Originally water baptism was given to God’s people to symbolize the departure from death and defilement to renewal and life. (Psalm 51:7 and 1 Peter 3:21). The Book of Acts tells us that when a person decided to accept and profess that Jesus/Yeshua was their Lord and Savior they were baptized in the water (Acts 2:41;8:12;8:36).
When an apprentice of Jesus is baptized it signifies cleansing and forgiveness. This is an outward sign of a physical and spiritual repentant heart and turning back to God’s call on their life.
Why is Baptism Important?
In Genesis chapter 1 we see that humans were created in the image of God. Our identity as humans was a reflection of the image and authority of God. We were to be His representation on this earth.
Through the decisions of Adam and Eve to disobey the instruction of God, they perverted the image of God in them through their choices. Thus, they corrupted their destiny and identity.
Romans 5 tells us that their failure trickled down to every person, family, and nation. Nothing men tried could restore God’s image in us. Then Jesus came.
Through His life, Jesus showed us what it truly meant to be God’s image on this earth. There has never been nor will there ever be anyone like Jesus. Fully God, and fully man, Jesus was the image of God’s identity in perfection on this earth.
The ability for humans to see what God had originally intended for us to be was now fully manifesting for us to learn, repent, and change. Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection God opened the gates of heaven so that we could have a way to be restored to our original identity.
The process of shedding off our Adam-like identity of this world and walking in our identity bought and claimed by the blood of Jesus starts with an event and then includes a life-long journey of learning to trust and obey Jesus.
When we make the decision to be baptized, three restorative shifts take place:
We affirm our identity in Jesus
We are raised to new life and the old is gone
We no longer identify with the sinful world but now with Jesus and His kingdom
Baptism unites us with Jesus (Romans 6:1-7). It is through baptism we signify that our union with him is complete and his life is now our life (1 Corinthians 1:30; II Peter 1:3,4). Through water baptism, we make a public proclamation that we acknowledge our sinful nature is to be no more and that we are now alive in Jesus (Romans 6:8-14; II Timothy 2:11-12).
If you have made the decision to shed off the fallen identity and accept your new identity in the perfect image of Jesus you can fill out the form below to signup for our next baptism service.