Matthew 3:16-17 Amplified Bible (AMP)
16 After Jesus was baptized, He came up immediately out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he (John) saw the [a]Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him (Jesus), 17 and behold, a [b]voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased and delighted!”
Jesus is yet to start His public ministry. He has not healed anyone or preached in public, neither has he raised anyone from the dead. Just after He is baptized by John the Baptist, and He comes up out of the water, God the Father speaks. I love the fact the God affirms Jesus before He starts anything. God says that He loves Jesus, and He is well pleased with Him.
We live in a culture where people are loved and accepted because of what they have or what they have done, but it is not so with the kingdom of God. What you and I who have embraced Christ need to recognize is that we are accepted. Not because of what we have done, but because of what God has done for us through Christ Jesus.
Romans 5:8 Amplified Bible (AMP)
8 But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
He loved us in our sinful state and made a way for us. The bible says that we love Him because He first loved us. The tendency we have is to try to earn that love and acceptance through what we do. We feel like the better we do, the more we are accepted and when we make a mistake, then God does not love nor accept us any more. Nothing could be further from the truth. The prodigal son, though he had made a mistake and squandered what had been given to him, when he returned with a repentant heart he was fully restored as a son because the reality was, he was always accepted and love.
Have you made a mistake? Do not run away from God, run to Him in repentance because you are accepted. He says if you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive you of all your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
