and he says, Lord, I can’t baptize you. You’re the one that needs to baptize me. I think there [24:32] was some humility in there, but I think there was also a huge fear in there of I pray I don’t mess [24:37] this up. What if I get the words wrong? This is God the Son. See, John the Baptist was a prophet. [24:43] He was privy to the identity of Jesus. And you know, when I baptize people, you know, [24:47] when I’m baptizing you, there’s a little bit of fear in me because I’m afraid I’m gonna drop you.

[24:51] All right, I am. I’m afraid I’m gonna lower you down and you ain’t coming back up. [24:56] I have that thought. Every time I lower someone down, I’m like, oh, please, God, [25:00] give my arm strength. I gotta get this person out of that water or they’re gonna die. [25:05] People are drowning. John the Baptist is probably like, man, I hope I don’t drop Jesus in his river. [25:13] He’s gonna float away. This is running water. That’s embarrassing. Jesus, can you swim? Did [25:19] you go to the YMCA? Take the lessons. Jesus looks to John and he says this amazing thing,

[25:28] I love what he says. He says, let it be so. Let it be so. He doesn’t say, John, you’ve got this. [25:38] John, you’re worthy. John, you’re good enough. No, he looks to John and he says, John, I got this.

[25:48] He takes the pressure off. For some of you, the most liberating gospel moment that you could [25:55] experience this year is to realize the pressure is off. I know you’re a sinner. [26:04] I know you’re not perfect. I know that you’re tired. I know that you’re trying to hide your [26:12] imperfections. The pressure is off. Let it be so. Let Jesus be your righteousness, because [26:25] your righteousness does not measure up to his. And that’s why he’s enduring this moment as a [26:32] person to be your substitute. Number two, Jesus’ baptism identifies him with his people.

[26:38] Identifies with him with his people. When Jesus looks to John, it’s as if he says, John, trust me, [26:45] I know what I’m doing. This is not about the way that you would look at baptism. [26:53] John, this is about the way Jesus is looking at baptism. I mean, so many times throughout the [27:01] gospels, so many well-intentioned people said, Jesus, stop it. I mean, his mother tried to stop [27:08] him one time. His brothers tried to stop him one time. His disciples tried to stop him multiple [27:15] times. And every time I can just see God the Son saying, don’t you know I speak and worlds exist?

[27:23] Trust Jesus with what he’s doing. He had this uncommon authority. And that’s a theme that [27:30] you’re going to see throughout the book of Matthew, is the uncommon authority of Jesus. [27:35] When he would teach the scriptures, people would look to him and they would say, he does not teach [27:40] like the scribes. He teaches as someone who has authority. And when he enters into this moment of [27:46] baptism, note that he looks to John and he looks to John and he doesn’t ask permission. He says, [27:51] John, let it be so. You do what I want. John looks to him in John 1.29 and he says,

[27:58] John saw him the next day coming towards him and said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the [28:04] sin of the world. See, the first thing we needed was Jesus’s obedience and that was his identification [28:11] with righteousness. But the second thing that we need is for Jesus to identify with his people. [28:16] And that is about him taking away our sinfulness. And Jesus does that in this baptism. His baptism [28:23] represented the willing identification of the sinless Son of God with the sinful people that he [28:30] came to save. And this magnifies the love of God. Jesus had no sin to repent of. I have much sin

[28:40] to repent of. And what does Jesus do? He identifies himself with repentance even though he had [28:49] nothing to repent of. So who else could he have been doing that for? You and me. Jesus was letting [28:58] us know, you can repent all day long. You can turn from your sin over and over and over. And [29:07] you know how much value turning from sin has? Zero. Why? Because if you’re not turning to Jesus, [29:17] you’re just turning from sin to sin. You’re going to turn from one form of idolatry to another form [29:23] of idolatry. That is why when you look at the Christian life and you think that the Christian

