From Death to Life

Today I was dunked in water.
Held-my-breath-for-a-few-seconds-type-of-immersion.
To be honest, I was a bit nervous at first.
Should I pinch my nose?
What if my feet go flying up in the air?
Will the water be cold?
But all was well. (Turns out that the water wasn’t cold at all!)
Today, I was baptized.

In front of my family and church at home, I proclaimed that 1) I acknowledge my own sinfulness before Almighty God. 2) I believe in the death of Christ for the forgiveness of my sins. And 3) I confess Jesus as my only Lord and Savior and promise with God’s help to live for Him throughout my earthly life.

In baptism, going down into the water symbolizes how Jesus died for me because of my sins. I recognize that I was once a slave to sin… but then I rise up from the water, symbolizing how Christ rose up from the dead and conquered death for us so that we may have new life (and eternal life!) in Him.

In the Book of Romans, the apostle Paul writes that “all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” and ^“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

From death to life. A new life. An eternal life. Whoaaa, what can get better than that!
My baptism didn’t save me ~ it’s just a proclamation of my faith.  In fact, nothing I do can save myself.  No matter how good I try to be, I will always fall short… It is by God’s grace that Jesus Christ saved me. 

You can ask God for forgiveness of your sins, believe that Jesus Christ is the one and only Savior, and develop a personal relationship with Him.  It’s a gift.  The best gift I’ve ever received.  My eyes are constantly being opened to the wonders of God, His beautiful creations, His unfailing love, His mercies…

Being a child of God does not mean I will lead a perfect life…I still sin and annoy my brothers and ask forgiveness.  But it means I am secure in His love! In a world full of death and suffering and pain, how beautiful and unfailing and perfect is God’s love.