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Passing through the waters: The background of water baptism

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on January 23, 2018| 3 Comments »

Series on Baptism

I want us to begin a study today on the meaning of water baptism. For those of us who have been baptized I hope this will help us to understand what we have done. And for those who haven’t yet been baptized, this becomes an opportunity for you to consider this important step for yourself.

Some of this might be new to you or even sound strange, especially today as we look at this background material, but I think you will see how it all fits together as we go along.

We’re talking about passing through the waters, so let’s start by looking at –

“The Waters” in Scripture

In the Scriptures “the waters,” “the deep” and “the sea” represent chaos, turmoil and evil. We’re not talking about spring water that can give life, but deep waters, which can threaten us. I remember as a child, once when I was swimming I ventured out into the deep waters of the pool and was quickly overwhelmed and would have drowned if someone hadn’t stepped in to save me. This is the kind of water that we’re talking about.

Here are some examples:

1. The waters speak of distress and testing in our lives. In Psalm 69:14 David prays, deliver me from “my enemies and the deep waters . . ..” Deep waters here are the hard times and persecutions he is going through. Still today we talk about going through deep waters, from this imagery from the Psalms and other Scriptures.

2. The waters are connected to death. In Psalm 69:15 “the deep” is the same as “the Pit,” or Sheol, the realm of the dead. In Psalm 18:16 “the waters” are the same as death and Sheol (vs. 4-5). (In Psalm 124 the waters represent death. In Jonah 2 the deep is the same as Sheol)

3. The waters are the abode of powerful, demonic sea serpents. Stay with me here . . .. In Hebrew the word “sea” is the name of a Canaanite sea monster – “Yamm” (Psalm 74:13; Habakkuk 3). This dragon, as we will see, is also called “Rahab” or “Leviathan.” Revelation 12:9 identifies Satan as “that ancient serpent.”

4. The waters are associated with empires that seek to destroy God’s people. Isaiah 17:12-13 says, “The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but God will rebuke them, and they will flee far away.” Revelation 17:15 says, “the waters . . . are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.”

Often these nations incarnate the dragon or they are described as various other kinds of sinister beasts. In Isaiah 30:7 Egypt is Rahab. In Habakkuk 3:13-15 Egypt is Yamm. (Also Ezekiel 29:3-4 and 32:2-7 speaks of Egypt as the great dragon.) The four world empires of Daniel 7 are pictured as different beasts that come “up out of the sea” (v. 3). (Also Revelation 13:1)

5. The waters are connected to judgment. God harnessed the destructive powers of the waters to destroy the world with the flood and then put them back in their place – Genesis 6-8. Also, God used Babylon, pictured as a serpent and the waters, to judge Judah – Jeremiah 51:34. (Also Jonah 2)

6. The removal of the waters is a sign of the end of evil and a new creation. Isaiah 27:1 speaking of the last day says, “In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.” Revelation 21:1 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth . . . and the sea was no more.” In the new creation these waters will be gone.

So we see in all this that “the waters” have to do with distress, judgment, evil, Satan, destruction and death.

Passing through the waters

If this is what the waters mean, now we must ask, “What does it mean to pass through these waters?” What patterns are there that help us to understand what this means? There are a number of water crossings in the Scriptures. We will look at three major ones and especially the Red Sea crossing.

We start with passing through the primordial waters of creation. When we begin the story in Genesis 1:1-2 the chaotic waters, “the deep” covered the lifeless earth. But then God acted to defeat the deep. He divided the waters into the waters in the sky and the waters on the earth, and he put boundaries on the waters of the earth so that they couldn’t cover the whole earth.

Now although it’s not prominent in Genesis chapter one, there is a battle going on. When God divided the deep and then bounded the waters of the sea, he was fighting with and defeating “the deep.” We see this in several texts. Psalm 89:9-10 describes God creating in this way, “You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them. You crushed Rahab like a carcass.” Job 26:12-13 speaks of God creating in this way, “By his power he stilled the Sea; by his understanding he struck down Rahab. By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.” [Other texts on the creation where the waters are personified: Proverbs 8:28-29; Psalm 104:5-9; Job 38:10-11.]

