Water baptism is the means by which we identify with the Lord Jesus Christ in his death, burial and resurrection. It is a public affirmation of one’s faith in Christ, a testimony of one’s union to Christ. Water baptism symbolizes the death of the old self and the new life that we live in and for Christ. It is a process through which we declare that we have turned away from our sins and affirm our desire to follow our Lord Jesus Christ. Water baptism normally follows spiritual baptism and serves to affirm the internal work of regeneration initially accomplished by the Holy Spirit. 

Although some rituals of purification observed in the Old Testament required people to immerse themselves in water, to take a bath or to wash their feet, hands and clothes, water baptism as ordained by our Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament has a different significance. Water Baptism in the New Testament points directly to Christ. This new approach began with the ministry of John the Baptist. Matthew 3:5-6 tells us that, “People came to him from Jerusalem, from the whole province of Judea, and from all the country near the River Jordan. They confessed their sins, and he baptized them in the Jordan.”

It is critical for us, however, to understand why John was baptising. The Apostle Paul writes in Acts 19:4, “The baptism of John was for those who turned from their sins; and he told the people of Israel to believe in the One who was coming after him – that is, in Jesus.” John was sent ahead of Christ the Saviour to prepare the way for Him. There is no doubt that John himself knew that water baptism was just a public affirmation of one’s repentance rather than a ritual that regenerates man. John also knew that the people he baptized needed another form of baptism from someone greater than him. For John declares in verse 11, “I baptize you with water to show that you have repented, but the One who will come after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He is much greater than I am; and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals.”

No one can schedule his own regeneration. No external ritual can allow a person to be born again. Regeneration is a sovereign and supernatural work of God the Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of God’s Word. According to our Lord’s declaration, this new birth that we receive in the Spirit is something that happens outside the realm of human will, knowledge and power. Thus says the Lord in John 3:8, “The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” We cannot predict when and where the wind is going to blow any more than we can affirm with certainty when someone can be born of the Spirit. In the same way God alone controls the wind, He is also sovereign over our regeneration. According to God’s own schedule, the Holy Spirit circumcises our hearts and gives us a new nature; He gives us a new birth and a new life through our faith in his Son Jesus Christ.

Regeneration is a supernatural work accomplished exclusively by the Holy Spirit, according to God’s own schedule and sovereign will, in every repentant sinner who believes the Word of God. It is the circumcision of the heart of the repentant sinner who has put his faith in Christ. However, we should keep in mind that every repentant sinner who responds with faith to the Word of God is initially enabled by the Holy Spirit. God Himself gives repentant sinners the faith to believe his word. So God initiates the call of those whom He foreknew and He regenerates them according to his own schedule.

Christ is the eternal King and the Judge of all. As the only Lawgiver, Christ alone is the Judge of the entire human race. He will judge the living and the dead. Thus says the Lord in John 5:25-29, “I am telling you the truth: the time is coming – the time has already come – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will come to life. Just as the Father is Himself the source of life, in the same way He has made his Son to be the source of life. And He has given the Son the right to judge, because He is the Son of Man. Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.” 

The eternality of God provides hope and confidence to those who put their trust in God’s only Son. But those who reject God’s Son remain forever under curse; they will suffer eternal disgrace. On the Day of Judgement, “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from his glorious might, when He comes on that Day to receive glory from all his people and honour from all who believe.” (2 Thessalonians 1:9-10). The Lord Jesus Christ will cast all his enemies into the eternal fire of hell. “There (says the Lord) ‘the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out,’” (Mark 9:48). But those who are saved through their faith in Christ will not be humiliated. Their salvation is everlasting.

There is no other eternal kingdom apart from the Kingdom of Christ. Psalms 66:7, “He rules for ever by his might and keeps his eyes on the nations.” The reign of the kings and rulers of this world lasts only for a time, not even for their lifetime, because no son of a man and a woman is born a king. Even if a child is born into a royal family, although he may be the heir to the throne, he is not a king at birth but a prince. And until the day he sits on the throne he can never be called a king. In addition, his kingship will end when he dies or is dethroned. Also Earthly kings receive their authority from God. As Paul says in Romans 13:1, “No authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God.” It is God who makes and unmakes kings. He raises kings and rulers, and at his commands their kingdoms fall into ruins; they are overthrown by his power. God delivers them to destruction. Job 12:18 says, “He dethrones kings and makes them prisoners.”

The Lord rules supreme over all earthly kingdoms and powers of the heavenly world. Enthroned above the winged creatures and seated at the right-hand side of the Father in Heaven, “Christ rules there above all heavenly rulers, authorities, powers, and lords; He has a title superior to all titles of authority in this world and in the next.” (Ephesians 1:21). Daniel 7:14 says, “To Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.” Christ is the long-awaited King, the Promised King, the Messiah, the Redeemer of his people, the only One born a King, whose birth and eternal dominion were announced by the prophets.

When we talk about the eternality of God’s promises, we must contemplate the objects of those promises – they are not of the same nature as what the world offers to its children. The things the world promises its children are visible. Such things are temporal; they are subject to decay and destruction, they are all ephemeral. But the promises of God are based on the things unseen. And as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts for ever.” We, children of God, believe in the things unseen, things which by nature are eternal. We believe in the invisible promises of God our Father, and He never fails to keep his promises.

