Identified With Jesus [Luke 3]

'21Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened,

 22and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."


 

When the Holy Spirit showed up, we know something significant was happening. From creation on, we see the Spirit involved in pivotal moments of God's plan, especially in the life of Jesus and the birth and growth of the church. In this case, He was part of the baptism of Christ and God's announcement affirming Jesus as the Christ.


The word baptism means to identify with something. It was found in an ancient recipe for making pickles. The cucumbers were to be baptized in the liquid so as to be identified with the liquid as it permeated every part of the pickle. The cucumber was no longer a plain old cucumber, but something radically different because it had been baptized.


Baptism with water is just an outward sign of the inner change, baptism or identification with Christ. When we accept Christ, we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and His nature permeates our being changing us radically and forever. The old creature we were is gone and the new creature takes its place. And we can know that when the Father sees us, He is saying, "You are My beloved Child, in You I am well-pleased."


We praise You, God, for Jesus and Your Spirit that identifies us with Him. Cause us to remember that we are radically and forever identified with Jesus and that You are well-pleased with us. Cause us to bear the fruit of that change by Your amazing grace.


*Note: I made a mistake in starting out in Luke by covering two chapters at a time. The reading list calls for just one chapter a day in Luke.


 

 
Beth Warlick, 12/8/2009