1994 issue 6 - sermon on luke 3:21-23 - the baptism of jesus part 3 - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1994 Issue 6 - Sermon on Luke 3:21-23 - The Baptism of Jesus Part 3 - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/7

THE MEANING OFJESUS

BAPTISM

The

Solidarity ofJesus

With

God's Chosen People

By submitting Himself to John's

baptism,Jesus came forward publicly

to be identified with sinners, I.e., the

chosen, but fallen, people of

God.

The Inauguration ofJesus Into

..

His PriestlyCalling

At Jesus' bap

tism He is publicly

called by God to

bear the sins and to

become obedient

unto death as the

k i n g l y ~ p r i e s t and

mediatdrdfthenew

covenant.

The Bestowal

onJesus

of

the Holy

SpiritWhom He

Would Bestow

on His Church

At His baptism Jesus was anointed

with the Holy Spirit, not only

for His

own sake, I.e., to be fully equipped to

carry out His mediatorial vocation;

but also for the sake of His church

which He would baptize with the

Holy Spirtt on the Day of Pentecost,

(Acts 1-2).

The Relation of the Baptism

ofJesus and the Crucifixion

of

Jesus

At the moment of jesus' baptism

He received the divine commission to

undertake the role of the Suffertng

Servant of God, who takes upon

Himself the sins of God's chosen

people. OtherJewscome toJordan to

be baptized by John for their OWN

sins. Jesus, on the contrary, at the very

moment when he is baptized ike other

people hears a voice which

fundamentally declares: THOU an

baptized not for THINE OWN

sins

but

for

those of the whole people. For

Thou art He

of

whom Isaiah

prophesied, that He must suffer

representatively

for

the sins of the

people,

(Isaiah

42, 53).

This

means

that

Jesus

is

baptized

in view ofHis

death, which effects forgiveness

of

sins for all men. Forthis reason Jesus

must unite Himself in solidartty with

Hiswholepeople,andgodownHimself

to jordan, that all

righteousness might

be fulfilled,

Mat. 3: 15 .

In this way, jesus' answer to the

Baptist, 'to fulfill aU righteousness' ...

acqUires. a precise meaning. The

Baptism of jesus is related to

DIKAIOSUNE, (rtghteousness), not

onlyHis

own

but

also

that ofthewhole

people. The word

PASAN,

(all), is

probably to be underlined here. jesus'

reply

..

acquires a concrete

meaning:

Jesus will effect ageneral orgiveness.

Luke, like Mark, does not use this

word, but he emphasizes in his own

way the same fact at Luke 3:21: 'Now

when ALL the people were baptized,

Jesus also was baptized.' It

is

clear in

view of the voice from heaven why

Jesus must conduct himselflike other

18 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon l

July August,

1994

people.

He

is distinguished from the

mass of other baptized people, who.

are

baptized for their own sins,

as

the

One

called to the office of the Servant

of God who suffers for all others ---

Thus

the

Baptisffi ofJesus points

forward to the end, to the climax ofHis

life,

the

Cross,

in which alone

all

Baptism will find its fulfillment. There

Jesus will achieve a

general Baptism.

In His own Baptism

in

Jordan He

received commission to do this.

This explanatidn isconfirmed by

the meaning which the

w o r ~

BAPTIDZEIN has

forJesus . Wehave

seen thatJesus did

not Himself

baptize.

Now we

understand better

the reason for this

.abstinence. ar

Him, to 'be

bap.tiztd from

now on meant to

suffer, to die for

His

people.

This

is not a

J ; re guess;

it

Is

confirmed by

each of the two

sayings in which

Jesusused thewordBAPTIDZESTHAI:

Mark 10:38 and Lukt; 0 . , (pages

18-19) In both these passages be

baptized

means

die.

