Accept the Initiation: Buried With Him

Scripture Reading:  Colossians 2:9-15

Key Verse: Colossians 2:12

…having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

God wanted to make sure His children understood the deep meanings of their faith.  He also knew we are weak in both our understanding and our memories.  God graciously designed memorials that speak clearly of His work, as well as remind us of those events.

Baptism was given to us, first to help us understand what Jesus accomplished.  Jesus was buried and He took our sins to the grave.  The power of sin died the day Jesus was put in the tomb.  On the third day, God used His mighty power to resurrect Jesus, leaving sin in its powerless state.  Paul, in verse 11, likened it to circumcision as well.  We, who trust in the work of Jesus, were circumcised, thus putting off the sinful nature.

When believers are immersed in water, it is to paint the picture in our minds of burial.  We are to die with Christ.  Sin is dealt with and we are done being slaves to sinful desires.  This attitude of determination must be in us.  We are determined to serve God and not the sinful nature, but if it were just determination, we would never win over sin.  It would be like staying under the water—the water would win.  But baptism brings us up out of the water—we conquer the water, symbolizing the power of God in us to conquer sin.  It is our faith, Paul writes, in the power of God that saves us.

Father, I have trusted in your power through the work of Jesus.  I look back on my baptism and rejoice at the work done in me.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.