43. "Water Baptism" Genesis 7:17-8:3

 43. "Water Baptism"

Genesis 7:17-8:3 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.

Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased.

The water through which Noah passed was a figure of the water of baptism. 

Our spirit is in prison of sin. Thus, Jesus died to free us from sin by dieng on the cross, He shed the redeeming blood, for according to the law of God to men, there is no forgiveness without the sheding of blood. And the blood of Christ offered to heaven once for those who will believe will be freed from the guilt of sin. For the condemnation of the sinners was put in the hands of Christ. In that way, we are saved, the gospel is about repenting on your sin, accepting Jesus as our redeeming savior, then our sins must be buried by the water baptism, it cleanses our conscience and hidden guilt in us, and after that cleaning process Jesus now fully enter into us through His spirit. We are then qualified to recieve the spirit of God, and with that Spirit we can able to imitate the image of God and lives with the fruit of the Spirit, finally a ressurected life, a new life with Jesus, for we are not longer living alone to ourselves but Christ Jesus also lives in us. 

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (I Peter 3:18-21).

Referring to the water mentioned in the preceding verse, of which the water of baptism is the antitype. This indicates that Noah and his family’s passing through the flood within the ark was a type of our passing through baptism. The water of the flood delivered them out of the old manner of life into a new environment; in like manner the water of baptism delivers us out of the inherited vain manner of life into a manner of life of resurrection in Christ.

This is the main emphasis of this book. Christ redeemed us for this (1 Peter 1:18-19). Christ’s redemption was accomplished by Christ’s death and was accepted and applied to us, in baptism, by the Spirit through Christ’s resurrection. Now our daily walk should be in the Spirit of the resurrected Christ; it should be a walk in which we live Christ in resurrection through the life power of His Spirit (Rom. 6:4-5). This is a new and excellent manner of life that glorifies God.

1 Peter 1:18-21 - "knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God."

We are not saved by any traditions or sacred rituals, but through Christ. As we believe with Jesus and obey the way of salvation, we are reconcilled to God, we are one with Jesus, and we are a new creation. For it is written, "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection," Romans 6:4-5.

As a new believers, our newness of life shows the characters of God by our words and action, as it is being said in I Peter 2:12, "having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation."

Baptism itself does not and cannot put away the filth of our flesh—the dirt of our fallen nature and the defilement of fleshly lust. The erroneous teaching concerning baptismal salvation, a teaching based on this verse and Mark 16:16 and Acts 22:16, is corrected here. Baptism is only a figure; its reality is Christ in resurrection as the life-giving Spirit, who applies to us all that Christ passed through in His crucifixion and resurrection, making these things real in our daily life.

Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

Acts 22:16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

To believe is to receive the Slave-Savior Jesus not only for forgiveness of sins but also for regeneration or spiritual revival. Those who thus believe become the children of God and the members of Christ in an organic union with God. To be baptized is to affirm this by being buried to terminate the old creation through the death of the Slave-Savior Jesus and by being raised up to be the new creation of God through Jesus' resurrection. Such a baptism is much more advanced than the baptism of repentance preached by John the baptist. To believe and to be so baptized are two parts of one complete step for receiving the full salvation of God. To be baptized without believing is merely an empty ritual; to believe without being baptized is to be saved only inwardly without an outward affirmation of the inward salvation. These two should go together. 

Moreover, water baptism should be accompanied by Spirit baptism, even as the children of Israel were baptized in the sea (water) and in the cloud (the Spirit)—(1 Corrinthian 10:2).

Baptism, as a symbol, a counterpart of our belief in all the accomplishments of Christ, testifies that all the problems we have before God and with God have been solved. Hence, it is also a testimony, witnessing that in our conscience there is no more accusation and that instead we are full of peace and are confident that we have been baptized in God (Matt. 28:19) and have been organically united with God through the resurrection of Christ, that is, by Christ in resurrection as the Spirit of life. Without the Spirit of Christ as its reality, baptism by water immediately becomes an empty and dead ritual.

The water of the flood not only judged the world but also separated Noah from the evil age. Whereas, our Lord Jesus... "who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father," Galatians 1:4.

Jesus died to save us from the wages of our sins, to deliver us from this world that soon will be destroyed by the fire as judgment of God to the era of satanic rebellion along with his decieved humanity, on our present evil age.