Obviously

Jesus

is referring to

His

own death

as

a

baptism . Itishe,jesus, who

will nOt

only baptize Individualmen with water

like John the Baptist but Will complete

the GENERAL Baptism, for all men,

and once

for

all, at the moment ofHis

atoningdeath. It

belongs to

the

essence

of this general Baptism effected by

Jesus, that it is offered in entire

Independence of the decision of faith

and understandingofthose who benefit

from it. Baptismal grace has its

foundationhere,anditisinthestrictest

sense 'prevenientgrace,mLe., itis

gr ce

that

'goes before'

man's action, in

fact,

producingman's action.(pages 19-20).


2/7

The Relation

o

the Baptism

o

Jesus and hristian Baptism

The Center of

Christian

Baptism:

the

Person

of esus Christ

"Between John's baptism which

Jesus receivedand baptism in the name

ofjesus

Christ for the forgiveness

of

sins'istheministry,death, resurrection

and exaltation ofJesus followed by the

outpouring of he Holy Spirit. Baptism

in the name

ofjesus

Christ could

not

fail to be influenced by the

but

rather

in

the sense that the gift,

promise

and demand

'sealed' in

baptism center in Him. The Church's

baptism

points backward

to His

ministry of deeds and teaching and

vicarious identification and suffering;

it points to Him, the living Lord, risen

in

victory over sin and death, who

mediateS the gift

of

the Holy Spirit; it

points to the Lord

of

all whose lordship

will be made manifest in the

consummation of the Kingdom.

Christ Himself. He is the

link

between

water-baptism (whetherJohn's

or

the

Church's)

and

Spirit-baptism which

remains a free act of God. His own

baptism was of John and of God, of

water

and of

Spirit.

The normal

Christian experience, according

to

the

N.T. reports, was that those baptized

in water

in

the

name

ofjesus Christ

received through Him the gift

of

the

Spirit. The power

of

baptism is

notthe

power of water or its 'natural' or even

inner content of

His own

baptism

unfolded

in His

vocation. More truly, what

Jesus Christ is the

center

o

Christian Baptism.

'prophetic' symbolism, but

rather the free power

of

the

crucified

and

living

Jesus

Christ. --

He did and what He is are

inseparable.

As

the Fourth

Christian Baptism

means

When the Church

baptizes, its intention is to

point

to the living Lord as the

Baptizer acting through its

baptism of water. Through

the working

of

the Spirit,

Gospel makes clear, the

difference between John's

baptism

and

Christian

baptism is not a difference in

rite but the difference between John

andJesus. Jesus Christ is the center of

Christian Baptism. Christian Baptism

means: To be incorporated

into

Christ.

..

The Past

and

Future Orientation

of

Christian

Baptism

The baptism ofJesus (understood in

this inclusive sense of the baptism itself

and the baptism fulfilled in Hisministry,

death and resurrea:ion,and the bestowal

of the Spirit) is of central importance

for

an understanding

of

the Church's

baptism.

In

that inclusive sense, His

baptism is both

the source for the

meaning of the Church's baptism and

a criterion for the understanding of

Christian baptism.

The baptism

administered

by

the Church

100llS both

bacltward and forward

to

jesU5---the

one

baptized in

the Jordan and

endowed with the Spirit, baptized

in

the crudfixion and raised from the

dead, through

whom

the disdples are

given a share in

the new order.

"jesus Christ

is

the origin

of

baptism;

not, of

course, in the sense

thatJesus originated the rite ofbaptism,

o be incorporated

into Christ.

The

Transformation

of

Baptism

by

jesus Christ

"The new content of Christian

baptism is Jesus Christ. He who

submitted to

John's

baptism

transformed baptism by viltue of His

own person. In Him, God was

and

is

acting for man's renewal. In Him,

representatively,

(elect)

man

responded faithfully to God. In Jesus

of Nazareth, baptized by John, God

was reconciling the world to himseIP ...

