Ben Zornes

Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

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The Seed We Plant

The Seed We Plant

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It’s tempting to look at a seed and say, “It’s only a seed.” But it isn’t only a seed when the farmer places it in the ground in faith, and that one seed, over time, produces thousands of seeds over many years. Christ’s death was a seed. This is a baptism into that death. 

And so, just as Christ’s burial was accompanied with the promise that from it would spring a hundred-fold harvest, so too this covenant baptism reminds us that as we plant this seed––this child––in faith, what will spring forth is a harvest of generational faith. Not just to these parents & this child, but to a thousand generations.

So we plant in faith, we water in faith, and one day, by God’s grace alone we shall reap in sheaves of God’s covenant faithfulness to this child and her children’s children.

So welcome covenant child to Jesus Christ…

What Baptism Confesses

What Baptism Confesses

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The Christian life can be summed up by the word confession. The word for confession in the Greek literally means to say the same thing. The Christian is one who says the same thing that God says. Thus, our life should be summed up in confessing two things. We confess our sinfulness, and we confess our righteousness. These two confessions seem at odds, but baptism into Christ enables us to say both things truly.

Apart from Christ we are dirty and stained by sin, and thus we rest under the just wrath of God. But in your baptism, God says that you are clean and you are righteous. The Christian life is confessing these two things: I’m a sinner made righteous by my union with Jesus. You must learn to say what God says about you. As we learn to confess that, we can’t help but declare, “How great our debt, but greater far is the price He paid.”

It Speaks of Christ

It Speaks of Christ

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The glory of baptism is that it speaks of Christ. It tells of Christ’s grace which covers and cleanses and converts not only the individual saint, but also households and, one day, all the nations. This sign, although it does say something about the one being baptized, primarily speaks of the riches of grace which are in Christ, wrought by Christ, won by Christ. 

But what it does say about us is glorious. It says of us, “We belong body and soul, in life and in death to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.” The root of the matter is this, in asserting that this baptism speaks of Christ we confess that it speaks truly, objectively, that it’s the Word of God to us. What God speaks to You in Your baptism is Christ. This is the Word which overrules all that you might say about the matter.

So welcome covenant children to Jesus Christ…

Blood Bleached Robes

Blood Bleached Robes

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The OT priests began their daily ministry adorned in white garments which became stained with blood through the course of the day, and would have to be washed for the next day’s ministry. The Gospel priesthood deepens this picture. It extends the expected call to wash our robes, but surprises us by having us wash them in the blood of the Lamb, and in so doing our robes become white (Rev. 7:14). Their robes began white and ended bloodstained. Our robes begin bloodstained and end white.

This water is a sign of both the blood, and the robes made white by that blood. In baptism we receive white robes, made clean not by the dead works of unbelief but by the blood of Jesus. By His righteous work we are sanctified, and given new hearts of faith. Apart from Christ we wear filthy rags, soiled with the uncleanness of the flesh. But through Christ, the saints are given white robes, bleached with blood, signified by these baptismal waters.

So welcome covenant children to Jesus Christ…

Wash and Be Clean

Wash and Be Clean

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At the entrance to the tabernacle was a bronze basin for the priests to wash themselves prior to commencing their work in the tabernacle. In Hebrews 6:2 these washings are described as “baptisms.” In other words, a priest must first be washed before rendering acceptable service to Jehovah. This of course is just one way in which the tabernacle shadowed forth New Covenant realities.

We come to Christ, through this sign of baptismal waters, to be cleaned, and thus be fit for service in the temple of our God. We are a kingdom of priests. The only means of bringing acceptable service to God is through Christ, by being washed in the water of His Word. That’s what this baptism declares. As one Puritan said, “Wash & be clean from every outward stain. Wash & be clean from all accusing fears. Wash & be clean from the deep springs of inward evil. Wash & be clean from this world’s corrupting love.”

So welcome covenant child to Jesus Christ…

The Shepherd Gathers in His Sheep

The Shepherd Gathers in His Sheep

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The Lord Jesus tells us in John 10 that He is the Good Shepherd. He not only came to gather in the lost sheep of Israel, but also to call out to the sheep not of Israel’s fold. Though most of us here aren’t Israelites, we’ve heard His voice, and now have joined with true Israel whom Christ has gathered together to form one fold with one Shepherd. 

When we baptize a child of believing parents, we’re trusting that through these waters, Christ, the Good Shepherd, makes His Gospel call heard & known to this child. From this day on, may he learn to hear the Shepherd’s voice at every turn, and may he come to be gathered up with all the sheep of the Lord’s flock. The Shepherd’s call rings out not only to this child, but to us all through this covenant sign. His call is this: “Repent, & believe.”

A Gift in Two Parts

A Gift in Two Parts

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Christ speaks to us in the Sacraments. Baptism and the Supper aren’t intended to make Gospel truth more obscure, or remote. This water speaks––loud and clear––words of salvation, cleansing, and deliverance in Jesus name. 

It isn’t a rite which only a select few can attain to if they have enough grit and will-power to climb a sacred mountain or run a grueling gauntlet. Rather, this water assures those who pass through it that they’re sealed with the promise of Christ’s redeeming blood. 

To keep things as simple as possible, this promise offers you a gift in two parts: death & life. Christ died for your sin, and He rose again to everlasting life. Instead of being obscured by this Sacrament, this Sacrament shines revealing truth that those washed by Christ, receive these two great gifts: they’ve died with Christ and so, are also risen with Christ.

Ben Zornes