So the creation involves a display of God’s power that overcomes the deep and bounds the sea, which is likened to the slaying of a great sea monster. And because of this, five things happen, which reveal the five themes of most, if not all water crossings in Scripture:

1. The chaos and darkness of the waters are left behind.

2. The earth was set free from the waters. God brought the dry land up out of the waters. The land, as it were, passes through the waters of the deep to come up and out of them to form dry land (2 Peter 3:5.)

3. God formed life (animals, plants, humans) and breathed Spirit into Adam. There is a new life/Spirit theme. [A parenthetical note: If we look at #2 and #3 together we have a birth scene: A baby is unformed in the waters of the womb – a place that is dark. The earth is formless and void, in water and darkness. But then the baby passes through the waters of birth and comes out formed and alive and it receives spirit or breath. The earth comes out of the waters and becomes a place of life. So, the creation is, among other things, a birth scene.]

4. Adam and Eve began the human family/community. So there’s a communal theme.

5. Adam and Eve received God’s instructions. God gave them charge over the animals and plants and told them what they could and could not do. So there is an obedience to God theme.

Let’s look at another example, passing through the waters of the flood. We see the same pattern here. God released the waters that he had bound at creation to judge and destroy all of humanity. Yet God provided an ark for Noah and then sent the destructive waters away showing his continuing power over them.

Again we have five things that happen which reveal the five themes of water crossings:

1. Noah left behind the old corrupt world of sin – Genesis 7:1.

2. Noah was set free from judgment and destruction. He passed over the waters unharmed.

3. Noah received the sign of new life (a leaf) from a dove – Genesis 8:8-12. (Also God sent a wind/spirit to dry the land – Genesis 8:1). The dove is a symbol of the Spirit in Jesus’ baptism. This was a renewal of creation. [And also a rebirth.]

4. Noah began a new humanity/community. It was a new start.

5. Noah committed to do God’s will, the Noahic covenant found in Genesis 8-9. This was to guide this community in righteousness.

Finally, we look at the most important water crossing in the Old Testament in terms of the background to water baptism, passing through the waters of the Red Sea. Again we see the same pattern. As the Israelites tried to escape Egypt, the waters – Pharaoh (seen as a serpent, as we saw before) and the Red Sea (literal water) – sought to judge and destroy them. The sea blocked them as Pharaoh’s army came to kill them. God acted, however. He defeated the waters. He divided the sea, making a path for Israel, and then destroyed Pharaoh.

Here again we see God battling the sea and its hosts. Isaiah 51:9-10 says, “. . . Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon? Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to cross over?” Psalm 74:13-14 says, “You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the dragons of the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.” [Other texts on the Red Sea crossing where the waters are personified: Psalm 77:15-20; Psalm 106:9-11.]

God displays his power in this battle. He made a way for his people to pass through the waters. And again, five things happen which reveal the five themes of water crossings:

1. Israel left behind their old lives of slavery and misery in Egypt. They had already begun this process in coming to the Red Sea, but they completed it because of what God did.

2. Israel was set free from judgment and destruction. They went through the waters safely to the other side.

3. All Israel had a Spirit experience and rejoiced at new life. The Spirit came down upon them after they came up out of the water (Isaiah 63:11) and they all prophesied (Exodus 15:1-21).

4. Israel became a new people, the people of God. As a community they took on a new identity.

5. They committed to obey God by following the Mosaic Law. After they came out of the waters, they traveled to Mt Sinai to receive God’s Law. This gave order to their new life as a people.

 Slide2

Water baptism

As you can see, the themes of these water crossings line up with the themes of water baptism. The waters of judgment and death control us and seek to destroy us. But through Jesus God delivers us from judgment and death.

1. We leave behind our old life  in the world through repentance.

2. We are set free from the evil powers. They cannot harm us anymore because our sins are forgiven.

3. We receive new life through the Spirit (new birth).

4. We become part of God’s new people, the church.

5. We commit to follow Jesus.

Slide3

Next week we will make the scriptural connections between these five themes and water baptism in the New Testament.

I would like us to end today with an affirmation of faith and thanks to God. God is indeed more powerful than the waters! God is more powerful than evil! God is able to deliver us and help us in our time of trouble! This should lead us to praise God. What a powerful God! And his love for us is just as strong!