God's gracious and decisive initiative

inJesus for the recondliation and the

renewal of the world is the very

foundation ofChristian baptism

as

it is

of

the whole Christian message. The

acknowledgment of he divine, decisive

action in Jesus is the tap-root of the

Church's faith

in

the incarnation;

and

it is the ground of the understanding

of Christian baptism as the sacrament

of prevenient grace. ---

The

Linh Between

Water-Baptism

Spirit-Baptism

the

Person

of]

esus

Christ

"Thus the true link betweenjohn's

baptismand Christian baptism isJesus

Christ in bapt ism gives

the

assurance

to the baptized

that

he is given new

life. Baptism is Christ's testimony to

the baptized that

His

vicarious death

and His resurrection for all men, I

would prefer

to

say

for all

the

elect--JCMIll) ,are also for

him;

that in

Christ, this man is given sonship and

eternal life. -- This rite, which from

the time ofthe N.T. has been a rite of

initiation into the Church, signifies to

the onebaptized that Christhas

united

him to Himself. By the Spirit, Christ

incorporates

him

into

His

Body, the

Church."

The Relation

of

Christian Baptism

and Faith

The

inseparability

of

God's

gracious action and man's responsive

action was actuality

in

Jesus Christ.

Through Him the Father's word

of

forgiveness was heard;

in Him

the

kingdom was inaugurated;

in

Him God

dwelt, recondlingtheworldto Himself.

And

Jesus

was

utterly

loyal and

obedient to the Father; He trusted

wholly

in

God; He loved

men

with a

self-sacrificiallove. Jesus is

much

more

July August, 199-+ THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon

*

19


3/7

than an example fot

His

disciples; but

He is the example for Christians, the

nOlmativeman,

manashe u g h t - t o - b e

He is the pattern of the Christian life;

and that pattern is essentially a life

responding

in

faith, in love and in

obedience to the Father.

"Baptism belongs

in

this total

context.

lIt

its complete signification

man s

response to God's action is

included. But

even

in

the

N.T.

Church .. man's responsive action was

not

complete in the human action of

receiving baptism any more than was

God's act complete

in His

action at the

moment of baptism. The Church's

water-baptism, administered to a

particular candidate, is

an

act at a

particular time. But Iieither the divine

nor the human action iscircumscribed

by the time of he baptismal rite. That

present act of administering baptism

signifies God's action in

our

past,

in

our present

and

in our future. It also

signifies the act of the candidate with

his past, his present

and

his future.

The believer who coines to baptiSm

signifies his repentance and present

faith

in

the gospel he has heard and

commits himself to live the'Christian

life.

What the one baptized does

in

the

rite of baptism is

to

give a sign and

even a proleptic (anticipatory) sign of

his faith

in

and

commitrilent to God's

saving deed in Christ.

"In the practice oftheN.T. Church,

the baptismal rite signified

both

God's

action

and

man's . esponse. In the

practice

of infant

baptism,

the

baptismal rite .does not signify the

.

response

of the

baptized

either

preceding or at the time of

the

observance. The rite ofbaptism

in

this

respect can only anticipate that the

infant baptized will respond

in faith,

owning as his own what was done to

him

in

being brought to be baptized.

"Whatever may be the temporal

relation between the administration of

baptism and the responsible action of

the baptized,fai h

sinseparable from

baptisn Thedivinegift(ofsalvatlon)

is inseparable from faith; a'nd

sacramental

teaChing

must not obscure

this inseparability. (To think of infant

baptism as a different sacrament from

believers' baptism would obscure the

inseparability

of

the power

of

God for

salvation and faith.) --- In theN.T.,

baptismsigilifies the baptized person's

participation in the new life as well as

his reception of it. Both receptivity

and panicipationareintlmatelyrelated

to each other in the Christian life. -- .

