We live in very strange and absurd times. Yesterday's news was fascinating on many fronts. It is concerning, disconcerting, and stunning. 298 die in a jet over Ukraine. Israel invades Gaza. Troubles loom large as media focus is both intense as well as extravagant. We are a generation that can watch live war from the comfort of our living rooms; chips and soda in hand.
So what does this do to you? Bring about fear? Arouse dis-ease? Conjure insecurity?
World turbulence has a "yes" in it. It drives one to search for the true hope of inner peace. Such will never be found exteriorly. Regardless of shelters man builds for protection, other men build bigger bombs. We must have a better reinforcement against the most determined enemy.
God gives us Good News. Mankind has a most unique hiding place. We must seek such shelter.
Of course, I speak of Jesus.
When one is under intense fire which could be life-ending, man begins to set aside trivial Sunday School arguments and get serious about the things the Bible posts. There has always been correlation between new start, born over, bringing our old life to an end, and the act of baptism. The beauty of this process has been lost on the fields of church wars. And to be fair, baptism isn't the church's god; so forgive us for intimating such.
What I think the world of wonderful, cruddy, fair, and dishonest people would want to know is that there is not only great hope; there is direction given by God for our security, safety, and protection from all battles. This isn't found in a doctrine; but in a person. Lavish hope is always found in Jesus.
Where baptism comes into play is that it is a part of the process of entering into him. Romans 6 expresses the fundamental fact that one is to be buried into Jesus. Verse 3 says that one is baptized into his death. Why death?
The safest place to get away from death is to get to the place where someone else already died and beat it. We hide where Jesus died because in his death he was able by the Holy Spirit of God to break lose. The way to encounter the highest and widest world threat is to take shelter in the Son of God.
In Colossians 3:1-3, the apostle Paul clarifies by stating, If you then have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When one is buried alive in baptism something goes on eternally wonderful. Our old nature is transformed as a caterpillar to a butterfly. No one can explain it; let alone argue it for it is a sheer fascination of God. We simply have choices as enemies pose bigger and bigger threats? Build our own shelters or hide in the only one that death can't crack.
Sometimes in one's Christian exuberance, the implication is that baptism is god. It is not. It is not the main thing. Jesus is. Baptism is the door to his grave so that we can be dead with him....so that we can experience the resurrection with him. It is the importance of every person concerned that one know how to prepare for the onslaught of uncertainty in this highly threatening time. We have a hiding place.
There is one name that rescues; Jesus. Muhammad wasn't raised from the grave. Neither was Buddha. Only Jesus. Every person must know where to hide...and how to enter the hiding place. These words of mine are fiercely inadequate, I feel certain. Yet, maybe for some this is one beginning place.
Inner peace is not found in a process nor is it in a church. It is in Jesus, the Savior of the world. He died so that we could live. Let's not miss the living because we didn't do our homework. May we find that protection from all enemies is not in a doctrine; but in a Person.
Please...isn't it time some make the decision as millions of others have? Isn't it time we quit hiding in bottles, and activities, and multiple distractions that serve to numb our hearts from the inevitable? Isn't it time? Isn't it time to get serious about the safe place to hide?
I would urge you to contact a friend, a relative, or a minister and just tell them you are tired of trying to reinforce your eternal hope. Tell them that you want to enter the Hiding Place. They will help you.
Glory be given to God through the Spirit of Christ.
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