FEBRUARY 25, 2024
BAPTIZED INTO THE DEATH OF CHRIST
JOSHUA 3:15-17
REV. MICHAEL DENSMOOR SERIES: UNSHAKEABLE
The transcript below has been slightly edited to make it easier for reading.
I would like to look at just a short couple of verses in Joshua to lead us into our time of baptism. In Joshua 3:15-17, Israel finds themselves at the bank of the Jordan River, waiting to cross over. After years of wandering in the wilderness, wandering in slavery to sin, wandering as they were disobedient, and continued to rebel against the Lord, now they find themselves on the River Jordan and they're about to cross over. ​​
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But there is a problem. There's a barrier of a flooded Jordan River, an impossible barrier to cross over. Yet God is a God who does the impossible. We see here in the story a picture of what it means to undergo baptism, where God does the impossible through the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me read for us what happened in Joshua 3 as they tried to cross over the Jordan River:
and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.
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A simple story, a powerful story. A story that reminds us that baptism is a picture. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:2 about how all of Israel was baptized into Moses at the Red Sea. Paul, looking back after the cross of Christ, looks at the stories of the Old Testament. Even though they don't explicitly explain doctrine, implicitly we find principles and pictures that help us understand the meaning of our Christian faith. Paul looked at the Red Sea and he said that Israel was baptized into Moses. What did it mean? It meant because they were identified with Moses, they crossed through to the other side.
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We have another picture of this here happening at the bank of the River Jordan. Israel standing at this flooding river. People are confused and questioning, “How is it that we can cross over?” This time it's not Moses with a staff raised up that allows the people to go safely through. This time it's the priests who come up to the water's edge, carrying the ark.
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I don't know if you're familiar what the Ark of the Covenant is. If you aren't familiar, go home and watch Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (because that's where we get our theology from, correct? I hope not!). In Indiana Jones and the Raider of the Lost Ark, Hitler (who was a freak) was trying to collect all these sacred relics as one of his things, because he wanted the spiritual power to protect his kingdom. One of them was the Lost Ark the Ark of the Covenant that had been in the Temple in Jerusalem.
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This Ark was originally made under Moses' watch after Israel had left Egypt and was at Sinai. Inside the Ark were three items: there was a jar of mana (the bread that God fed them in the wilderness), the staff of Aaron that budded with almonds (to show that the lineage of the priesthood would come through Aaron), and the two tablets that Moses had brought down from the Mount Sinai of the Ten Commandments.
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This Ark was a sacred place. The top of the Ark was called “the mercy seat.” Once a year, the high priest would come and put blood on the mercy seat. God would look down and it would appease His wrath, it would turn Him away. It was this Ark that was only visible to the high priest once a year, now being carried by the priests because you weren't allowed to touch it.
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Being carried into the River Jordan, this Ark was a picture of God's presence amongst His people. It was a picture that God would be with them. In this baptism at the River Jordan, we see a picture taking place. Just as Israel was baptized with Moses at the Red Sea, so too Israel now is baptized by being identified with the Ark of the Covenant at the River Jordan.
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In the New Testament, we get a better picture of this. We read in Romans 6, it says:
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.
So there's another picture: identified with Moses at the Red Sea, identified with the Ark at the River Jordan. Now, if you are identified with Jesus, you cross over as well. You are baptized by your union with Christ Jesus. This baptism which we will celebrate today is a picture of that union. It’s a statement in which we declare, “I am Christ’s. I have put my faith and confidence in Christ. By being baptized with Him, I can cross through the waters of judgment.” That's what baptism means for us.
That's why we get a picture of what happens in the Gospel through the story in Joshua 3. Now, we have a much fuller picture on this side of the cross. We know what Christ has done, but I think it's also helpful for us to look at Joshua 3 and see the elements of what Christ has done for us being showed as a shadow in the baptism of Israel at the Jordan River.
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Delivered from Guilt of Sin
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I'd like us to consider four things that happens when you are baptized into the death of Christ. The first thing that happens is that you are delivered from the guilt of sin. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All of us are under judgment. All of us deserve God's punishment and wrath. ​
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You might look good this morning, but let me tell you, our hearts are deceitful. We might go to a party in the secular world, we might see stars wearing the greatest fashion and pulling up in the most expensive cars, driving their Tesla truck, and we go, “Wow, their whole life is great!” But it's all just a show. Each and every person is under the wrath of God. Each and every person is under the penalty of sin.
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What happens when you unite yourself with Christ? When you say, “By faith, I am Jesus’. I will follow Jesus,” you are delivered from the wrath of God through the atoning death of Jesus. Through the work of Jesus on the cross, God takes Jesus's death and applies it to you. He says, “You are no longer under penalty. You are no longer under the guilt of sin.”