We

bave emphasized the motif of

,incorporation into Christ

and

His

Church; we have qtlled attention to

baptism as the rite ofinitlation into the

Church. As the rite of initiation into

the community, baptism signifies that

the candidate is given the status of a

member in

the

community, as

naturalization means that a person is

given the status of a citizen;and as that

same ceremony of naturalization

includes profession of loyalty and

al:ceptance of obligations

to the

political community, baptism,

in

ts

completeness, includes a professionof

loyalty to the community's Head and

acceptance of responsibilities towards

HisBody. The Christian life is personal

but not

~ n d v i d u a l i s t i c ' ;

it

is life in a

corporate body---the Church, the

people of God. -- Baptism signifies

accepting the Church as the mother

who instructs, guides, nourishes;

sustains, disciplines and surrounds the

baptized with love. -- Baptism means

the abandonment of the self-enclosed

life. -- Baptismincludesacommitment

not only to live in and to receive froll

the community, but also to contribute

to the life of the community." - (pages

32-57).

THE 'MODE OF JESUS B PTISM

The bsence of Immersion

The comments ofLenski, the great

Lutheran commentator of the N.T.,

ate wise and to the point: "Matthew's

20

,

THE

COUNSEL of

Chalcedon

July August,

1994

(or Luke s)

EBAPTIDZONTO says

absolutely nothing regarding themode

ofbaptismwhiCh the Baptist employed.

Nothing regarding . he mode can be

obtained from the added preposition

EN, in the river Jordan; for which

Mark 1:9 uses

EIS,

Withno difference

in

meaning. ThisEN

is

locative, stating

where

the

baptism took place; it

denotes place and nothing more. The

readiness With whiCh the multitudes

submitted to baptism is explained by

.the fact that purificatory rites

by

the

application of water were not new nor

strange to the Jews; and these rites

were not administered by inunersion,

Lev . 14:7,27; Num. 8:7; 10:13; Heb.

.9:

13; Exod. 19:10;Lev. 15;l.eV. 16:26;

28; 17:15; 33:6;Dt. 23:10. These were

washings, rinsings, and bathings and

NOT immersions. The Jews expected

that, when the Messiahcame,

he

would

use a purificatory rite such as this; see

the question on this point

put

to the

Baptist by the Pharisees in

John

1:25.

Instead; therefore,.ofseeking to explain

Matthew's verb 'were being baptized'

by some later fixed practice obtaining

in

the Christian ChurCh at the time

when Matthew wrote, the Christ

practice must explained by . the

pUrificatory riteS used by the

jews

since the days of Moses.

Sinc\

none of

these were immersions, immersion was

not the mode

of

either the Baptist's

or

Jesus' baptism.

"The verb BAPTIPZO, as . all

lexicons agree, refers to any mode of

applying water. It is linguistically

unwarranted to restrict it to one mode

to theexc1usion of aU other modes,

and that a mode for which Jewish

practice furnishes no evidence. How

could immersions be administered on

the desen journey and in a ,city like

Jerusalem, where water was never

abundant? But did not the BaptiSt

labor near the river Jordan? If his

baptism

was

administered

by

immersion, then, since the estimated

number

he

baptized during the brief


4/7

period of a little over a year in which he

labored was between

200,000

and

500,000,

he

must have

lived

an

aquatic life. We have no evidence

that he

used

his

disciples as his

assistants when baptizing. Moreover,

he

also baptized

at Aenon,j

ohn

3:23,

the

very name

of which

means

"Springs." The POLLA HUDATA,

literally, 'many waters, rivulets flowing

from these springs, made the

place suitable for his work,

not by

furnishing water for

immersions, but byproviding

water for drinking, a great

necessity where many people

were gathered. Of course, he

could use these 'waters' also

to pour or to sprinkle when

baptizing.

Yet the idea prevails that

the Baptist immersed. This is

plainly traditionalism. I t is

well illustrated in the case of

Zahn, who admits that there

are

no

indications of the mode of baptism in

Matthew's words and yet, when he

tries

to

imagine how the Baptist

baptized, speaks of a 'Vollbad' (full

bath). Some refer to the baptism of

jewish proselytes,

butthey fail

of proof

regarding two points. This lite is not

mentioned until the second century,

and no one can show that it was

practiced at the time of the Baptist; still

more vital, no evidence is at hand that

the baptism of proselytes was more

than a washing, it was like similar

jewish rites. Wemayaddthatnowhere

does it appear that the Baptist thought

that he was making proselytes of the

jews

whom he baptized." -Lenski, The

Interpretation of Matthew s

Gospel,

Augsburg

Publishing

House,

Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1943, pg.

