11 & 12 Apr 2026 (Pastoral Page) DEPTHS OF OUR BAPTISM

by Dn Leo Fu

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4.4-6)

One baptism. Certainly, baptism involves a personal decision. But it is not just personal, it is communal and corporate in every sense of the word. Whether you are witnessing baptism, or going through the waters, we are all witnessing, partaking, or have partaken of this one baptism. Baptism plunges us into the depths of God’s purposes in creation and history.

Baptism connects us to Jesus. As Paul said, we were “baptised into Christ Jesus”. In fact, we were “baptised into his death … in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead … we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6.3-4) The one baptism is our participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

And Jesus is the climax of history. Paul describes Israel’s passing through the Red Sea as baptism (1 Corinthians 10.1-4). In the Gospel of Matthew, we can see how the story is structured to show how Jesus mirrors, and in fact, fulfils the story of Israel. Like Israel, Jesus is called out of Egypt (Matthew 2.13-15). Like Israel, Jesus passes through the waters in his baptism (3.16-17). Israel was tested in the wilderness for forty years; Jesus was tested in the wilderness for forty days (4.1-2). Hence, our baptism into Christ connects us with God’s purpose in history.

Jesus is also the climax of creation. Consider Jesus’s baptism: “immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove …” (Matthew 3.16) This reminds us of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth – “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1.1-2) Our one baptism into Christ connects us to the fulfilment of God’s purpose for creation.

Creation and history. They may sound like big abstract ideas, but actually they are the very opposite. They speak of the concrete realities of our lives. They speak of eating and drinking. Plants and animals. Farms and cities. War and peace. Joy and pain. In flesh and blood. Baptism is as much about this world we live in as it is about Jesus. In fact, we are reminded that before we can identify with Jesus through baptism, it is He who first identifies with us by stepping into creation and history as one of us – flesh and blood.

Our salvation does not consist in ideas and information, but our formation as bodies – and part of the body of Christ in this world. Our lived bodily existence is the place where God is working His grace. Perhaps this is why God gave us the sacrament of baptism. Bodies plunged into water. Feeling the buoyancy. Holding our breath. Exhale. Water flowing down our bodies. It makes it that much harder to lose sight of this world we live in that our God has created and will redeem.

It is fascinating that, of all physical matter, God chose water. 71% of the earth is covered in water. The human body is about 60% water. We cannot live without water. We are water. And God uses water to convey his divine realities. Jesus takes water and turns it into wine (John 2.1-11). If God can use water, He can use anything. He can use us. He can transform us – “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (2 Corinthians 5.17). Indeed, God will not stop at water. We know “the mystery of his will … to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him.” (Ephesians 1.9-10) So just as God uses water to connect us to Christ, the centre of creation and history, God will one day take up all things – us included – into His glory. We can and ought to live the whole of our lives knowing that it will one day be bathed in God’s presence.