God is pleased with Christ; you are in Christ through the Holy Spirit; so God is pleased with you!
Matthew 3:13–17 (NIV)
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.”
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 9: The Scriptural Witness on the Trinity
All these things we know
from the testimonies of Holy Scripture
as well as from the effects of the persons,
especially from those we feel within ourselves.
The testimonies of the Holy Scriptures,
which teach us to believe in this Holy Trinity,
are written in many places of the Old Testament,
which need not be enumerated
but only chosen with discretion.
For when our Lord was baptized in the Jordan,
the voice of the Father was heard saying,
“This is my dear Son”;
the Son was seen in the water;
and the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove
Dig Deeper
John the Baptist went out in the wilderness and was baptizing people with a baptism of repentance. When Jesus came to be baptized, John was reluctant to do so. Jesus, the Son of God and second person of the Trinity, was without sin and therefore had no need for repentance.
As Jesus expressed to John, he had other reasons for being baptized. Jesus came to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Through his baptism, Jesus identifies with his people and God’s kingdom.
When Jesus came out of the water, we have an instance where all three persons of the Trinity are present. Jesus was coming out of the water after being baptized, the Spirit descended on him like a dove, while the Father spoke with a voice from heaven saying “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Summary
The presence of all three persons of the Trinity at Jesus’ baptism helps us to understand who God is. All three were individually present at the same time, showing the distinctness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is not the Son nor the Spirit and likewise Jesus is not the Spirit either. Truly God does not transition between these persons, instead all three persons of the Trinity co-exist eternally.
Making distinctions is critical to having a well rounded theology (an understanding of who and what God is), and it's important to be able to turn to the Bible for guidance when making distinctions.
While it can be a struggle for us to comprehend the triune nature of our God, we trust in what he has revealed about himself. The presence of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at this baptism is part of the biblical witness for the Trinity, helping to solidify the distinction we make that God is both one and three.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is well pleased with His Son;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will gain the confidence of knowing that because God is pleased with Christ, and you are in Christ through the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, that God is pleased with you!
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Hebrews 3
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