Page 84 - Unseen Hands by Nona Freeman

Unseen Hands
glowing light with extended arms. His body opened as a delicate, translucent cloak, and Tekle stepped inside. The body ofJesus closed around him in a moment of ex quisite bliss.
Tekle stood trembling as the vision faded. What does this mean? he wondered. After all my service to Christ, am I still outside? Am I not in Him? I do not understand this vision. He shook his head to clear his mind. Let me
read the small book, he decided.
He read three pages of the booklet and saw that the
author discussed baptism. He closed the book in disgust thinking, I have been baptized once; there is no second baptism! And what power is there in water baptism, anyway? From the vision, he had expected to read
something far more profound than a discussion of bap tism. Immediately, the Spirit moved heavily in his heart and compelled him to take his Bible and concordance and go on his knees to study the importance of water in the Bible and the types and shadows of baptism.
God led him through His Word and opened his understanding with compelling illumination. He wrote down four points, with relevant scriptural references:
1. Water is a life-giving force, and it is associated with the move of the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2; Ezekiel 47:1-12). (Water was mentioned at the time of creation and was a symbol of spiritual renewal in Ezekiel's vision.)
2. Noah and his family were saved by water, by floating in the ark (Genesis 6-7; I Peter 3:20-21).
3. God's covenant of circumcision with Abraham specified that it was "unto thee and thy seed after thee" (Genesis 17:1-14), and it operated until Christ. In the New Testament church, circumcision was replaced by baptism
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