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We see this in the story that we read in in Joshua 3, where the waters of the Jordan River were held back. These waters of judgment are held back, not because Israel did anything special. It was because the Ark of God was carried into the waters. That's exactly what God did for us at the cross. Jesus, the Ark of God, was carried in into the waters of God’s judgment. The wrath, the anger of God, towards our sin and disobedience of Him was all poured out on Christ and the wrath of judgment ceased. Christ bore our sins on the cross. He bore the penalty of it. He bore all the guilt and the shame.
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Israel could cross this river simply and only by depending the power of God to keep the waters away. So too, the only way you and I can be delivered from the wrath of God is by depending on the power of God displayed at the cross. If we trust in the Ark, we will cross the Jordan. If we trust in Christ, we will pass through and cross over the time of judgment. God will bring us into paradise with Himself.
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It's remarkable to think of what happened, because at the cross and death of Christ, God totally took away all the guilt that you bore because of your sin. I see a lot of people are struggling with guilt. They want to be free from guilt. What they have done in their past has been so heavy for so long in their life. There was one young man I was sharing the Gospel with and he said, “I have done so many sins.” He began to weep and cry over the sins that he has committed in his life. He bore this guilt in his heart for so long.
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I think many of us, even in the church, go through life bearing this guilt, thinking, “If I just come to church enough, maybe this guilt will go away.” But it's only by being identified with Christ that we can find the guilt of sin removed from us. It's only by coming to the foot of the cross and saying, “Jesus, I give you my sin. Take it away.” It's only at that point that your sin is removed. We read in Romans 8, it says:
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Something totally different happens. A complete change is has taken place. God now looks at us and says, “My wrath has been satisfied.” When God poured out His wrath on Christ on the cross, Jesus bore our curse (all of the curses) of disobeying the law of God and God took it away. When Christ comes out of the resurrection, is free from the grave, He has defeated death and says to us, “If you are united with Me, if you trust Me, there is no condemnation.”
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There's nothing that Israel could do to keep the waters from flowing down. There's nothing Israel could do to make this water turn into a heap. So too in the same way, there's absolutely nothing you can do to keep the wrath of God from being poured out on your life. But that's the Gospel message. You and I can't do it, but Jesus did it. He bore our sins on the cross. When you totally commit yourself and depend on Christ alone for your salvation, the wrath of God is taken away.
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Cleansed from Pollution of Sin
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The second thing we see in being baptized into Christ’s death is that we are cleansed from the pollution of sin. We are changed. We are now made pure. We are now made holy from the standpoint of God. Remember, when these waters were coming down the Jordan River, it was flood time. Usually, it's not a problem to cross the Jordan River. ​
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I've crossed the Jordan River from Aman, Jordan, took a bus down, went across the river, and it was really disappointing. First of all, the river is not that big. Second of all, it goes into the Dead Sea - a sea here in our passage called “the salt sea,” because it's filled with chemicals. When you go to the Dead Sea, you float in it. You can’t sink in it. You can't drown in the Dead Sea because it is heavier than your body density, so you float. What happens is, there's so little water in the area of Jordan and Israel that they have now damned up the Jordan River. So no water flows into the Dead Sea, because once it flows into the Dead Sea, you can't use the water anymore. They're taking the water and using it for agriculture now. When you drive down and go across the river, it is a dry riverbed - exactly the way it was when Israel crossed over.
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During the summer months, anybody could cross the Jordan River. The problem is, it was spring. It was when the snow was running off the mountains, flowing down, and flooding the river. There was no way that Israel could ever stop the water. If Israel wanted to stop the water, they would have to go upstream and figure out some great engineering scheme in order to build a dam and keep the water from flowing down. It was impossible. They couldn't do it.
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This is a picture in the Bible of what we saw happen at the death of Christ. We call this “imputation.” Imputation is when there is an exchange that took place. What happened to Christ is, He took the things that we deserve and then He gave to us all the things that He deserved. There was an exchange, a trade, that took place. This is exactly what happened when we saw in the Scripture in Romans 5, how through one man's disobedience, through Adam, all of us became sinners. So too, through one man's obedience, Jesus Christ, all can be made whole again with God - all can be made righteous.
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So how does this happen? How does it happen that when the first Adam (our representative of humanity) sinned, all humanity was brought into sin? How is it now that God can look at us and say, “You're righteous?” It's because of the second Adam, Jesus, who came, lived, and fulfilled all the requirements of the law so that you and I can have eternal life. What happened? As we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21, where it says:
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
What happened is, when the God the Father took off my sin, what He did is He put it on Jesus. Instead of looking at Jesus and saying, “Wow, You're beautiful and holy,” He looks at Jesus and goes, “You are disgusting. You are despicable. You are cursed. I am going to punish You.” He took all of His wrath that should be for me, and when He saw Jesus in His sin, He poured it all out on Him. Then He took all of Jesus’ holiness and put it on us, and He said, “Wow, aren’t you beautiful! Look how lovely you are! Look how wonderful you are! I can't wait to spend time with you.”
