GLORY WAYS MINISTRY

HOW TO BECOME BORN AGAIN (PT 2 )

The Beginning of the Gospel of the Atonement for Sins.

Why was Jesus baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan?

To fulfill all righteousness.

It is written in Matthew 3, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’ But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness’” (Matthew 3:13-15).

We have to know and understand why Jesus was baptized when He was 30. He was baptized to atone for the sins of all people and to fulfill all the righteousness of God.

To save all people from their sins, Jesus Christ, the One without blemish, was baptized by John the Baptist. Thus, He took away the sins of the world and offered Himself up to atone for the sins of all human beings.

In order to be saved from sin, we should know the whole truth and believe in it. It is up to us to believe in His salvation and be saved.

What does the baptism of Jesus mean?

It is the same as the laying on of hands in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the sins of all the people were passed onto the head of the sin offering by the laying on of the High Priest’s hands.

Similarly, in the New Testament, Jesus took away the sins of the world by presenting Himself as the sin offering and being baptized by John the Baptist.

John the Baptist was the greatest man among all human beings, the representative of mankind ordained by God. As the representative of mankind, the High Priest of humanity, he laid his hands on Jesus and passed all the sins of the world onto Him.

‘Baptism’ implies, ‘to pass on to, to be buried, and to be washed.’

Do you know why Jesus came to this world and was baptized by John the Baptist? Do you believe in Jesus, knowing the meaning of His baptism?

The baptism of Jesus was to take away all our sins, the sins that we, the brood of evildoers, commit with our flesh throughout our lives. John the Baptist baptized Jesus for the fulfillment of the original gospel of atonement for all our sins.

In Matthew 3:13-17, it begins with ‘Then,’ and it refers to the time Jesus was baptized, the time all the sins of the world were passed onto Him.

‘Then,’ Jesus took away all the sins of humankind, died on the Cross after three years, and was resurrected on the third day. To wash away all the sins of the world, He was baptized once and for all, died on the Cross once and for all, and was resurrected from the dead once and for all. For those who want to be redeemed of their sins before God, He took all the sin of the world and saved them once and for all.

Why did Jesus have to be baptized? Why did He have to put on the crown of thorns and be judged at the court of Pilate like a common criminal?

Why did He have to be crucified on the Cross and bleed to death? The reason for all the above is because He took away all the sins of the world, the sins of you and I, onto Himself through His baptism.

For our sins, He had to die on the Cross because ‘ the wages of sin is death’.

We have to believe in the word of salvation that God has saved us and be grateful to Him. Without the baptism of Jesus, His Cross, and His resurrection, there would be no salvation for us.

When Jesus was baptized by John to take away all the sins of the world, He took away our sins and thus, saved us who believe in His gospel of salvation.

There are people who think, “Jesus took away only the original sin, didn’t He?” But they are wrong. It is recorded clearly in the Bible that Jesus took away all the sins of the world once and for all when He was baptized. All our sins, including the original sin, have been washed away.

Jesus says in Matthew 3:15, “For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” To fulfill all righteousness means that all sins, without exception, have been taken away from us.

Has Jesus washed away all our lifelong sins, too? Yes, He has.

Let us find the proof of it in our next message.

JESUS IS LORD!

All of humankind must be born again. We have to be born again through our faiths, be redeemed from all our sins and become righteous. For only then can we enter the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

The Bible says, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

“To be born again of water and the Spirit” is the only way we can enter the eternal Kingdom of God.

What, then, is this ‘water’ and ‘the Spirit’ that allows us to be born again?

The ‘water’ in the Bible refers to ‘the baptism of Jesus.’

Why was Jesus, who is God, baptized by John the Baptist? Was it to show His humility? Was it to proclaim Himself the Messiah? No, it wasn’t. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist by means of ‘the laying on of hands’ (Leviticus 16:21), it was ‘one Man’s righteous act’ humankind.

In the Old Testament, God gave Israel the merciful law of redemption. This was so that on the Day of Atonement, all the sins of Israel for that year could be expiated through the High Priest, Aaron, by laying his hands on the head of the ‘scapegoat’ and passing all the sins onto that scapegoat. These were the words of revelation, which foretold the sacrifice of eternal atonement.

It revealed the truth that all the sins of humanity would be passed onto Jesus all at once, who came in the flesh of a man, according to the will of the Father. And He was baptized by John the Baptist who was the descendant of Aaron and the representative of all humankind.

When Jesus was baptized, He said to John, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Here, ‘for thus’ means by the laying on of hands,’ in order to pass all the sins of the world onto Jesus, so that all righteousness might be fulfilled for all of us.

The word ‘righteousness’ is ‘dikaiosune’ in Greek, and its meaning is “the fairest state” or “to be just in character or deeds with the implication of being righteous or fitting.” Jesus had fulfilled all righteousness for all people through His baptism in a just and fitting manner.

Because Jesus took on all the sins of people through His baptism, the next day, John the Baptist testified, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

With all the sins of humankind on His shoulders, Jesus walked toward the Cross. He vicariously took the judgment for all the sins He had taken on Himself through His baptism. He died on the Cross, saying, “It is finished” (John 19:30). He took all our sins onto Himself and received the complete judgment for them in our place.

Watch out for Part 2

JESUS IS LORD!