100f.

The

Suggestion of Effusion, i.e.

Pouring or Sprinkling

There are some solid reasons to

believe that jesus was baptized by

effuSion, the pouring or sprinkling of

water on His head by john: 0).

As

Lenski point out, John's mode of

baptism was patterned after the

washings and pUlification rites of the

O.T., which were sprinklings. Notice

in

Hebrew 9:

10

the writer points out

that the rites, rituals and "washings,"

("baptisms"

in

Greek), of the O.T.

pointed toward and were fulfilled

as

symbols

in

the redemptive work of

Christ. Then in the rest of the chapter

the writer applies three of these

"washings" to the work of Christ and

in each specifically mentions that they

were "sprinklings," Hebrews

9:

13, 19,

21. (2).

Since jesus' baptism was His

inauguration into priesthood, we

would expect that this inauguration

would fit the pattern of the Old

Testament, including these three

elements: the priest inaugurated had

to be 30 years ofage, asjesus was; he

had

to

be

called of God, which jesus

was from the opened heavens; and he

had to be "anointed" with oil and

"sprinkled" with sacrificial blood,

Exod. 29 :21, and the eqUivalent to this

in jesus'

baptism was surely His

"anointing" or "sprinkling" with water

by john the Baptist. In addition, (3).

jesus is "The Chlist," which means in

Greek, NOT the immersed one, but

"The Anointed One," who surely was

anointed with water by

John

symbolizing His inauguration into

priestly office in a similar way to the

. "coming down" of

the

Holy Spirit

in

the

fOrm

of a dove equipping Him for

office.

Surely Hiswater-baptism which

symbolized His Spirit-baptism, also

"sign-ified" it, i.e., pictured it.

CONCLUSION

1. In Isaiah 64: 1 the prophet cries

out

to God

in

desperation for

deliverance from the apostasy

and

judgment Israel faces:

0

that

Thou wouldst rend the heavens

and come down, that the

mountains

might quake

at Thy

presence---to make Thy Name

known to TIline adversaries,

that

the nations

may

tremble

at

Thy Presence " In Mark's

account ofjesus' baptism he

alludes to this passage

when

he writes,

He

saw

the

heavens rent asunder .., Mk.

1:10.

God answers the cries of

Isaiah injesus Christ. God tore through

the heavens andcame down to

eanhin

the Person of jesus Christ to make

known His Name to His enemies, that

all the world's nations may tremble

before His Mighty Presence. "The

heavens are opened to jesus as our

Representative and Substitute, and thus

we have the divine assurance that every

impediment and wall of partition that

might hinder our return to God have

been removed by Him. In ChristJesus

Heaven has been opened to us--the

way has been paved for us to

go

to the

Father's eternal home as His beloved

children, saved by our Redeemer."

-Geldenhuys

The uniqueness of Christianity, as

over against all the other religiOns

of

the world, is seen

in

this: God

did

not

wait for man to try to work or reason

his way to Him; He came to man,

unable and unwilling to come

to

Him;

that He might transform

him

and bring

him to Himselfin fellowship and love.

Quit trying to "get to God" on your

own initiative and effort.

You

cannot

Julyl August, 994 TH COUNSEL of halcedon :n


5/7

Repent of what you are

o i n g ~

Trust draw the picture of His human

naOlre,

so He did also with reference to the

Christ,afterhavingcomefromGod,to For the divine narure has nohi.story, relation of

the

human narure to

God

take you to God. Obey Him out of does not run through a process of and 'men, for ,He increased in favor

gratitude for this wonderful

and

time,

but

remains

the

same withGodandmen, Favorhasreference

gracious salvation. forevermore." Therefore, in what

way

to the unfolding and development of

2. Rest your fuith in Christ and did the Spirit develop the humanity of the inward life, and maymanifest itself

Christianity, not upon the testimony Jesus? The human narure in the in a twofold way, either pleasing or

of

man,

but

upon

the testimony

of

Mediator was real, Le., in body and displeasingtoGodandmen.Ofjesus

God. God has declared from the soul it existed as it exists in us, and all it is said that in

