“When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22)

Our hope for life is found in the relationship in God Himself. God reveals Himself as three who are one: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is at the baptism of the Son of God, who has come to us as God in the flesh, where this relationship is revealed. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Now as God in the flesh, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, He must live a life that is completed as one who is righteous and is sinless. He must be the perfect sacrifice as well as the example of living in relationship to the Father.

When Jesus comes to John requesting to be baptized, He gave this reason for His baptism, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15) While Jesus is not coming to John in need of repentance, He does come to be obedient to His Father. He must fulfill righteousness in order to be the perfect sacrifice for sin and take our sin upon Himself on the cross to be able to give us righteousness. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The beauty of Jesus’ baptism is shown by God the Father’s validation of the Son, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22) The validation is also expressed with the presence of the Holy Spirit descending upon Him. Now the Son of God has come to us with the purpose of restoring our relationship with God which was destroyed by sin. As the Son fulfilled all righteousness, He is able to live in relationship with the Father as all of us were created to do. He did what we could not because we have sinned, all of us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) The Son of God has bridged the gap by becoming the Son of Man, and now we have hope.

Our hope comes because the Son of God returned to be with the Father after fulfilling His task on earth. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:3) 

While Jesus was here, He made a promise to His Disciples and to all of us who have put our faith in Him and are following Him with our lives. “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-3) The Son of God, who has shown us how much He loves us, is now preparing a place for each of us who have come to a relationship by faith in Him.

The place He is preparing is the place where we will live with Him. It is a place He has made new for us. It is a place where He will show us His love and compassion. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’” (Revelations 21:3-4)

When death came to us because of rebellion, by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we have experienced evil. When we are in the place Jesus is preparing, we will know all of the good of God. Good which is comforting, caring, and loving. All because Jesus, the Son of God, fulfilled righteousness and by grace made us righteous.

In the Love of Jesus,

Michael Block