A Watery Grave

Just over a week ago, I visited a church here in Chicago with a few of my friends who attend it regularly. It was an incredible morning as several young believers were baptized.The pastor said a few words beforehand drawing attention to the fact that the practice of baptism is actually quite strange. Those who haven't grown up familiar with the practice would rightly be skeptical about the event taking place that Sunday morning. Just think about it. Someone professes to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and then they get plunged into a pool of water. "Why do they do that?" you might be thinking. "Why the ritual?...Why get soaking wet just because you follow Jesus?" These are fair questions. As I witnessed the baptisms that Sunday, I thought about why baptism is so powerful. It is powerful for individuals, and it is powerful for a crowd. Moreover, baptism represents two very powerful images: death and life.

When a person being baptized is submerged under the water- this symbolizes their death. This might be a strange concept to some, but it makes perfect sense to the believer. For the believer knows that he (or she) was once dead in their sins. I remember what it was like to be dead in my sins. My family does too, although perhaps they wouldn't ever think about it in those terms. When I think back to the time before I knew Jesus, I remember trying to cross every line I could without getting into trouble. I recall lying through my teeth and having hateful thoughts deeply embedded in my mind. I remember the desires of my heart, and today those desires shame me. What was more, I wasn't satisfied with my life. I was doing everything I wanted to do. No one could tell me 'no'. And yet, I was so unsatisfied. I trust that by now you know the story. But if you don't, the best way for me to sum it up is that Jesus changed everything.

When the person being baptized rises up from underneath the water, it is like they are rising to life from a watery grave. Once they were dead, but now they live. Every believer can relate to me when I say that Jesus changes everything. Looking back once again, the girl I was before I knew Jesus is hardly recognizable with the person I am today. My dreams are different now. My behavior and my speech is different. However, the greatest change is that I am wholly satisfied. When before I couldn't figure out my life's purpose, now I am sure that I was made to glorify my King. When before I didn't know where I belonged, now I know that I am a member of the largest family on earth- the universal Church. These things have brought me the greatest joy and peace. Joy because I have such a high calling for my life! Peace because I no longer worry about who I am or where I'm going! What I have just discussed has shown the powerful symbolic impact baptism can have on an individual. My own baptism when I was 16 was a joyful experience that I will never forget. But the power of baptism is not limited to the one being baptized. It is a testimony to all who witness it of God's power to change a life.

People have come up with countless objections to Christianity, and we believers have Christian apologetics to try and counteract those objections. However, there is one piece of evidence that no atheist, however strong his arguments, can refute: millions and millions of changed lives. Drug addicts turned clean, prostitutes made pure, murderers turned peacemakers, and the self-righteous humbled - all to the credit of Jesus Christ. Some might still object claiming that these people simply turned over a new leaf. But never have so many people, from so many places, for such a great length of history, all claimed that it was not they who changed themselves, but Christ's power in them.

The power of a changed life causes outsiders looking in to question it. That is why baptism is so powerful. It makes skeptics question the power of a changed life, and it causes believers to worship God for the changed life of their new brother or sister in Christ. I personally know the power of a changed life, and it is my prayer that you as well would encounter the power of the risen Lord to change your life or the life of someone you know. So if you find yourself unsatisfied with life, don't look to another self-help book. Look to the King.