We often hear sermons or teachings warning people to be sure they finish well in their Christian life. The Scriptures are full of individuals who did not finish well, and all of us know people personally who tragically didn’t finish their Christian life well. I’m convinced that the reason that most who people don’t finish well is because they did not start well. I believe that the way we end is determined by the way we begin.
Jesus came as the second Adam. (Rom.8:29) says, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;” Even though Jesus was 100% God, he was also 100% man, and he came to earth, laying down his right to operate out of his deity, and lived as a Spirit filled man; the prototype of a New Creation. He represented the beginning of a new humanity. The “Very Good,” of God’s original creation restored. At his baptism, as the Holy Spirit descended upon him, to rest upon him, the Father declared “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” In the Luke passage, it is recorded in a more personal way, quoting the Father as saying, “You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” These two scriptures, the first one from Matthew and the second one from Luke, tell us that the Heavenly Father was making a public declaration and a personal one to Jesus. He wants us all to to know who Jesus was to Him, but He also wanted to speak to Jesus personally; to his humanity, that he, Jesus, was “Beloved.” Jesus was declared to be the “Beloved” before he ever did one thing in ministry on the Father’s behalf. The Father was well pleased with him, not because of any performance from Jesus, but simply because he was “Beloved.” The Holy Spirit was both the sign and the seal of the Father’s unconditional love and supernatural presence for Jesus to live out the life of the new humanity he represented.
Is it possible that when Jesus came out of the waters of the Jordan River dripping wet with all the hopes of a new creation, a new beginning for all humanity, that his baptism represented ours? Could it be; can it be; that because we are “in Christ” that at our baptism The Father spoke over us, as the Holy Spirit came to rest on us, because we become “in Christ” at our baptism that we are “Beloved,” and that he is “well pleased” with us before we ever did one thing to earn or to achieve that status. Is it possible that being His “Beloved” is our unconditional identity apart from all or any performance? Does he really find pleasure in loving me, even in my imperfect state? Has that actually been truth from the beginning? Also is it possible that the Holy Spirit in all fullness has rested on us from the very beginning? If this is true, that my Christian life starts as “the beloved,” and with the Holy Spirit fully resting on me, then I could and can live from that reality instead of toward it. Having “received,” I could then go and achieve exploits for the kingdom, instead of hoping that if I could just achieve, I would be able to receive the status of “Beloved” and the fullness of the Holy Spirit.