Baptism as Eschatological
Initiation
First, through baptism God makes
us alive with, raises us up with, and seats us with Christ in the heavenlies
(Eph. 2:4-7; Col. 2:11-13). Paul stresses the effect of God’s
gracious love and mercy with three verbs in Ephesians 2:5-6: made alive
together, raised together, and seated together. This movement—coming
to life, rising, and being seated—is shared with Christ. God is the
subject of these verbs; they are divine acts. The movement from death to
exaltation in the experience of Jesus the Messiah because our experience as
well. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead and enthroned at the right hand of
God, so we are made alive, raised, and seated with him.
We are seated with Jesus “in the
heavenly places.” In other words, we are present in the heavenly throne room
with Christ. Just as Jesus began the new creation through resurrection and
enthronement, so we are initiated into a new creation by being raised and
seated with Christ in the heavenlies. We are new creatures—“created in Christ Jesus”
(Eph. 2:10)—seated in the new creation, inhabiting the heavenlies. It is little
wonder, then, that Paul thinks that our “citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3:21)
because this is where we are already enthroned with Christ. Dead in our sins,
we “followed the ruler of the power of the air” and “lived in the passions of
our flesh” (Eph. 2:2-3), but now raised and seated with Christ, we live by a different
power and in different passions.
But where is baptism in this text?
Though Ephesians 2 does not specially mention baptism, “made alive” and “raised
up” are baptismal phrases. Paul only uses this language in Ephesians 2:5-6 and
Colossians 2:12-13 and 3:1.
|
Ephesians
2:5-6 |
Colossians
2:12-13 |
|
even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive
together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up
with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. |
having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised
with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him
from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having
forgiven us all our trespasses . . . |
Colossians 3:1 calls those who “have
been raised with Christ” to “seek” what is “above, where Christ is seated at
the right hand of God.” The movement of Christ from resurrection to exaltation
in Colossians 2-3 is the same as Ephesians 2, and Colossians 2 locates this
movement “in baptism.” Those who “have been raised with Christ” should embrace
the life from “above” rather than from the “earth.” In other words, we live in
the heavenlies with Christ. Consequently, baptized people—those who have been
made alive and raised with Christ=-live as though heaven has come to earth.
Baptized people—those united with
Christ in his death, resurrection and exaltation—live by the values that
permeate the heavenlies, the new creation. Baptized people are new creation
people. Enthroned with Christ, we are co-rulers of the new creation just as
humanity was created to co-rule the original creation in Genesis 1. (John Mark
Hicks, Enter the Water Come to the Table: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper in Scripture’s
Story of New Creation [Abilene, Tex.: Abilene Christian University, 2014], 107-9)