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See, this is the exchange that happens. This is called imputation. He now looks at Jesus and sees, “Ugly, cursed, despicable.” He looks at you, who are baptized into the death of Jesus, and sees, “Aren’t you lovely! You're holy! You're beautiful in My eyes.” That's what we mean by imputation. That's what it means when it says:
For our sake he made him to be sin
Him, who was clean. Him, who was holy. Him, who was sinless. God imputed to Him everything that was wrong in your life: all your sin and disobedience. He moved it over to Jesus and He punished Jesus. He took everything that was an asset for Jesus (all of Jesus's good works, all His amal) and He transferred all of that to you. Now Jesus looks at you and goes, “You are beautiful. You're are righteous. Come into My kingdom.” At the cross, this exchange took place. God punished our sin in Jesus. When you get baptized into the death of Christ, when you receive Jesus in your life, you receive Him as though His work is your work.
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As Israel stepped into the Jordan River, they received the work of the water stopping as though they had done the work themselves. Israel didn't go up the Jordan and stop the river. The Ark stopped the river. God stopped the river, but Israel took it as though they had done it. It was all credited to them. They could pass over in the same way when you are baptized into the death of Jesus. All of Jesus's amal is given to you and all of your sin is given to Him.
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Freed from Penalty of Sin
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Thirdly, when you are baptized into the death of Christ, you are now freed from the penalty of sin. It's not just that the guilt's been taken away, but now even the penalty is taken away. What's amazing for us is that God doesn't just accept you into heaven, but He raises you up and gives you a new identity, a new status. God restores us back to what He desired for us in the Garden of Eden. He desired fellowship with us. He desired a relationship with us. He desires that you and I might live together with Him forever. ​
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But His desire wasn't just that you would be out back. His desire would that you would be at the table eating together with Him. What happened in the death of Christ is, not only did He take care of your penalty, punishment, or guilt of sin, not only did He take care of the pollution of sin, but even the penalty of it. The very thing that you deserved, He took away and says, “I will now treat you the same way I treat my Son.”
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Meditate on that this afternoon. When you're going to bed tonight, think about it. “God the Father treats me exactly the same way He treats Jesus.” I think this is an important question for us to think through. Discuss it at your dinner table. Think about it as you're reading your Bible today, “How does God treat Jesus? How is it that God views Jesus?”because how God views Jesus is today how God views you.
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A lot of us Christians walk around defeated. We’re walking around feeling that, “Nobody loves me. I don't love myself. How could God love somebody like me? I continue to sin. I continue to struggle. I feel powerless. I just don't know what the solution is.” God says, “When you are united with Christ, when I look at you, I look at you as my child. I look at you because you are with Him.”
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In the same way this Ark which is the presence of God in Israel, the presence of Jesus is now with us through the Holy Spirit. When you accept Christ, the Holy Spirit comes into your life. Just as Israel crossed the Jordan (because they were in union with the Ark), just as Israel crossed through the Red Sea (because they were in union with Moses), so too you and I will now pass through the waters of judgment because we're in union with Jesus.
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When God looks at us, He says, “My child!” He doesn't look at you and say, “You're a sinner. You have made Me so frustrated over the years. I just can't stand it anymore. You're lucky I'm putting you in heaven.” That’s not how God treats you. Today, God looks at you and He says, “My greatest desire is to be with you throughout eternity.”
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him
Whoever believes in Him! Pashtun, Hasara, Houthi, Russians, and Americans…
whoever believes in me shall not perish but have eternal life.
See, that's God's greatest desire. That's why when you're united with Him, you pass over and all of the spiritual blessings we read in Ephesians 1:3 are ours in Christ Jesus.
So it’s this union, it's this baptism into the death of Jesus, that allows us to have the blessings we read in Romans 8:16-17 of our new status. It says,
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
So God's spirit is witnessing something, is testifying something. What is it? He's testifying you are a child of God and an heir. You see, God has lifted you up when He took all of Christ's righteousness and put it on you. At this time, God had changed your status from slave to child. If you are a child, you are an heir of all the spiritual blessings when you are united with Christ.
