Baptism in the name of Jesus Christ is committing ourselves to be faithful to Him unto death and possibly die for His name as He died for our sins: “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me” (Mat 10:38); “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” (Rom 6:3); “being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead” (Phl 3:10-11).
“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost [Breath], And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (Heb 6:4-6). Once we’ve been enlightened to the truth and partake of God’s Holy Breath in our hearts, we must be faithful unto death. To have “tasted of the heavenly gift” is the bread from heaven; the Lord’s broken body, “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” (1Co 11:26-27). Eating the bread and drinking the cup unworthily is being guilty of His body and His blood as Judas was—crucifying Him to ourselves.
The Son of God created all plants to produce after their kind, “grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind” (Gen 1:12). And hidden within this principle is the message of eternal life: “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (Jhn 12:24); “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” (Rom 6:5); “Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die” (1Co 15:36). To be raised unto eternal life as the Son, we must be planted “after his kind” in the ground—die in faithfulness as He died.
“And the angel [Messenger] of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Gen 22:15-18). Isaac was a type of Christ, “Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure” (Heb 11:19). He was Abraham’s seed—his only begotten son that was his rightful heir, and figuratively sacrificed and resurrected. The Messenger of the Lord that called to Abraham from heaven is the Son of God. He is Abraham’s Seed, “And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Gal 3:16). That “I will multiply thy seed,” is that God will multiply His Seed “after his kind.” We must be “planted together in the likeness of his death” as a seed to be raised with Him.
“God is a Spirit [Breath]: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit [breath] and in truth” (Jhn 4:24). There’s not an article in Christ’s statement “God is a Spirit [Breath]” but is more accurately translated “God is Spirit [Breath]” (NET, NIV, NLT). He wasn’t telling us what God is—as though He is a type of Spirit being—but rather from Whom comes all breath. And He emphasized this by employing a metaphor that He is our very breath. Since He is our breath of eternal life, we must worship and serve Him with our breath in this life. Paul said, “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit [breath] in the gospel of his Son” (Rom 1:9); “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit [breath], and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Phl 3:3). We must give our breath back to God for Him to give breath back to us.
“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Mat 16:25); “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (Jhn 12:25); “I have kept the faith [faithfulness]” (2Ti 4:7-8), “I have remained faithful” (NLT); “These all died in faith [faithfulness]” (Heb 11:13); “be thou faithful unto death” (Rev 2:10); “and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev 12:11).
“I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven” (Gen 22:17); “and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Dan 12:3); “for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.” (1Co 15:41-42). When we’re discouraged and think we’re all alone, that nobody knows what we’re going through, just look at the stars above at night and remind ourselves that there will be millions of others in glory that endured the same kinds of trials but were faithful unto death.
Understanding Scripture 