The words of Psalm 93:1-4 are true:

L: The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty.

P: The Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.

L: Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.

P: Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.

L: The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice.

P: The floods lift up their roaring.

All: Mightier than the thunders of many waters. Mightier than the waves of the sea. The Lord on high is mighty!

 

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The Word gives light and life. John 1:1-13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 8, 2013| 3 Comments »

Since I am teaching a class on the Gospel of John, I want to share with you as a whole congregation from this book here and there. And so today and next week, the plan is to cover John 1:1-18. And today we look at the first 13 verses. [These verses are called the “prologue,” which literally means a word that comes before the main body of the book. It’s a part of the introduction to this Gospel.]

These verses are poetic, profound and powerful. So much is packed into so few words! So let’s work at unpacking this. I can assure you that the reward of these verses is more than worth the effort.

Our theme today

If you will take your handout, we can look together at how this passage works. There are two sections and each has three parts that parallel each other.

  • In the first part of each section (A, A1) there is a statement about the Word, what the Word does and how the Word comes into contact with humanity.
  • Then the middle part of each section (B, B1), like an interlude, focuses on John the Baptist’s witness and his subordinate role in relation to the Word.
  • And then the last part of each section (C, C1) focuses on what is received from the Word, picking up on the themes of the first part of each section (A, A1). 

So for us today, the focus of vs. 1-13 is the life and light that the Word gives. Let’s look at our verses –

John 1:1-13

The Word, God and creation. “1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”

Here we are taught that the Word, which we later learn becomes a human being named Jesus (vs. 14, 17) was in the beginning of all things “with God,” as God’s agent in the creation of the world. The connection to Genesis 1 is clear in the repetition of the phrase “in the beginning.”

Now we know from the Old Testament and other ancient Jewish writings that it was not uncommon to speak of God’s Word, or Law or Wisdom (and these are really one and the same thing) as involved in the creation with God. And it was also not uncommon for these to be personified as a person next to God.

  • Proverbs 3 & 8 tell us that Wisdom, personified as a woman, was at the beginning with God and helped God in creating the world.
  • In Genesis 1 we learn that God speaks out his Word and creates the heavens and the earth. And in Genesis 1:26 the Word is personified. It says, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness . . ..” Here God is speaking with another person, his Word; his agent of creation, regarding the creation of humanity, and uses “us” and “our” language. (If the personification of Wisdom in Proverbs can be read as more of a literary device, it is reasonable to say that Genesis 1 goes beyond this. And this is, no doubt, a part of why John uses “Word” language and not “Wisdom” language.) (Like John 1, Proverbs 8 is also an interpretation of Genesis 1.)

So, drawing especially on Genesis 1, John is teaching us that the Word is with God, as a person, and is involved in the creation.

But John says more than this. For the Word was not only “with God,” he tells us that “the Word was God.” So there is sameness between God and the Word in terms of God-ness. 

The Jehovah’s Witnesses are wrong then (along with the Arians before them). The Word really is truly God, not just the highest of God’s creations. If there is a line between God and the creation, the Word in on the God side of the line. [Now, some contend that v. 1 simply says that the Word is “a god,” or divine; something less than God since there is no definite article in front of the word “God.” But if there was an article it would mean total equivalence with no distinction. Also, “definite predicate nouns which precede the verb usually lack the article,” (J. Ramsey Michaels, The Gospel of John) so you can’t make a theological argument based on this. And also if John had wanted simply to say that the Word was divine there was a Greek word for that – Theios.]

So there is sameness, but there is also distinction, because as we saw, the Word can be said to be “with God.” The Word and God are not exactly the same. [This also likely come from Genesis 1. For here the Word is distinguished from God in that they are able to talk together and there is “our” language (“our image, our likeness”) – v. 26. But then when humanity was created it says “God created humanity in his own image, in the image of God he created them” v. 27. It moves from “our image” to “his own image”; from plural to singular. Here the Word and God are identified simply as God. This is very similar to John’s – the Word is “with God” and “was God.”]

How this all works goes beyond our understanding for sure, but the logic of what is taught here is understandable.

  • “was God” means the same in terms of being God. To use later language, the same in essence.
  • But “with God” means there is still a difference. To use later language, a difference in terms of person.