[29:27] life is about doing better, being good, being moral, you’ve missed it. You’ve missed it. [29:38] It’s not. You’re missing at least half of the gospel message because half of the gospel message [29:44] is you can’t. You can’t measure up. You can’t do enough. You can’t overcome your sinfulness [29:54] with your own righteousness. Only God can do that for you. If his people needed to display repentance, [30:03] Jesus was going to display repentance for their sake. Every moment of repentance in your life [30:12] is powered by Jesus’s identification with your sinfulness because he takes your sin away from you

[30:20] and he puts it onto himself. In Romans chapter six, the apostle Paul writes about baptism this way. [30:28] He says, do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized [30:32] into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ [30:37] was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, we too might walk in newness of life. [30:42] For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him [30:46] in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body

[30:51] of sin might be brought to nothing so that we no longer, excuse me, so that we would no longer be [30:59] enslaved to sin. In verse five, it’s so vital for you to grab a hold of that phrase if we have been [31:07] united with him. You see, Jesus is actually prophesying in his baptism. He’s prophesying [31:15] about what he would do in just three short years. See, because they didn’t realize at that point, [31:20] this baptism represents Jesus being lowered into the tomb in his death and rising up out of the [31:26] water represents first that Jesus’s death can bring me forgiveness of sin and number two,

[31:33] Jesus’s resurrection can bring me newness of life. This is Jesus being prophetic, but it is also [31:41] Jesus giving us an understanding that if we will turn from our sin, he will forgive us. [31:50] He will give us his righteousness if we turn to him. So have you ever in your life [31:57] prayed and confessed sin to God and said, give me the strength that I need to obey you? And five [32:04] minutes later, you are wracked with guilt for that exact same sin that you just thought you took to [32:10] cross. Have you ever said, Lord, please forgive me, give me the strength that I need to obey you,

[32:17] give me the strength that I need to repent. And then the rest of the day was almost literally [32:23] defined by that sin in your life. And you were just wracked with guilt. You are wracked with shame. [32:28] Maybe the next week of your life, you’re wracked with guilt, wracked with shame. Maybe you confessed [32:33] a sin a few years ago and you’ve been seeking repentance and you haven’t fallen back into that [32:39] temptation. Yet you still define your life by that sin that you practically because of what the [32:47] gospel says, you say, I believe that I’ve been forgiven, but I don’t feel very forgiven.

[32:55] What you need to understand is, is that when you define your life by not feeling forgiven [33:01] in light of what Jesus has shown us, that’s a form of self-righteousness. [33:06] Because you’re still trying to pay for a sin that Jesus has promised you is forgiven. Note that the [33:12] passage doesn’t say if you feel united with him. Your feelings do not factor for one second into [33:23] the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Stop defining reality by how you feel. Some people, [33:34] they come to faith in Christ and they’ll be in the scriptures and they’ll read things like this

[33:38] and they’ll see verse four where it says that we too might walk in newness of life and they’ll [33:42] come to me and they’ll say, I don’t feel very new. I think sometimes some of us think about [33:47] redemption. We think about gospel change and transformation and we think that we’re going to [33:51] wake up the next day like 30 pounds lighter or something and we’ve got our new Jesus super body. [33:56] All right. That’s not the way salvation works. That’s not the way any of this works. [34:03] Because God doesn’t want you to define your life by how you feel. He wants you to define your life

[34:10] by what he has promised. These are objective truths. These are not subjective emotions.

[34:20] So when I don’t feel forgiven, do you know what I do? I claim forgiveness because Jesus says I am [34:28] forgiven. When I don’t feel like I’m walking in newness of life,

[34:36] that doesn’t change the fact that I am walking in newness of life. So I just choose to believe [34:41] that I am in newness of life because I define my life by what I believe. I don’t define my life [34:46] by how I feel. If I define my life by how I feel, I will never get out of bed.

[34:53] But I have the victory simply because Jesus says I have the victory and I have been united [34:58] with him. Number three, Jesus’s baptism reveals that he is God. Jesus’s baptism reveals that he [35:05] is God. It’s a fascinating section of the scripture. And I like to look at this through [35:09] John the Baptist’s eyes. It’s how I read the scripture. I’ll try to see it through the [35:13] character’s eyes, through the people’s eyes. And could you imagine being John the Baptist? [35:17] He lowers Jesus down into the water. And right when he starts to bring Jesus up out of the water,

[35:22] that’s that moment of terror for every pastor. All right. You’re like, I got to get you out [35:26] of the water in like under a second or I know you’re going to start thrashing like a nutcase. [35:31] Some of you have such weird fears of water. But so I lower you down in.