His

development such

heavens

in

no uncertain gifts

and

faculties,

tertns: Jesus is the Son of r - - ~ ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ' - dispositions and attributes,

God, Whom God has i ~ e s t your faith

in

powers and qualifications

appointed to be the unique manifestedthemselves from

and

only Savior of sinners;

hrl

.st and Chn s

.

l a

n:

,ty.,.

the inwardlife ofHis human

There is no reason to doubt nature

that

God's favor

theclaimsofChrist,because t . th

t f j .;,'

rested on, whiletheyalfected

there is no reason to doubt

no

upon

, e es

mony those around Him in a

the testimony of the Living O

f

m

an but

upo

.nthe

refreshing and helpful way.

God. To ask for more proof Even

apart

from His

than God's witness is to Messiahship Jesus stood,

question the integrity and testimony of (jod. , withreference to Hishuman

truthfulness of God. nature, during all the days

Appendix:

L- _ of His humiliation, under

J SUS ND

THE

HOLY

SPIRIT' ,

Who through th Eternal Spirit

offered

Himself wit out spot to

God. -

Hebrews 9:14.

The presence and work of the Holy

Spirit in the humanity ofJesus Christ

are

not

exhausted

in

His

incantation.

The presence and activity of the Holy

Spirit appear throughout the life and

work

of

our

Mediator:

in

the

development of His human nature, in

His inauguration into His priestly

office, in His humiliation

Unto

death,

and in His resurrection, exaltation and

return in glory,

. FIRsT,

the

work

of

the Spirit

in

the development of Christ s

humanity. "The God-human Person

of he LordJesus . . renderedonemighty

act

of

obedienceby humbling Himself

unto death; and out

of

that humbling

He ascended not by powers developed

from His human nature,

but

by a

mighty and extraordinary act of the

power of

God, Anyone who

successfully undertook to write the

life of Christ could do no more than

inworking of divine life, light and

power could manifest itself only by

adapting itself tq the peculiarities and

limitations of the human narure. --

..He received 'the Holy Spirit without

measure.' .For this indicates that H'i)j

human nature also received the Holy

Spirit; and not this only after

He

had

lived for years without Him, but every

moment of His existence according to

the measure

ofms

capacities.

Even

in

His conception and .birth the Holy

Spitit effected

not

only a separation

from sin, but He also endowed His

human nature with the glorious

gifts,

powers and faculties of which that

nature is susceptible, ---' ...He Oesus)

never could

feel

the lack orany gift of

the Holy Spirit.

He

lacked nothing,

possessed

all;

not by virtue of His

divine nature, which can not

receive

anything, being the eterruil fullness

itsel( but by vinue of

His

human

nature, which was endowedwithsuch

glorious gifts by the Holy Spirit."

"And as the Holy Spirit with every

increase

of

His human nature enlarged

the.exercise ofitspowers and fuculties,

22

THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon July August, 1994

the constant penetrating operation

ofthe

Holy Spirit."

"The fact thac the Holy Spirit

descended uponJesus at His Baptism,

although

He

had receivedHimwithout

measure at His conception, can only

be explained by keeping in view the

differencebetweenthePERSONALand

OFFICIAL life ofJesus."

SECOND, the work of the Spirit in

theinauguration ofjesus toHis priestly

office. "What we have said with

reference to the communication of the

HolySpiritqualifying one for

office,

as

in the case of Saul, David, and others,

is of direct applicationhere. Although

in

His human

nature

Jesus was

personally n

constant fellowship with

the

Holy Spirit,

yet the

official

communication was established only

at the time of His Baptism," This

official influence of the Holy Spirit

accompanied Christ throughout the

entire administration ofHis

office.

