“Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through faith in the operation (the power, the work) of God . . . . Who hath raised Him from the dead ! ref: Romans 6:1-6, Galatians 2:20 & Ephesians 1:17-21
In Whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands (Zechariah 4:6), in putting off (cutting away from) the body the sins of the flesh (Hebrews 4:12 & Ephesians 6:17), by the circumcision of Christ . . .
And ye are complete in Him, Who is the Head of all principality and power . . . !”
Colossians 2:12-13, 2:11 & 2:10
Note: we must pay close attention to the very tenses of the verbs used in God’s Word. For it is He Who inspired them to be thus . . . . that we might know His great love, and the power of our Salvation which He has wrought in Christ Jesus (Yehushua ha Moshiac) !
Accepted in the Beloved . . . !
“As Jesus asked for baptism, John drew back, exclaiming, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?” With firm yet gentle authority, Jesus answered, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” And John, yielding, led the Saviour down into the Jordan, and buried Him beneath the water. “And straightway coming up out of the water,” Jesus “saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him.”
Jesus did not receive baptism as a confession of guilt on His Own account. He identified Himself with sinners, taking the steps that we are to take, and doing the work that we must do. His life of suffering and patient endurance after His baptism was also an example to us.
Upon coming up out of the water, Jesus bowed in prayer on the river bank. A new and important era was opening before Him. He was now, upon a wider stage, entering on the conflict of His life. Though He was the Prince of Peace, His coming must be as the unsheathing of a sword. The kingdom He had come to establish was the opposite of that which the Jews desired. He who was the foundation of the ritual and economy of Israel would be looked upon as its enemy and destroyer.
He Who had proclaimed the law upon Sinai would be condemned as a transgressor. He who had come to break the power of Satan would be denounced as Beelzebub. No one upon earth had understood Him, and during His ministry He must still walk alone. Throughout His life His mother and His brothers did not comprehend His mission. Even His disciples did not understand Him. He had dwelt in eternal light, as one with God, but His life on earth must be spent in solitude.
As one with us (John 17:21), He must bear the burden of our guilt and woe. The Sinless One must feel the shame of sin. The peace lover must dwell with strife, the Truth must abide with falsehood, purity with vileness. Every sin, every discord, every defiling lust that transgression had brought, was torture to His spirit.
Alone He must tread the path; alone He must bear the burden. Upon Him Who had laid off His glory and accepted the weakness of humanity the redemption of the world must rest. He saw and felt it all, but His purpose remained steadfast. Upon His arm depended the Salvation (deliverance, rescue, freedom, healing and restoration) of the fallen race, and He reached out His hand to grasp the hand of Omnipotent Love.
The Saviour’s glance seems to penetrate heaven as He pours out His soul in prayer. Well He knows how sin has hardened the hearts of men, and how difficult it will be for them to discern His mission, and accept the gift of Salvation (deliverance, rescue, freedom, healing, and restoration). He pleads with the Father for power to overcome their (our) unbelief, to break the fetters with which Satan has enthralled them, and in their behalf to conquer the destroyer. He asks for the witness that God accepts humanity in the person of His Son.
Never before have the angels listened to such a prayer. They are eager to bear to their loved Commander a message of assurance and comfort. But no; the Father Himself will answer the petition of His Son. Direct from the throne issue the beams of His glory. The heavens are opened, and upon the Saviour’s head descends a dovelike form of purest light,–fit emblem of Him, the meek and lowly One.
Of the vast throng at the Jordan, few except John discerned the heavenly vision. Yet the solemnity of the divine Presence rested upon the assembly. The people stood silently gazing upon Christ. His form was bathed in the Light that ever surrounds the throne of God. His upturned face was glorified as they had never before seen the face of man. From the open heavens a Voice was heard saying, This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am well pleased !”
These Words of confirmation were given to inspire faith in those who witnessed the scene, and to strengthen the Saviour for His mission. Notwithstanding that the sins of a guilty world were laid upon Christ, notwithstand-ing the humiliation of taking upon Himself our fallen nature, the Voice from heaven declared Him to be the Son of the Eternal.
John had been deeply moved as he saw Jesus bowed as a suppliant, pleading with tears for the approval of the Father. As the glory of God encircled Him, and the Voice from heaven was heard, John recognized the token which God had promised. He knew that it was the world’s Redeemer Whom he had baptized. The Holy Spirit rested upon him, and with outstretched hand pointing to Jesus, he cried, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world !”
ref: Colossians 2:11-14
None among the hearers, and not even the speaker himself, discerned the import of these words, “the Lamb of God.” Upon Mount Moriah, Abraham had heard the question of his son, “My father, . . . where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” The father answered, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” Genesis 22:7, 8. And in the ram divinely provided in the place of Isaac, Abraham saw a symbol of Him Who was to die for the sins of men.