Let’s be clear, there is only one God. This is the most basic of all beliefs and Jesus strongly affirms this (5:44; 17:3; Mark 12:29). But this one God can be spoken of as God the Father and God the Son, and also, based on the rest of the New Testament, as God the Spirit. There is distinction within the oneness of God.

The Word, darkness and humanity. “4In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” When John says “in him was life, and the life was the light of humanity” he means that the life that is the Word is the model for us of what true life is. In this way the Word is a light that shows us what true life is; what is right and what is good and calls us to this.

We have more echoes of Genesis 1 in these verses, the creation of life and the creation of light. It is through the Word that these came to be in Genesis. As v. 3 emphasizes, “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”

But there is another reality involved here. For although “darkness” is mentioned in Genesis 1, it is subdued or passive. Here it has become an active force resisting God’s life and God’s light. So John is taking into account the presence of human sin in the world and the active presence of the evil one.

There is a struggle going on. Notice the present tense, “the light shines in the darkness.” It keeps on shining. And “the darkness has not overcome the light.” (Best translated as “overcome,” see 12:35)

And then we have an interlude, the witness of John. “6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.”

These verses communicate clearly that John only prepares the way for the Word’s coming into the world; for Jesus. He is not the light, but God’s purpose is that through him all would believe in the Word; in Jesus.

vs. 9-13 pick up the themes of vs. 1-5, Light and life from the Word. “9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”

The Word, who is “the true light,” is not yet incarnate here as a person, although he “was coming into the world.” Nevertheless, as the true light he “gives light to everyone.” As we saw in v. 5 he is the light of all humanity. And so just as the extent of creation is universal, and the extent of darkness is universal over the earth, so the extent of the Word’s light is universal, calling all people to the way that leads to life. (John 8:12) (Sirach 24:3-7; Wisdom 9:17-10:21)

“10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own,  and his own people did not receive him.” With v. 10 the Word has come to the world as Jesus. This marks the fulfillment of prophecy of the coming of the Messiah.

  • As Isaiah 49:6 says, “I will also make you a light of the nations, so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
  • And as Isaiah 9:2 says of Israel and specifically Galilee, “the people who walk in darkness will see a great light . . .” (Also, Isaiah 42:6-7; Isaiah 60:1-5).

But if anyone was expecting an overwhelming reception of the light, John quickly puts this to rest. “Though the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.” The world is under the power of darkness and so most do not receive the light. And this is a terrible irony. Most do not even know who made them.

And even more painfully tragic is that he came to the Jewish people, the people of God, and most did not receive him. (This will be extensively chronicled in the Gospel of John.)

vs. 12-13 are more positive, however. “12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Some, a remnant from both the world and God’s people, did receive him. They “believed in his name,” that is, they accepted who he is. They received the light and life that the Word gives.

And the Word gives to these the right to become children of God; to be born of God. Now in the Old Testament it was the people of Israel who are the children of God. But it is no longer based on the flesh – John says, “not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man (a husband).” It is based on faith in Jesus and the provision of light and life that he gives.

The Word and the new creation

So John is telling a story here in vs. 1-13. He begins with the creation and the original presence of life and light, he talks about the falling of the veil of darkness that comes with sin and then he speaks of the continued shining of the light into the darkness. But most decisively he tells of the one “who was coming into the world,” our Lord Jesus who has come and saved us.

This is a story from creation to new creation. For what was lost in the original creation – life and light, he brings back to those who look to him in faith. And just as the Word was God’s agent of the original creation, so he is the agent of this new creation. And just as he was able to bring forth the original creation because he is God and is God’s Word, so he is able to bring forth the new creation that God is working through him.

The question I leave you with today is this – Where do you stand? There is still great darkness in the world. The world is dominated by sin and the evil one. But God’s light shines on and it shines purely and fully in Jesus. And you have to take sides in this struggle. You can’t be both in the darkness and the light at the same time.

Have you responded to the light that leads to true life? Have you come to Jesus in faith? Have you been born of God? Receive of the light and new life that Jesus brings. Be transformed from within to live a new life in him.

 William Higgins

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Outline of John 1:1-18

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Follow the link – John 1:1-18

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