Yet

there is a differencebetween the official

work of the Spirit in Jesus and

His

official work on the prophets, such as

Ezekiel and Elijah: "while the


6/7

propelling power came to them from

without, Jesus, being full of the Holy

Spirit, felt its pressure in the very depths

of His soul.

And

yet, although

operaring in His soul, this actionofthe

Holy Spirit was

not

identical with the

impulses of Christ's human nature,

LK.

4:14.

It is evidently the purpose of the

Scripture to emphasize the fact of the

inability of the human nature which

Christ

had adopted to

accomplish the work ofthe

Messiah without the

constant operations

and

powerfulleadingof heHoly

Spirit. (Mat. 12:28)

Accordingto the divine

counsel, human nature is

adapted

in

creation to the

inworking of the Holy

Spirit, without which

it

can

not unfold itself any more

than the rosebud without

the light and influence of

the sun. As the ear cannot hear without

sound, and the eye cannotsee without

light, so is

our human

nature

incomplete without the light and

indwelling o the Holy Spirit.

Wherefore, when the Son assumed

human nature He took

it

just as it is,

Le ., incapable of any holy action

without the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hence

He

was conceived by the Holy

Spirit, that from the beginning His

human nature

should

be richly

endowed with powers. The Holy Spirit

developed these powers; and He was

consecrated to

His

office by the

communication to His human nature

of the Messianicgifts by which He still

intercedes for

us

as our High Priest,

and rules us as

our King.

And for this

reason He was guided, impelled,

animated, and supported by the Holy

Spirit at every step of His Messianic

ministry.

There

are

three differences

between this communication of the

Holy Spirit to

the

human nature of

Jesus and that in us: first, the Holy

Spirit always meets with the resistance

of evil in our heans. Jesus' heart was

without sin ... hence in is human

nature

the

Holy Spirit met

no

resistance. Second the Holy Spirit'S

operation, influence, support

and

guidance in ourhumannature

is

always

individual, Le., in part, imperfect; in

the human nature of Jesus it was

central, perfect,leavingnovoid. Third,

in our nature the Holy Spirit meets

with an ego which

in

union with that

nature opposes God; whilethe Person

which He met in the human nature of

Christ, partakingof the divine nature,

was absolutely holy.

THIRD, the work of the Spirit in

the suffering anddeath ofJesusChrist.

The Deity of Christ supported His

humanity, along with the work of the

Spirit on His humanity. Christ was

always victoriousbecause His divinity

never relaxed His hold upon the Holy

Spirit in His humanity, but embraced

Him and cleaved

to

Him with all the

love and energy of the Son of God.

How could the human nature of

Christ pass through eternal death and

not

perish? The human nature of

Christ would have been overwhelmed

by it, the in-shining of the Holy Spirit

wouldhave ceased

if

His divine nature,

i.e., the infinite mightofHis Godhead,

had not been underneath it.

f the Mediator as

man

showed

in His humannature such zealfor God

and such pity for sinners that He

willingly gave Himself

in self-sacrifice

unto death, then

it

is evident that His

human naturecouldnot exercise such

consecration without theinworkingof

the Holy Spirit;

and

again that the

Holy Spirit could not have effected

such inworking unless the Son willed

and desired it. The cry ofthe Messiah

is heard

in

the words of the psalmist:

1

delight to do Thy will, 0

God.' The Son was willing

so to empty Himself that it

would be possible for His

human

nature

t pass

through eternal death; and

to this

end

He let it be filled

with all the mightiness of

the Spirit

of

God. Thus the

Son offeredHirnself through

the Eternal pirit that

we

might

serve the living God.

Hence the work of the

Holy Spirit in the work of

redemption did

not

begin only

at

Pentecost,

but

the same Holy Spirit

who in creation animates all life,

upholds and qualifies our human

nature, and in Israel and the prophets

wrought the work

of

revelation, also

prepared the body o fChrist, adorned

His human nature with gradous gifts,

put these gifts into operation,installed

Him into His office,

led

Him into

temptation, qualified Him to cast out

devils, and finally

enabled Him

to

finish that eternal

work of

satisfaction whereby our souls are

redeemed.

