"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
Romans 6:3-4
Lots of symbolism here, which can be confusing, but the idea is amazing once we get it. Christ had to suffer and die because of our sins, and we're baptized to take advantage of that... of his death and sacrifice for us. When we join God's church and agree to be his people, we're baptized into that agreement, that he suffers for our sins so that we don't have to pay for them. We join together in that death of sin.
The other side of the agreement is the hard part for us, but it is also the wonderful, amazing, glorious part. Christ overcame sin and death, and the resurrection isn't just a symbol of new life physically, but it is the symbol of spiritual newness. When we come out of the water when we're baptized, and also when we renew that agreement with God every Sunday when we take the sacrament, then we are joining together with God in that newness of a life free from sin, and the eventual promise of an eternal life free from both sin and death, post-mortality, if we learn how to be new now. :)
Learning to be new is hard. It definitely can be, and often is, really like death and life. We feel that war within us of good and bad, wanting different things that are incompatible... we fight ourselves even to look closely enough to see our faults. We usually very much do NOT want to look at that part of ourselves. It doesn't feel good to know that we are bad, even just partly, and it can be crushing to know that we have been hurting others, even when it isn't actions, but just obliviousness. Sometimes there are minor skirmishes and avoidance helps us get back to temporary peace, and sometimes the war gets massive, and causes us a lot of anxiety. We can't live like that, trying to balance and play both sides. In order to restore peace to our lives, the end of an internal war of good and evil eventually *has* to be that part of us dies. Even when we know absolutely that we are only losing the part of us that is evil, it's still hard. It's still painful.
The awesome thing about it is that we're not alone. God overcame sin and death for us, and he can help us overcome the evil within us as well. He can walk us through it, and teach us how to win and what it is like to be the person we want to be, rather than the person we used to be. He suffered for this exact reason... so that he could help us and save us. Today, let's accept that the bad part of ourselves has to go. Let's give away our sins, habits, and all the souvenirs we picked up in Hell, and embrace the idea of being Heavenly. Let's consult the map and start planning our trip. We might know a lot less about it, but we can trust God when he tells us that it is where we want to go, and who we want to be. :)
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
Romans 6:3-4
Lots of symbolism here, which can be confusing, but the idea is amazing once we get it. Christ had to suffer and die because of our sins, and we're baptized to take advantage of that... of his death and sacrifice for us. When we join God's church and agree to be his people, we're baptized into that agreement, that he suffers for our sins so that we don't have to pay for them. We join together in that death of sin.
The other side of the agreement is the hard part for us, but it is also the wonderful, amazing, glorious part. Christ overcame sin and death, and the resurrection isn't just a symbol of new life physically, but it is the symbol of spiritual newness. When we come out of the water when we're baptized, and also when we renew that agreement with God every Sunday when we take the sacrament, then we are joining together with God in that newness of a life free from sin, and the eventual promise of an eternal life free from both sin and death, post-mortality, if we learn how to be new now. :)
Learning to be new is hard. It definitely can be, and often is, really like death and life. We feel that war within us of good and bad, wanting different things that are incompatible... we fight ourselves even to look closely enough to see our faults. We usually very much do NOT want to look at that part of ourselves. It doesn't feel good to know that we are bad, even just partly, and it can be crushing to know that we have been hurting others, even when it isn't actions, but just obliviousness. Sometimes there are minor skirmishes and avoidance helps us get back to temporary peace, and sometimes the war gets massive, and causes us a lot of anxiety. We can't live like that, trying to balance and play both sides. In order to restore peace to our lives, the end of an internal war of good and evil eventually *has* to be that part of us dies. Even when we know absolutely that we are only losing the part of us that is evil, it's still hard. It's still painful.
The awesome thing about it is that we're not alone. God overcame sin and death for us, and he can help us overcome the evil within us as well. He can walk us through it, and teach us how to win and what it is like to be the person we want to be, rather than the person we used to be. He suffered for this exact reason... so that he could help us and save us. Today, let's accept that the bad part of ourselves has to go. Let's give away our sins, habits, and all the souvenirs we picked up in Hell, and embrace the idea of being Heavenly. Let's consult the map and start planning our trip. We might know a lot less about it, but we can trust God when he tells us that it is where we want to go, and who we want to be. :)
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