“And in that He died, He died unto sin once; but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God . . . !” Romans 6:10
The Holy Spirit through Isaiah, taking up the illustration, prophesied of the Saviour, “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,” “and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:7, 6); but the people of Israel had not understood the lesson. Many of them regarded the sacrificial offerings much as the heathen looked upon their sacrifices, –as gifts by which they themselves might propitiate (appease) the Deity. God desired to teach them that from His Own love comes the gift which reconciles them to Himself.
And the Word that was spoken to Jesus at the Jordan, “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am well pleased” embraces all humanity. God spoke to Jesus as our Representative. With all our sins and weaknesses, we are not cast aside as worthless. For “He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:6.
The glory that rested upon Christ is a pledge of the love of God for us. It tells us of the power of prayer,–how the human voice may reach the ear of God, and our petitions find acceptance in the courts of hea-ven. “For . . . God sending His Own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and (in exchange) for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the Law might be filled full in us, who walk not after (by the power of) the flesh, but after the Spirit !” Romans 8:3-4. “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the Words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are Life!” John 6:63 “For we walk by faith, not by sight !” II Corinthians 5:7
By sin, earth was cut off from heaven, and alienated from its communion; but Jesus has connected it again with the sphere of glory. His love has encircled man, and reached the highest heaven. The light which fell from the open portals upon the head of our Saviour will fall upon us as we pray for help to resist temptation. The Voice which spoke to Jesus says to every believing soul, This is My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased !
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” I John 3:2.
Our Redeemer has opened the Way so that the most sinful, the most needy, the most oppressed and despised, may find access to the Father. All may have a home in the mansions which Jesus has gone to prepare. “These things saith He that is holy, He that is True, He that hath the key of David (ref: Isaiah 22:20-23), He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth . . . Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.” Revelation 3:7, 8.
– Desire of Ages, p.111-113
“I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh to the Father but by Me . . .” “All that the Father giveth Me, shall come to Me; and he that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out !” John 14:6 & John 6:37
“God has “predestinated (pre-determined, and chosen) us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace* (Divine Influence upon our hearts, and It‘s reflection as seen in our lives), wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved!” Ephesians 1:5-6
The Word that was spoken to Jesus at the Jordan, embraces humanity. God spoke to Jesus as our Representative. With all our sins and weaknesses, we are not cast aside as worthless. “He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.” The glory that rested upon Christ is a pledge (a promise, guarantee) of the love of God for us. It tells us of the power of prayer,–how the human voice may reach the ear of God, and our petitions find accept-ance in the courts of heaven.
By sin, earth was cut off from heaven, and alienated from its communion; but Jesus has connected it again with the sphere of glory. His love has encircled man, and reached the highest heaven. The Light which fell from the open portals upon the head of our Saviour, will fall upon us as we pray for help to resist temptation. And the Voice which spoke to Jesus says to every believing soul, “This is My beloved child, in whom I Am well pleased !”
– RH, October 15, 1908
“Beloved, now (today) are we the sons* of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” I John 3:2. Our Redeemer has opened the way, so that the most sinful, the most needy, the most oppressed and despised, may find access to the Father. All may have a home in the mansions which Jesus has gone to prepare. “These things saith He that is holy, He that is True, He that hath the key of David,* He that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth; . . . Behold, I have set before thee______(your name) an open door, and no man can shut it !”
“Since the Law of God was transgressed, the sentiment prevailed that it was impossible for human beings to keep the law of God. . . . The human and Divine were combined in Jesus Christ. He came to our world to elevate humanity in the scale of moral value with God. He passed over the ground where Adam fell. He stood against the temptations of Satan and came off conqueror. He [Satan] approached the Son of God as an angel of light, just as he may tempt you. “But we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us . . . while we were yet sinners.” Romans 8:37 & 5:6-8 and 6:10
Jesus Christ came off conqueror in the wilderness of temptation. When upon Jordan’s banks, He offered such a prayer to heaven as heaven had never listened to before. His prayer penetrated through the darkness around Him and reached the highest heavens. The heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit, in appearance like a dove of burnished gold, descended upon Him, and from the lips of the Infinite One was heard these Words, “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am well pleased.”
We have not understood how much this was saying to us. You are “accepted in the Beloved !”. . . {CTr 209.5}