FOURTH, the work of he Spirit in

the resurrection, ascension, royal

dignity and second corning of Jesus

Christ. InordertounderstandChrist's

exaltation, we must first understand

the nature of His humiliation. His

self-emptying was

not

a single loss or

bereavement, but a growing poorer

and poorer, until at last nothing was

left Him but a piece of ground where

July

August, 1994 THE COUNSEL of

Cbalcedon 23


7/7

He could weep and a cross whereon

He could die. -- Hishumiliation being

so deep and real, it

Is

not surprising

that the Holy Spirit succored and

comforted His human nature so that it

was not overwhelmed. For it is the

proper work of the Holy Spirit by

gifts

of

grace

to

enable human nature,

temptedby sorrow to sin,

to

stand

firm

and overcome.

But how different is the state ofHis

glorious exaltation. Whereas the entire

Trinity raises]esus from the dead, the

Holy Spirit performed a unique and

mysterious work FROM WITIiIN in

raising Christ. If the Spirit kindles

and brings forth all life, .espedally in

man, then it was

He

who rekindled the

spark quenched by

sin

and death.

He

did

so injesus; He will do so in us .

If,

therefore, our blessedness in

heaven

Consists in

the enjoyment of

the pleasures ofGod, andit is theHoly

Spirit who comes into COntact with

bur innermost being, it follows that in

heaven He cannot leave us. And upon

this ground

we

confess, that not only

the elect, but the glorified Christ

also,

who continues

to

be a true man in

heaven,

must

therefore forever

continue

to

be filled with the Holy

Spirit. This ourchurches have always

confessed in the liturgy: 'The same

Spirit who dwellsin Christ as the Head

and inus as His members.'

The same Holy Spirit who

performed

His

workin the conception

of our Lord, who attended the

unfolding of

His

human nature, who

brought into activity every

gift

and

MERIC

he

First

35

Years

power in Him,

who

consecrated Him

to His office as the Messiah, who

qualified Him for every conflict and

temptation, who enabled Him to cast

out devils, and

who

supportedHim in

His humiliation, passion and biuer

death, was the same Spirit who

performed

His

work

in

His

resurrection, so thatjesuswas justified

in the Spirit, I

Tim

. 3:16, and who

dwells now in the glorified human

nature of he

Redeemerln the heavenly

jerusalem.

IThe comments in this Section are taken

from

Oscar

CuUmann's

book,

aptism in

the

New

T

S tament SCM Press Ltd

.London,

1950.

lJhe

comments

in

this s e t ~ o n are

taken

fromElmerJ.F.Amdt:sbook.The Font and

the

Table.John

Knox

Press. Ri

c

hm

ond.

Va.,

1967.

'The

notes

in

this

appendix

are

from

Abraham

Kuyper's class

Ic. The Work of the

y

Spirit. published

by

Eerdmans.

For over lOOyearsAmericatl$have

been

subjected to historical misin

fonnation.

We

have been given lies for buth and myths for facts.

Modern,unbelievinghistorians have hidden the buth of our nation's

history from us. America:TheFirst350 Years fiOtonIy

corrects

the lies,

but

also points out things

overlooked

by modern historians.

I t

interprets American history froma Christianperspective so that you

hearnotonlywhathappened,bywhyithappened-and whatitrneans

to

us

today.

32 lectures on

16-90

minute cassettes, 200 page note

book 16 page study g\1ide, lecture outlines, index . bibliography.

special

rate for Counsel o Chalcedon readers

MERICA: The FIrst

350

Years-$64.95 x =

Louisiana residents aqd

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M f THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon f Julyl August, 199+

1994 issue 6 - sermon on luke 3:21-23 - the baptism of jesus part 3 - counsel of chalcedon

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