The promises of God are eternal, and so are his purposes. The work of Christ on the cross has an eternal purpose. The eternal purpose of God for mankind is redemption. The Lord promises eternal life to those who turn away from their sins and put their trust in Him. Hebrews 9:12 says, “When Christ went through the tent and entered once and for all into the Most Holy Place, He did not take the blood of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice; rather, He took his own blood and obtained eternal salvation for us.” We, Christians, have been purified by the blood of Christ and never again will we be unclean in God’s sight, never again will we be treated by God as unrighteous. As Paul says in Ephesians 3:12, “In union with Christ and through our faith in Him we have the boldness to go into God’s presence with all confidence.” The world crowns its children with withering wreath. But the crown of glory promised to us by our heavenly Father is secured for us in heaven. It's the crown that lasts forever.

No human doctrine lasts for ever. But as for the word of God, Psalms 119:89 says, “Your word, O LORD, will last for ever; it is eternal in heaven.” The word of God was the same in eternity past, is the same today and will be the same for all time to come. The word of God is eternal. All things will pass away but it will remain forever. “As the Scripture says: ‘All human beings are like grass and all their glory is like wild flowers. The grass withers, and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord remains for ever.’” (1 Peter 1:24-25). The word of God is alive, immutable, trustworthy and powerful. The word of God never changes. God’s word transcends time, because He has always existed. It is written, “In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. Through Him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without Him. The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to humanity. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.” Says John 1:1-5.

Thus says the Lord in Isaiah 57:15, “I am the High and Holy God, who lives for ever. I live in a high and holy place, but also live with people who are humble and repentant, so that I can restore their confidence and hope.” As sinners, we were dead in our trespasses. But God through the sacrificial death of his Son on the cross gives a new birth and a new life to anyone who puts his faith in Jesus, anyone who renounces to self and lives for Christ. Christ came into the world, humbled Himself and took the place of a servant. He lived the life we couldn’t live and He bore the curses that we should have borne. He was nailed to the cross and He suffered in the hands of his own Father. Christ set aside his glory and sacrificed his own life so that all those who have faith in Him may have a new birth and a new life in Him. He obeyed the will of his Father in order to reconcile to Him all those who turn away from their sins. He was crushed for our transgressions. “Even though He was God’s Son, He learnt through his sufferings to be obedient. When He was made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him, and God declared Him to be High Priest, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.” Says Hebrews 5:8-10. 

Christ is the source of eternal life. Everyone who believes that Christ died for their sins and was raised by the glorious power of God the Father is cleansed from their sins. Christ’s righteousness is imputed to them and they are treated by God as righteous. It is only by believing in Christ that one can inherit eternal life. No man possesses eternality, and no one can access eternal salvation by his own merit or works. For God alone is the dispenser of eternal glory, the source of eternal life. And to inherit this life one must turn away from their sins and believe in God’s one and only Son, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Unlike man, God never changes; his attributes remain the same. As the writer of Hebrews says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8). God is eternally righteous, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, loving, merciful, gracious, faithful, compassionate, holy, good, sovereign and immutable.

The Lord is an eternal being. His nature does not change, his attributes do not change. All the attributes of the Lord are eternal. Thus declares the Lord in Isaiah 43:13, “I am God and always will be. No one can escape from my power; no one can change what I do.” In this verse the Lord affirms his eternality and his sovereignty. Psalms 111:3 affirms God’s everlasting righteousness. It says, “All He does is full of honour and majesty; his righteousness is eternal.” James 1:17 speaks among other things of the immutability of God. It is written: “Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God, the Creator of the heavenly lights, who does not change or cause darkness by turning.” 1 Chronicles 16:34 says, “Give thanks to the LORD, because He is good; his love is eternal.” Psalms 100:5, “The LORD is good; his love is eternal and his faithfulness lasts for ever.” Psalms 117:2, “His love for us is strong and his faithfulness is eternal.” Lamentations 3:22-23, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Psalms 119:90, “Your faithfulness endures through all the ages; You have set the earth in place and it remains.”

The life of all things is sustained by God alone. As the Scripture says, “In Him we live and move and exist.” (Acts 17:18). No human being sustains the life of others. No human being is a necessary being. As a matter of fact, every day throughout the world, the Lord takes his breath away from many people and they die. But life goes on; it does not stop. Because no human being is indispensable. God is the only source and the only sustainer of all lives. The Lord is the only necessary being. His very existence is what makes life possible for all created beings. The entire creation lies in the Lord’s mighty hands. Job 12:10 says, “It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone’s life is in his power.” Verse 14-15, “When God tears down, who can rebuild, and who can free those God imprisons? Drought comes when God withholds rain; floods come when He turns water loose.” Job 34:14-15 says, “If God were to take back his spirit and withdraw his breath, all life would cease, and humanity would turn again to dust.” Job 34:14-15 says, “If God were to take back his spirit and withdraw his breath, all life would cease, and humanity would turn again to dust.”

God alone is eternal. He lived in eternity past, He still lives today and will live forever. Unlike the redeemed who are going to inherit eternal life, the eternality of God is part of his nature: He has always existed and there is no end to his life. Furthermore, God’s eternality does not come from someone else. God is a self-sufficient and self-existent being, whose eternality does not depend on an external cause. God is an eternal being, the Great I AM. When the Lord appears to Moses in the burning bush, He says to Moses in Exodus 3:10, “Now I am sending you to the king of Egypt so that you can lead my people out of his country,” Verse 13, “But Moses replied, ‘when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ so what can I tell them?” Verse 14, “God said, ‘I am who I am. This is what you must say to them: ‘The One who is called I AM has sent me to you.’”

What the Lord says to Moses in this verse describes the very nature of God, his aseity, his self-existence, his immutability and eternality. God is – there has never been a time when He wasn’t and there will never be a time when He is not – God is eternal, the Great I AM; He is life without end.