Matthew 3:13-17
God is Well Pleased With His Son
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 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. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Author and Pastor J. D. Greear writes: “Each day Jesus says to us, “You are My beloved child...I AM well pleased in you...Now live that way.”...Satan, on the other hand, says, “Look at you...Look at the condition of your circumstances...Look at how poorly you’re living...There is no way you are God’s beloved child.”...Which voice are you going to believe?"...
There is a passage in Matthew 3:17, where the Father declares, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I AM well pleased,"...This verse is one of the cornerstones of our Christian faith...It signifies Divine Approval and establishes the foundation for Jesus's ministry...This Divine affirmation echoes throughout the Gospels, culminating in Jesus's Own Words to His disciples: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have LOVED you, you also are to love one another...By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John13:34-35)...This message also is of Divine LOVE and acceptance is a powerful antidote to the insidious whispers of doubt and self-condemnation that often plague us...The evil one, the adversary, constantly seeks to undermine our faith and confidence in God's LOVE...He whispers lies, such as: "Look at you...Look at the condition of your circumstances...Look at how poorly you're living...There is no way you are God's beloved child."..."You're not good enough...You've made too many mistakes...God could never truly LOVE someone like you."..."You don't deserve God's Grace...You need to earn it through your own efforts."...These lies seek to erode our sense of self-worth, to convince us that we are unworthy of God's LOVE and Acceptance...They tempt us to focus on our failures, our shortcomings, and our perceived inadequacies, leading to feelings of guilt, shame, and despair...
But Jesus declares His LOVE for us and His disciples...He compassionately says: “As the Father has LOVED Me, so have I LOVED you...Now remain in My LOVE...If you keep My commands, you will remain in My LOVE, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His LOVE...I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete...My command is this: Love each other as I have LOVED you...Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends...You are My friends if you do what I command...I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business...Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you...You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in My Name the Father will give you...This is My command: Love each other. (John 15:9-17)...
So, we are called to resist these lies and to embrace the truth of God's unwavering unconditional LOVE...Just as the Father declared His LOVE for Jesus, so too does He declare His LOVE for us...This is not based on our performance or our merit, but on His unconditional grace and LOVE...
The challenge lies in truly believing this truth about His LOVE and living accordingly...It requires a conscious effort to recognize the lies of the enemy and resist their influence...Believe in God's Unconditional LOVE and acceptance, regardless of our failures or shortcomings...Understand that our salvation is not based on our own merit, but on the grace and mercy of God...Live with the freedom and confidence that comes from knowing we are deeply LOVED and accepted by God...Share God's LOVE with the world, extending grace and compassion to others as we have received it from Him, reflect His LOVE upon others...Living as beloved children is not about perfection; it's about embracing our humanity, acknowledging our weaknesses, and trusting in God's Grace to transform us from within...It's about living in freedom, not in fear or condemnation, and reflecting God's LOVE to the world around us...
Ultimately, the choice is ours in our faith and what voice we listen to...We can choose to listen to the voice of doubt, allowing it to erode our faith and fill us with fear and self-condemnation...Or we can choose to believe the Voice of LOVE, embracing the truth of God's unconditional acceptance and living as the beloved children we truly are...Love one another...