Baptismal Gifts

When the God-Man Jesus Christ was crucified upon the cross He destroyed sin and death. Before Christ’s crucifixion the cross was the Roman executioners commonly used instrument of shame, torture and slow and agonizing death. However, when the God-Man, Jesus Christ freely submitted to death upon the cross, he gave himself as a perfect sacrifice of love, first, to God the Father on High, and second, for all men who would follow Him in faith and obedience in the future. With Christ’s crucifixion, the Cross became the altar of sacrifice upon which He freely poured forth His sacred blood for the salvation of all mankind. The truth of the victory of salvation which was won on the cross was proven three days later when Christ rose from the dead and raised with him all of the righteous ones who had gone before and all of the righteous who would come after. When people are baptized they accept the victory of the cross in their hearts, into their minds and into their very flesh. Through baptism a person dies and is buried with Christ by threefold emersion in the waters of the baptismal font. By rising up out of the waters of baptism a person enters into the resurrection of Christ and receives the gift of salvation and eternal life. From that moment on every person bears in his body and soul the saving cross of Christ and the hope of His eternal resurrection. The baptismal cross which Christians wear embodies and brings to remembrance these eternal truths and mystically makes manifest the spiritual power of these events. In the context of faith, the baptismal cross unites a person to Christ, His crucifixion, His resurrection and the Grace of the Holy Spirit and protects him from evil and temptation of every kind. For this reason, Christians are presented with a cross at baptism, chrismation and other spiritually important events to symbolize and make real their acceptance of Christ, His sacred death and His glorious resurrection.

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