The Baptism of Jesus - January 11, 2026 (Slides): Click on "Slides." A separate tab will open. Follow the slides as the service streams in the first tab or separate the tabs into windows to view both at the same time.
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The World is Coming Undone - Thanks Be to God!
I began the sermon with an image of the earth in outer space, noting that Jesus' baptism has cosmic implications. The next projection contained the same image, but it was upside-down. I noted that Jesus turns the world upside-down. His baptism is an example! We would expect Jesus to baptize John, but Jesus tells John to "relent to fulfill all righteousness." To relent means to stop what you're doing. In this case it means for John to stop what he is thinking--that he should be baptized by Jesus. Though this is logically true, Jesus is undoing the world as it works. He will be baptized by John. When he is, the heavens open and God the Father proclaims Jesus to be His Son, as the Holy Spirit descends upon Him. Jesus is the final Son of Israel. In the entire Old Testament, the phrasing is always "The sons of Israel... ." Now, it is just this one Son, this Jesus, on whom God declares His sonship and pours out His Spirit manifestly on him in the form of a dove. Because of Jesus, our baptism means that we, too, are children of the Heavenly Father who cry, "Abba, Father" (Rm 8:15). United in a death like His, as chidren of the Heavenly Father, we will also be united in a resurrection like his, too (Rm 6:4). Yet, there is more. To fufill all rightouesness means that Jesus' baptism begins the unfolding of the new creation that he brings. He is making right all that God's curse made wrong because of people's sin. Already the new creation has begun in Jesus' ministry to recreate His creation. We see what this looks like in his resurrection, and we await its unfolding for us, too, when he comes again to remake the heavens and the earth!