An age is a part of the world, which is the satanic system. According to the context of this book of Galatians, the present evil age here refers to the religious world, the religious course of the world, the Jewish religion. This is confirmed by Galatians 6:14-15, where circumcision is considered a part of the world—the religious world, which to the apostle Paul was crucified. Here the apostle emphasized that the purpose of Christ’s giving Himself for our sins was to rescue us, to pluck us, out of the Jewish religion, the present evil age. This is to release God’s chosen people from the custody of the law (Galatians 3:23), to bring them out of the sheepfold (John 10:1, 3), according to the will of God. Thus, in his opening word Paul indicated what he was going to deal with: he wanted to rescue the churches, which were distracted by Judaism with its law, and bring them back to the grace of the gospel.

The will of God is that His people will follow a newness of Life, holy and faithful unto the Father through Christ Jesus our shepherd. John 10:1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, He who does not enter through the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up from somewhere else, he is a thief and a robber; But he who enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. v. 9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved and shall go in and go out and shall find pasture." 

Again, we cannot be saved through traditions, the law of Judaism, but only through the Gospel of our Lord Jesus that are now being preached first by His apostles then through the true followers of Jesus. 

Speaking about what apostle Peter said to the people in his time, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them." (Acts 2:38-41) And now the way of Salvation is continues spreading to every nations. 

The New Testament uses three different prepositions to describe baptism’s relationship to the Lord:

(1) To be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ is to be baptized in the sphere of the name of Jesus Christ, within which is the reality of the baptism.

(2) To be baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, or into the name of the Lord Jesus, is to be baptized into a spiritual union with the all-inclusive Christ, who is the embodiment of the three manifestation of God. 

(3) To be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ is to be baptized upon the ground of what the name of Jesus Christ stands for. It stands for all that the person of Jesus Christ is and all that He has accomplished, both of which constitute the belief (the faith) of God’s New Testament economy. It is on this ground that the believers in Christ are baptized.

After the water baptism is the baptism of the Holy Spirit or vice versa, Read about the Gentile believers' baptism in the Holy Spirit — in Acts 10:44-46 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those hearing the word. And the believers who were of the circumcision, as many as had accompanied Peter, were amazed, because on the Gentiles also the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out; For they heard them speaking in tongues and magnifying God."

In Acts 10:47-48 is 'The Gentile believers' water baptism', "Can anyone forbid the water so that these would not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit even as we? And he charged them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days."

We all know, John de Baptist had been baptized the people in water but the ressurected Jesus Christ is now baptizing us by the Holy Spirit as evident of His endwelling unto us, read Matthew 3:4-6 'Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins." 

Also in Mark 1:4-5 ,"John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins."

Why did John did it by the River? Simply that, to baptize people is to immerse them, to bury them, in water, nor just to sprinkle water or pour some water on head of the people, for the baptism has to be an immerssion in water, which signifies death. John the Baptist did this to indicate that he who repents is good for nothing but burial. Further, this signifies that the old person has been terminated so that a new beginning can be realized in resurrection, to be brought in by Christ as the Life-giver. Hence, after John’s ministry, Christ came. John’s baptism not only terminated those who repented but also ushered them to Christ for life. Baptism in the Bible implies death and resurrection. To be baptized into water is to be put into death and buried. To be raised up from the water means to be resurrected from death.

In the same manner, the water of the Red Sea judged the Egyptians and saved the children of Israel from the Egyptian age, Read Exodus 14:26-30 "Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord , and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.

In Exodus 14:26-31 "Pharaoh and his army were terminated and buried in the Red Sea. This signifies that Satan and the world were judged and buried in baptism." 

Like the passing of Noah’s ark through the waters of the flood, the crossing of the Red Sea was a type of baptism (1 Cor. 10:1-2). The waters of the Red Sea were used by God to save His people and separate them from Pharaoh and Egypt. The children of Israel were saved through the Red Sea into the wilderness, a realm of resurrection and separation, where they were free from all bondage and slavery to fulfill God’s purpose by building the tabernacle as God’s dwelling place on earth. Likewise, through baptism the New Testament believers are saved from Satan and the world into a realm of resurrection (Rom. 6:3-5) and separation (Acts 2:40-41), in which they are free to accomplish God’s purpose by building up the church as the dwelling place of God.

