Take Him At His Word

Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in holy array. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; The God of glory thunders, The Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful, The voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, And Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord hews out flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everything says, “Glory!” The Lord sat as King at the flood; Yes, the Lord sits as King forever.

Matthew 3:13–17 NASB95

Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him. After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

I’ve heard lots of people talk about God speaking. We always seem to envision a booming voice that thunders and shakes the ground, and today’s Psalm seems to agree with that.

But do we stop and think about what the voice is saying?

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The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 2: Job–Song of Solomon II. A Demonstration of the Glory of God (Ps. 29:3–9)

Here is a description of God’s revelation of Himself in a thunderstorm. Seven times the voice of Jehovah is mentioned, reminding one of the seven thunders of the Apocalypse (Rev. 10:3).

Modern man, having discovered a few things about the natural order of the universe, and delirious with his knowledge, relegates language such as the psalmist uses here to an elementary age of superstition when religion was in its infancy. Thank God for the enlightenment which science brings; but natural phenomena are still the manifest actions of God. He still upholds “all things by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3), and “in him all things consist” (Col. 1:17). If miracle is God’s unusual way of doing things, nature is His customary procedure.

Modern man, having discovered a few things about the natural order of the universe, and delirious with his knowledge, relegates language such as the psalmist uses here to an elementary age of superstition when religion was in its infancy. Thank God for the enlightenment which science brings; but natural phenomena are still the manifest actions of God. He still upholds “all things by the word of his power” (), and “in him all things consist” (). If miracle is God’s unusual way of doing things, nature is His customary procedure.

We look to earthly writers and gurus for our wisdom.

Modern man, having discovered a few things about the natural order of the universe, and delirious with his knowledge, relegates language such as the psalmist uses here to an elementary age of superstition when religion was in its infancy. Thank God for the enlightenment which science brings; but natural phenomena are still the manifest actions of God. He still upholds “all things by the word of his power” (), and “in him all things consist” (). If miracle is God’s unusual way of doing things, nature is His customary procedure.

We look to earthly writers and gurus for our wisdom. We’ll listen a scientist talk about the foundations of the planet — we’ll put professors on TV to talk about political situations and human nature — companies hire expert consultants to give their business direction — we’ll let magazines and cosmetic sales reps tell us what beauty is — we value our experts and their opinions ... except One.

We’ll listen a scientist talk about the foundations of the planet

We’ll put professors on TV to talk about political situations and human nature

Companies hire expert consultants to give their business direction

We’ll let magazines and cosmetic sales reps tell us what beauty is

We value our experts and their opinions ... except One.

Now, don’t get me wrong, we church folk revere the Word of God — it holds a special place in our hearts. But do we read it? Do we study it? Do we pay attention to the wisdom of the Expert who created everything, or is His Word just a prop for us?

No other expert has claimed to have fashioned the world together. No other expert has sent his son to be executed on our behalf. No other expert has risen a man from the dead.

We say we believe him — but do we?

If we don’t follow what he taught, we don’t continue seeking his Truth

we seem to be satisfied with our limited understanding of his wisdom

if we are satisfied with our limited understanding of his wisdom — do we really believe him? Or do we merely believe in the CONCEPT of God ... the ideal we’ve been handed from our cultural influences?

Do we really believe him? Or do we merely believe in the CONCEPT of God ... the ideal we’ve been handed from our cultural influences?

Hear these words from the commentary again:

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Today, we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. The event itself is pretty simple. A Jewish baptism would find two people standing in running water. One would scoop water with their hand or a bowl or cup and pour it over the other’s head. That’s it.

Baptism was a cleansing ritual that “baptized” someone INTO something. John was appalled at the idea of baptizing Jesus, because he baptized people into repentance. From what does Jesus need to repent? Nothing. But Jesus insists, John consents, and Jesus is baptized.

But what happens next is unbelievable. A dove (symbol of the Holy Spirit) comes down onto Jesus (the Son), and a voice from heaven (God) speaks. What does God say?

Matthew 3:17 NASB95

and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

And who heard it? Matthew, Mark and Luke all report it, so apparently everyone heard it! Matthew, Mark and Luke also record the Transfiguration and Peter talks about it in his second letter. At the Transfiguration, they hear the voice of God, too. Do you remember what he said?

“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” And who heard it? Matthew, Mark and Luke all report it, so apparently everyone heard it! Matthew, Mark and Luke also record the Transfiguration and Peter talks about it in his second letter. At the Transfiguration, they hear the voice of God, too. Do you remember what he said?

Matthew 17:5 NASB95

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”

Do we listen to God when he speaks about us?

(NASB): ”This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”

Do we listen to God when he speaks about us?

says a lot about us:

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· Nothing about our life can be hidden from him. Do we believe that?

· we were “fearfully and wonderfully made”. Do we believe that?

· God wove us together in our mother’s womb. Do we believe that?

· as a work of God’s we are wonderful - a masterpiece. Do we believe that?

Have you been baptized? [show of hands]

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If you’ve been baptized, God has made the same claim on you that he made on Jesus, “This is my beloved child, with whom I am well-pleased.”

The statement about Jesus was a declaration! Jesus is, was, and always will be God’s Son! In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God!

But in our baptism … in YOUR baptism, God makes the same statement as a statement of ADOPTON! If you have received the waters of baptism, you have been adopted into God’s family as a son or daughter. You’ve been grafted into the vine or the family tree of Yahweh, the Lord!

God takes pleasure in you! Today, we celebrate not only that God proclaimed Jesus as his Son ... but that he claims you and me as well! And he declares that he is well-pleased with you, and with me. That’s what he says.