beloved and pleasing

Rants can be a wonderful thing. One of the more enjoyable aspects of seminary has been the various rants one of my professors may embark upon at any given moment.

Today's rant came at the end of my Church Planting and Church Growth class. After moving through the actual material, my professor spent the last ten or so minutes pulling us back to the basics of our salvation and what it means.

And he did so in light of Matthew 3, the baptism of Jesus.

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

Here is a synopsis in bullet form:

• heavens were opened: Through Jesus access to heaven, which had been closed because of sin, now stands open
• the Spirit of God descending: Just as Jesus lived by the anointing and power of the Spirit, so do all who are united to Him through faith.
• This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased: This is the benediction upon all who are united to Christ through faith.

The last one hit me like a ton of bricks. It is easy to look at my life and wonder why God would be pleased, let alone call me His beloved.

And yet that is exactly what He does. It's not because of me. It's not because of what I do. It's because when He looks at me He sees His Son. And there is no one who pleases and is loved by the Father more than Christ.

This is my identity.

I am a beloved son of God in whom He is well pleased.

This is the message I am called to proclaim. And why wouldn't I want to proclaim it?

Through Christ, God takes wretched sinners, and by the power of His Spirit makes them beloved sons in whom He takes pleasure.