[35:38] John’s bringing Jesus up and Jesus just keeps going. Well, I didn’t expect this.

[35:46] Let’s try to get in John the Baptist’s mind because Jesus did not give him a heads up. [35:50] Jesus was not like, look, John, after I go in, things are going to get a little weird. [35:56] I said, John, you just stand there. Well, all right. He is the Son of God. So I guess I should [36:02] have seen it coming. And so Jesus comes up out of the water. He goes into the air and it says, [36:07] the Holy Spirit, like a dove descends onto Jesus. And that is spectacular. [36:15] That’s a fulfillment of prophecy. Isaiah 42.1 tells us, Behold, my servant whom I uphold,

[36:21] my chosen in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him to bring forth justice [36:28] from the nations. He says that it is the power of the Holy Spirit that gave Jesus the ability [36:36] to bring justice on the cross. You see, because Jesus was fully God and he was fully man, [36:42] and the Holy Spirit came into his life again to show that he’s substituting himself for us. [36:50] Why would Jesus need the power of the Spirit? Because what you’re seeing here at the end of [36:54] this text is a demonstration of the Trinity, of our triune God, God the Father, God the Son,

[36:59] God the Holy Spirit, one God, three persons. We know it’s one God because the book of Deuteronomy [37:04] tells us so. So the Holy Spirit comes down on him because in just three short years, what was [37:09] Jesus going to give to his followers? The Holy Spirit. And so why can we experience living under [37:18] the power of the Holy Spirit? Because Jesus has already done it for us. There’s no aspect [37:24] to the Christian walk where Jesus is not your substitute. Everything is about Jesus. And do [37:30] you want to know how you can know if you’re experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit?

[37:34] Because I know so many of us, we worry about that. I promise you, at the moment of your salvation, [37:40] Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to you. He baptized you in his Holy Spirit. And if you have the Holy [37:46] Spirit, here’s how you know. Are you compelled to Jesus? And what I mean by that is, do you live [37:54] your life and feel drawn to the Spirit? Do you, excuse me, to Jesus? Do you love Jesus? Do you [38:03] treasure Jesus? Even in your imperfection, do you want Jesus to work in your life? [38:12] You wouldn’t want that apart from the Holy Spirit. The reason that you are that way is because of

[38:17] the power of the Holy Spirit. The problem is some of you aren’t compelled to Jesus. [38:23] You aren’t drawn to Jesus. You don’t love Jesus. And I’ll tell you, the reason is because you don’t [38:30] have the Holy Spirit. And the reason you don’t have the Holy Spirit is because you don’t have [38:34] Jesus. If you have Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit. If you have the Holy Spirit, you’re always drawn [38:40] to Jesus because that’s what the Spirit does. Jesus told us that in John 14 and John 16.

[38:45] But then a voice comes out of heaven. Verse 17, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. [38:59] Some of the most powerful words of Scripture, God the Father speaking to God the Son. And just as a [39:07] little bit of an aside here, if you are a father, looking to your son and saying those words is a [39:16] powerful testimony to that child. This is God the Father looking to his son and saying, Son, I am [39:21] proud of you. I am proud of you. I look to my three-year-old and my nine-year-old, both boys, [39:28] and I understand that I have a powerful voice. And here’s the deal, you need to understand,

[39:32] fathers, you have the voice of God in your children. I’m not saying you are God. I’m saying you [39:37] have the voice of God in their lives. And some sons grow up with such a father wound because they [39:44] knew their father as the one who corrected them, not the one, not the father who was proud of them. [39:51] And I’m not saying lie. If they do something stupid, correct them. But every moment that [39:58] my three-year-old does something right, I try to be so quick to say, Son, I am proud of you. [40:04] Every time my oldest does something, and he’s becoming such a good man, I look to him and I

[40:11] say, Son, I am proud of you. Those are the most powerful words that a son can hear from his father. [40:19] Fathers, if you are in a time of your life where there is a disconnection between you and your son, [40:25] I will tell you, if you will just contact them and say those words, it will heal that relationship.