This marked the completion of the first stage of God’s complete salvation of His chosen people, a stage that included the passover, the exodus from Egypt, and the crossing of the Red Sea. The passover, typifying Christ with His redemption, was sufficient to save God’s people from God’s righteous judgment. However, in order to be saved absolutely from the tyranny of Pharaoh and the enslavement in Egypt, the children of Israel needed the exodus and the crossing of the Red Sea. Likewise, after enjoying Christ’s redemption to be saved from God’s judgment, the New Testament believers need to leave the world and be baptized (Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned).

According to 1 Corrinthians 10:2, the children of Israel were “baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” Moses was a type of Christ and a representative of Christ (Hebrews 3:1-6). Hence, by being baptized unto Moses, the children of Israel were actually baptized unto Christ, who was their real Leader. In the cloud and in the sea signify in the Spirit and into the death of Christ. Just as the cloud and the sea were one, so the Spirit and the death of Christ are one.

And it is written in Romans 8:13 "For if you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live." How we can possibly die in the Flesh?

Through believing in Christ and by the baptizism in His Name then the evil deeds of the flesh had also died and after then a new life will open, so we must to live now a new life in Christ, but we can live a newness of life through the baptism of the spirit. 

-The water baptism symbolizes the death of Christ on the cross, which judged Satan and the world -Romans 6:3 " do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?". In John 12:31 Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

It saves the believers from the condemned world and the satanic power of darkness (Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ; (Heb. 2:14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He [Jesus]might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,).

Genesis 7:19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered.

God's judgment covered the whole earth and everything in it. And who knows when He will put His judgment into this world, not by the flood of water anymore but by the fire. 

Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:3-9)

 Referring to water in verse 5, the earth was compacted out of water and through water in an orderly condition. But through the same water it was judged and destroyed by the flood at Noah’s time (Gen. 7:17-24), indicating that all things did not continue in the same way from the beginning of creation.

Referring to the flood of Noah’s time, which caused the earth to be destroyed (Genesis 6:13, 17; Gen 9:11). The earth then did not remain the same but experienced a cataclysm by being flooded with water, and was destroyed. Here Peter argued strongly with the heretical mockers. They said that “all things continue in this way from the beginning of creation”. But actually a cataclysm did come upon the earth because of the ungodliness of its inhabitants. This implies that the present world will not continue in the same way but will experience another cataclysm through the Lord’s coming with His judgment upon the rebellious, including the false teachers and the heretical mockers in the apostasy.

Referring to the present heavens and earth, which remain by the word of God (Gen. 8:22) and will not be destroyed again by water, according to the covenant God made with Noah (Gen. 9:11), but will be burned by fire on the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

The fire that will burn up the heavens and the earth at the end of the millennium when the judgment of the great white throne comes (Revelation 20:11). 

God’s initial judgment upon the universe was by water, but His consummate judgment will be by fire. 

Water only washes away the filthiness from the surface, but fire changes the nature of the entire substance. This is another indication that the heavens and the earth will not remain the same as they are but will be cleared up by fire, and that the ungodly false teachers and mockers will be judged and destroyed under the divine government.

 The Lord’s heart is set not on the time of the fulfillment of His promise but on His people, whom He possesses peculiarly as a treasure. His desire is that none of us, His precious redeemed ones, would be punished by His governmental judgment but would have a prolonged season to repent that we may be spared from His punishment.

We must be an overcoming believers, walk in faith and live in a righteous way before God, and surely we can pass this generation for Christ is with us through our believing and obeying in His way of salvation, repenting, water baptism and baptism of the Holy Spirit. And the time of judgment God remembered Noah and spared his life in Genesis 7:23, likewise in our time, God will spared the life of all His overcoming believers. 

Genesis 8:1 And God remembered Noah and all the animals and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.

Even God's wrath will poured out to this perversed generation, surely He will remember His beloved Children. He will notice His faithful servant, we will be saved by His mercy and grace. Like in Exodus 2:24-25 -God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God took notice of them.

God made a way of salvation for His beloved people. Like God made 'Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. (Exodus 14:21)

For the last, please read Romans 6:1-11 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

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