PROCLAMATION
“As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the
water. At that moment heaven was opened,
and he saw The Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is My
Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”
Matthew 42:16-17 (NIV)
EXPLANATION
These words are from the gospel, the good news
regarding Jesus, The Christ, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew. In the days after King Herod died, there came
a man, John the baptizer, preaching in the wilderness preparing the way for
Jesus, The Christ. (Matthew 3:1-3) People
from all of Judea came to him, confessing their sins, and he baptized them in
the Jordan River. (Matthew 3:4-6) He
made it clear to them that he was only baptizing them with water for their
repentance, but there would come another who was mightier than he, who would baptize
them with The Holy Spirit and with fire. (Matthew 3:11) Jesus, The Christ, came from Galilee to be baptized
by John. After He was baptized, as He
was coming up out of the water, John saw The Holy Spirit of God descending from
heaven like a dove and lighting on Him.
Then a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17)
APPLICATION
Jesus, The Christ, was sinless. He was not baptized for repentance, but He was
baptized because it was appropriate to do it to fulfill all righteousness. (Matthew
3:15) God, The Father, spoke and
identified God, The Son, by sending God, The Holy Spirit, to Him as a visible
sign. Today we use the ordinance of
baptism as an outwardly visible sign of an inner transformation. We die to the control of sin and rise up as a
new creature. (2 Corinthians 5:17) When
we accept Christ as our personal savior The Holy Spirit of God indwells us.
(Ezekiel 36:26-27) This gives us the
capacity to keep His commandments. All
we have to do is believe, confess, and invite Him into our heart, and He will
come into us. (Revelation 3:20)
No comments:
Post a Comment