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This is what it means to be baptized in the death of Christ. It means you're now considered legally perfect by Jesus. We know we're not morally perfect. Let's face it, we're all struggling with sin. Even the people we're baptizing today, they're struggling with sin. All of us who are here witnessing this baptism, we're still struggling with sin. We know we're not morally perfect. But we've become legally perfect in the sight of God. God has taken our old slavery papers and have torn them up. He has made a new paper, an adoption paper. He says, “Legally, I have adopted you. I have made you My child.”
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You are acceptable to God. Why? Because He took out all His wrath and He poured it out on Jesus - all of it. He didn't hold any back. He said, “All of this will be in the death of Jesus.” That's why darkness covered the land for three hours. Darkness in the middle of the day because at this time, all of the wrath of God from all of our sins was being poured out on Christ so that you could be given adoption papers, so that your legal status could change.
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You now are a child of God. If God has adopted Jesus as a child, we can have confidence that He has adopted us. Remember, in Jesus, God treats us the same way He treats Jesus. Can God abandon Jesus? Never. When Jesus was in the grave after dying on the cross, after paying our debt of sins, did God leave Him in the grave? Certainly not. God raised Him to a newness of life. God gave Him a seat in heaven, a throne. God had restored Him and gave Him the name above all names.
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This is what happened at the death of Christ. This is what happened at the resurrection. And this is what happens to us, because God treats us the way He treats Jesus. If He didn't abandon Jesus, as we struggle and wander in this world, you and I will know with certainty God will never abandon us and will bring us safely into His presence.
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Dead to the Power of Sin
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Fourthly, being baptized into the death of Christ means being dead to the power of sin. We're delivered from the guilt of sin, we're cleansed from the pollution of sin, we're freed from the penalty of sin, and we're dead now to the power of sin. Remember, none of us are morally perfect. All of us still struggle with sin. Paul, who even says this in Romans 6 that we are baptized into the death of Christ, he goes on in Romans 7 to start laying out for us the very sins that he struggles with, "I do what I don't want to do, and I don't do what I want to do. Oh, wretched man that I am!” Paul says, “Even after being baptized into the death of Jesus, even accepting Jesus as my Savior and Lord, I still struggle with these sins.”
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What does it mean now for me to be dead to sin through my union with Christ? What it means is we are dead because we have a new leader over us. Just as Israel crossed over the Jordan, they left one land and entered a new land. Before in the Jordan, it was the wilderness, it was wandering. They left the old territory behind and they crossed over with the Ark into the new territory.
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So too, when we're baptized into Christ, we are saying, “I'm leaving that old territory behind - the old life, the old menu of the food we ate (the mana) - and now we're going to a new place that requires me need to live differently. I can no longer live like the world because now I'm a child of God. I've identified myself with Jesus. So as a result, I have to live for Him.” Paul will say this in Romans 6:1-2, he says:
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
When you accepted Christ in your heart, not only did He set you free from sin, but He said, “Sin is dead to you. Sin no longer has authority over you.”
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When I was working as an engineer at Motorola, I had this boss who was terrifying. Whenever he walked around the office, everyone sat up, got their computer, and started typing. I don't know what they were typing, but we all started typing something. We were terrified of him! We're afraid of what he was going to come by and ask us to do. We're afraid of what he was going to evaluate. We were just generally afraid because he had power and we didn’t.
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Once I left Motorola and joined a different company, I saw my boss walk by at the mall. I saw him coming and I thought, “Should I duck in the store?” But I couldn't duck in the store because it was a woman's clothing store and I wasn't going in there. He's coming, sees me, and we make eye contact. Immediately, I stand up a little straight, I start reaching for my computer, and maybe I can start typing while I walked or pretend I'm designing software code. Then I realized something, he's not my boss anymore. He has no power over me now. He might suggest that I do something, but it's because I gave him the permission to do it. He is powerless because I'm under new management.
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That's what happened when Israel crossed over. They left the old behind and they entered the new. That's what happened when you and I accept Christ in our lives. We died to Satan. We died to sin. What does Paul say in Romans 6:4? He says:
we too might walk in newness of life.
He says, “You're not in the wilderness anymore. You're in Canaan. Walk in that newness of life. Walk in a life that is fit for the people of God. Don't let yourself be borne down anymore by your past, but let Christ fill your life and lead you into a land of milk and honey.” When we came to faith in Christ, He delivered us. He brought us into His presence. He paid this penalty of sin. He's freed us from it and has set us free. We are dead to it.
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Today, we are going to have a baptism. In this baptism, we're going to celebrate people who have united themselves to Christ and have said to Jesus, “I trust You, not my works, to cross the Jordan. I want to be united with Christ.” They have united themselves to Christ. That's why we do the baptism. They are not saved by baptism, but the baptism is a picture that they have joined themselves in union with the baptism of the death of Christ. So too, today they are declaring to all of us and becoming part of our church, that they are Christ’s and Christ’s forever.