[40:32] Every son yearns for the approval of his father. It’s a powerful thing in a boy’s life. [40:39] God the Father looks to Jesus and he says, I am well pleased.

[40:48] Note that Jesus didn’t have to go through the rest of his earthly ministry. He didn’t have to [40:54] go through the cross. He didn’t have to go through the resurrection. And then God the Father says,

[41:01] now I’m proud of you. You became what I wanted you to become. No, he had it because he was perfect. [41:08] Jesus was always perfect. Jesus had never had anything he needed to earn from the Father. [41:12] He has the pride of his father. And some of you are yearning for approval. [41:21] You are yearning for someone to tell you, you are good enough. You are yearning for that void in [41:26] your life to be filled by someone just looking at you and validating you and saying, you have value.

[41:36] And here’s what I know about this life. Even if you get it, it’s not going to fill that void [41:42] because you’re just going to want more. You’re always going to want more. But here’s what you [41:48] need to understand about this moment of substitution from Jesus and his baptism.

[41:53] In John chapter 1, it says that if you believe in the light to all those who believe, [42:02] he has given the right to be children of God. So what that means is, if you trust in Jesus Christ, [42:13] the Father looks to you and he sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ that has been [42:22] completely fulfilled. When the Father looks to you, it’s not because of anything you’ve done, [42:28] it’s not because of what you’re going to become, it’s because of what Jesus has done. The Father [42:34] looks to you through your faith and he says, this is my beloved child in whom I am well pleased.

[42:44] So I ask you, friends, what are you chasing in your life? What do you want in your life? [42:55] Are you looking for approval? Are you looking for somebody to tell you you’re good enough, [42:58] somebody to tell you you’re worthy? It’s never going to be enough. I’m just going to warn you [43:04] about that. But this one thing I know, God created you under his design and that design has [43:12] been corrupted by sin. But Jesus came to fulfill all righteousness and if you will trust in him, [43:19] the Father will look to you and he will put the seal of approval on you. And he will say,

[43:25] this is my child in whom I am well pleased. For maybe you’re in here and you’ve never believed [43:32] the gospel. Or maybe you’re in here and you thought you understood the gospel, but your [43:37] version of the gospel had you measuring up, had you proven your worth, had you doing good enough, [43:41] had you obeying yourself out of the mess that you’ve made. Here’s what I want you to understand. [43:47] You’ve never believed the gospel before, but in this moment you can understand that the gospel [43:52] means that you have the righteousness of Christ and when God sees you, he sees his Son.

[44:00] If you want to accept Jesus Christ today, he will save you forever. And the only thing that God [44:06] requires of you is that you turn from your sin, you repent, and you trust in Jesus Christ and he [44:13] will save you forever. If that’s you, in just a moment I’m going to ask you to do something a [44:17] little different than anybody else and I’m going to ask you to do it by faith. I’m going to ask [44:21] you to walk out into that foyer where somebody can pray for you, where somebody can answer any [44:25] questions that you might have, so that today can be the day where you deal with faith and you come

[44:32] to the cross. And I want you to believe that you have the faith in Jesus Christ. But for the rest [44:34] of you that are in here and you hear the message that the pressure’s off, that this isn’t about you [44:40] earning righteousness, this is about Jesus giving righteousness, and you say, I trust in Christ. [44:47] The bread on these tables represents the broken body of Jesus. The cup represents his shed blood [44:52] and that’s the price that he paid to forgive you of your sin on the cross. And as you enter into [45:00] the cross. And as you enter into this week, if you believe that, Jesus Christ is the Son of God,

[45:02] Jesus has opened this table for you. Come, eat, drink, profess your faith in Jesus, and then go [45:09] and glory in the righteousness of Christ. When you’re ready, come.