Abba Has An Announcement To Make
Written by Jarred Rushing
(5 minutes)
Then Jesus left Galilee to come to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But when he waded into the water, John resisted him, saying, "Why are you doing this? I'm the one who needs to be baptized by you, and yet you come to be baptized by me?"
Jesus replied, "It is only right to do all that God requires." Then John baptized Jesus. And as Jesus rose up out of the water, the heavenly realm opened up over him and he saw the Holy Spirit descend out of the heavens and rest upon him in the form of a dove. Then suddenly the voice of the Father shouted from the sky, saying, "This is the Son I love, and my greatest delight is in him." (Matthew 3:13-17)
This is perhaps one of the greatest scriptures that we have in our Bibles. All scripture is God-breathed but in this story we have one of only two instances where the Father speaks for Himself from the heavenly realm. I think that's important. It's something we should pay attention to. The Father was content to send Jesus to be His exact representation on the earth, yet in this moment we get to hear from Him directly. Think about it: the Father is going to take an opportunity to say something that everyone will be able to hear and what does He choose to say?
"THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, AND MY GREATEST DELIGHT IS IN HIM."
This was the most important message that Jesus could hear from the Father. And it's the most important message that we could ever hear from the Father. As Jesus waded out into the Jordan River he was about to be immersed in that which flows down from the God, and this message is it. The announcement of our beloved identity is what Abba is calling us to be immersed in. "Come and be plunged in My love for you!" We have always made baptism about sin, but it's what we're being baptized IN that is dealing with the sin. We're being baptized in our beloved identity. We're baptized in that which flows down from the Father. We're being baptized in the same message that Jesus was submerged in as He arose from the waters of the Jordan. Baptism is our choosing to be identified by Abba's voice alone, and He calls us "Beloved."
Isn't Abba's unconditional love what deals most effortlessly and effectively with our sin? Isn't it His kindness that lures us into transformation?
The confession that we were supposed to make in the waters of baptism was not "I am a sinner." The confession was supposed to be, "I am a beloved son and daughter of Yahweh, and He finds His greatest delight in me! I'm choosing to live a life immersed in THAT revelation."
We become what we behold. This is why we must fix our gaze on the face of Yahweh. Because His eyes tell us everything we need to know about how He feels about us. We've been beholding our own sinfulness and shortcomings so long that we've become the very thing that Jesus delivered us from. As we start beholding His thoughts about us, His kindness towards us, our own belovedness, then we'll become just like Jesus, drenched in Abba's image and authority.
Can you hear the Father's voice speaking these words over you today?
"You are My beloved son.
You are My beloved daughter.
My greatest delight is in you."
But Abba, I haven't done anything significant for You. I haven't made any difference for the Kingdom. I'm still dealing with the same issues and thought patterns. I haven't seen enough change in me to be worthy of these words.
"Oh, Beloved One, you don't know the limitlessness of My love. The full force of My love was flowing to you before you even existed in the physical world. You were nothing that any natural eye could see, but I saw you. You were suspended in My heart and had not even made your entrance on to earth's stage, and I loved you. You may not know it yet, but you were My idea. Please stop reducing My love to what You have and have not done. My love is not fickle and it's not reserved only for those who can keep up. My love is reserved for you - all of you. You do not know how much I love you yet, but I am willing to show up and walk with you every single day for all eternity to convince you. Will you come away with Me?"
You know, I never understood why Jesus needed to be baptized. It never made sense to me, because Jesus was sinless and had no need to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. And religion could never answer that question for me. It wasn't until I learned about beloved identity that I saw this story in the light of the truth. Jesus was being baptized in Abba's love. He was being baptized in the one announcement that Abba wants to make over all of His sons and daughters. It's the unconditional love that's flowing down from His throne. These waters aren't reserved only for sinners. These waters are reserved for anyone willing to wade into them and hear Abba's voice for themselves.
I am so grateful for this revelation. I am so grateful for Abba's love that calls me "Beloved One." These waters have changed everything. These waters are changing everything. This river is wild, just like His love for me.
Let's be washed again as we wade out with Abba today! He's showing up for the walk and He's ready to convince us even more. So we say, "Thank you, Abba. Show me more!"
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