Wonderful Assurance – January 15, 2020

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.
Matthew 3:16

Wonderful Assurance

Today’s Bible reading is one of the clearest narratives in which we get to see the threeness of God.

It’s true that there is one God, and only one God. The Bible also describes the true God as “three.” Jesus commands us to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19). There are passages which call the Father, “God,” which call the Son, “God,” and which call the Holy Spirit, “God.” So while there is only one God, there are three persons in the God-head, and this is one of the segments in which we see it clearly: the Father is speaking from heaven, the Son is coming up out of the water, and the Holy Spirit is descending in the form of a dove.

And why should we care? We care because this assures us of an amazing truth; it’s the entire God who wants you to be saved. Clearly, Jesus wants you to be saved. He lived and died for you! He was willing to be baptized to fulfill God’s holy law for you. But the Father also wants you to be saved. He said he was pleased when Jesus was baptized. And the Holy Spirit wants you to be saved. He descended upon Jesus to empower him to do what he needed to do.

And all of this gives us wonderful assurance. The Father wants me in heaven, the Son wants me in heaven, and the Holy Spirit wants me in heaven. Jesus’ baptism clearly shows me that.

Prayer:
O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit continue to assure me that you desire my salvation and continue to strengthen me that I might continue to travel on the road to eternal life. Amen.