Death-Defying Life

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Water, blood, and Spirit crying,

By their witness testifying

To the One whose death-defying

Life has come, with life for all (LSB 597.1).

So you just sang, and so you have witnessed once again this morning. The Life of the World who has defied death has come and brought life for all, for this little child, and for each one of you so joined together in Christ through these holy waters. The three-fold witness of which St. John speaks testifies to the life that has conquered your death and now lives in you.

The miracle of Baptism is a great wonder. Consider this – this morning, this child awoke as an unbeliever, lost and condemned, enslaved to sin, death, and the devil. Now, having entered the font and having been washed with the waters of regeneration, this same child is now a purchased and won child of God, free from all guilt and shame, whose will is now held in captivity not to death but to Christ Jesus our Lord.

You, who have been baptized into the death and life of Jesus, also awoke this morning. You awoke with the sins and evil desires of yesterday drowned and dead, left behind in the blessed font of our Lord. You awoke with the forgiveness, life, and salvation which were first poured upon you from such a font as this. You awoke to walk in the newness of life to which you awaken every day of your life, because your life is secure in Him who is the Life and Light of all things.

In this life, few things are sure. It was once said that two things are sure – death and taxes. Well, one could argue that not even these are certain anymore. After all, you can choose to be stored frozen in suspended animation, or your genetic material can be preserved indefinitely. As to taxes, that seems to change nearly everyday.

However, one thing is sure and unchanging. The Word of God stands forever. Though years come and go, though flowers bloom and fade, though suns rise and set, the Word of God stands forever. And what this all-powerful, unchanging Word says, He does.

For this very Word, the spoken – no, preached – will of God, is none other than the Son of God Himself, carried about on the Spirit, doing the will of the Father who sent Him. And in this water, the will which He carries out is to baptize.

Ever person, be he young or old, who is brought to this font hears the words spoken over him, “I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” This is the will of the Father, that this child brought here be baptized. And it is not the work of a man to do this thing. No, it is the Word of God spoken, the voice of God speaking, the hand of God pouring the waters of regeneration over the soul of this child, just as surely as the mouth of the pastor says the syllables and his hand pours the water over the bowed head.

The voice of the Lord speaks, “I baptize you”. That is, I, your heavenly Father, here and now, wash you clean of all that defiles you. Just as this water pours over your head and cleanses your outward body from dirt and stain, so the washing of the Holy Spirit, the water of life pours over your soul and spirit, cleansing you from all sin, from all guilt and shame, from all condemnation and death. I, your Father wash you with this dual Baptism, that you might not simply be clean on the outside, but that your whole person – body, mind, and soul – be sanctified and kept in the faith which now lives inside you.

And this glorious Word echoes in your heart and mind every day, throughout your life. It does not depart from you, because you are no longer the same creature who was put down into that water. The old Adam in you, with all his sinful desires, was drowned and died. The body of sin and death was crucified and buried with Christ, that a new creation might rise out of the watery grave and live forevermore in the life of Christ Crucified.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Rom. 6:1) Are you to continue in the way that leads not to life everlasting, but to death? Are you to continue bearing the fruits of the father of death? His stink-fruit is obvious: idolatry, jealousy, slander, murderous hatred, selfishness, stubbornness, gossip, deceit, and all such things. But your old self was crucified with Christ Jesus, that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, that you might no longer be enslaved to sin. For “how can we who have died to sin still live in it?”

You are no longer sons of perdition, slaves of the devil of your own evil nature. You have been buried with Christ into the likeness of His death. Your old self has been crucified with Him. And now no Law condemns you, for the Law has no power over those who have died. You are a new creation, joined forever to Christ Jesus through His death, that you share in His glorious resurrection. You are no longer dead, but alive. You are no longer enslaved to sin, but captive to righteousness. You are no longer heirs of the curse, but of the blessing. “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 6:9-11)

What was the word which the Father spoke to Jesus as He arose out of the waters of the Jordan? “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well-pleased.”

With these words, the Father declares to His Son the infallible, unfaltering love that the Father of all things has for His only-begotten Son. He declares that this Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, is the true Son of God, begotten before all worlds. But why is the Father well-pleased?

He is well-pleased with His Son, because through this one Son, through this perfect Word-made-flesh, the Father is pleased to draw all mankind to Himself. As this one Son was lowered into the waters of the Jordan, He thereby sanctified all waters on earth to be a life-giving flood, not by their own holiness or cleanliness, but because the Word of God dwells in them. The Word of God in and with the water does these great things.

The Father is well-pleased with His Son, because this perfectly obedient Son is the one, final, well-pleasing sacrifice which will sanctify not only the waters of earth, but all mankind by His death. He will shed His blood upon the cross, that blood which will flow into a life-giving flood to wash away all condemnation and death.

The Father is well-pleased with His Son, because through this Son He has accomplished the adoption of all who are baptized into His Name. Through this Son, who washes the sins of the world away, the Father has made you His beloved sons and daughters. He has spoken His all-powerful, all-creating Word over you, and He has proclaimed for all time and space that you, though smallest and weakest among the children of man, you are His beloved son, and He is indeed well-pleased with you. He is now your Father, and you are His dear child, and none shall be able to take you from His loving hands.

O Christian, firmly hold this gift

And give God thanks forever!

It gives the power to uplift

In all that you endeavor.

When nothing else revives your soul,

Your Baptism stands and makes you whole

And then in death completes you (LSB 596.5).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.