Some ask the question, “If Jesus was sinless, as the Bible says He was, why did He have to be baptised at all?” The reason for this is that although Jesus was fully God (which made it impossible for Him to sin), He was also fully human. In His baptism He identified Himself with us. He showed that He was one with us as a human being. When we are baptised, we identify ourselves with God; we become one with God. As a human being Jesus needed help in His spiritual life and to give Him power for His ministry. This help is always given to us by God giving us His Holy Spirit. At His baptism, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

In our reading today we see the prophet Isaiah predicting what Jesus would do after He was empowered by the Holy Spirit. Firstly, He would bring justice to society. Everyone would have a fair go. The weak members of society, represented by the bruised reed and smouldering wick, would not be down trodden but given the same hope as everyone else. No one would need to be discouraged anymore! As we look at world history, we see this prophecy fulfilled. The more Christian the governments, the more justice and hope for everyone.

 

Jesus was empowered by the Spirit in His baptism to start a new covenant (agreement) with God and men. God promises to share salvation with every race on earth, to open the eyes of the blind and bring freedom to all captives. This means especially those who are spiritually blind and captives of their own sin and selfishness.

 

How do we know anything about God? We know God and everything there is to know about Him because God has spoken to us. We are reminded of this in one of our favourite hymns, 92 – “God has spoken by his prophets”. The most significant thing about Jesus’ baptism is that God spoke to us as Jesus was being baptised and revealed the truth about Jesus to us. Over the waters of Jesus’ baptism God spoke very powerfully. God showed us the full splendour of His Son, Jesus. In this psalm God tells us to ascribe to Him all that we would ascribe to Himself. Jesus shares all the Father’s glory and strength. He has a special name which means ‘God our Saviour’, so we give Him all the appreciation we possibly can. Our hearts are filled with gratitude as we look upon Jesus. This impels us to fall on our knees and worship Him in all the splendor of His holiness. As we worship and adore Jesus, the power endued on Him in His baptism seeps into our hearts. All become one with Him.

 

The Jews were a very exclusive race of people. They believed that they were God’s chosen people and that it was scandalous to even think of associating with non-Jews, people they called Gentiles. Jesus concentrated nearly all of His ministry on Jews and many of the early Christians still thought that Jesus came to save Jews only. Read from the beginning of Acts 10 and you will see how God completely changed this attitude. Through visions, God spoke to both Peter and Cornelius, a Roman officer. In verses 34-36 we see Peter sharing this wonderful good news with Cornelius and his family. These Gentiles were earnestly seeking God and they were overjoyed to hear the news. Shortly after, they were to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The good news that makes them so happy is that God shows no favouritism. He accepts men from every race on earth. His strong desire is to be Lord, supreme boss and ruler of every nation. Let us not fall into the trap the Jews fell into. Let’s make sure that we do not allow any barrier – language, culture, prejudice, geography, economic level or educational level – to stop us telling others about Jesus and sharing our lives with them!

 

We saw earlier this week that the most significant thing about Jesus’ baptism was that it was the time when God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power! It was the power of the Holy Spirit that was in Jesus that enabled Him to do all the mighty works that He did! As He was human, He had to rely on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gave Jesus so much energy. He enabled Him to completely die to Himself and His own needs and to completely spend His life on others. The Holy Spirit gave Jesus power over sickness and power over the devil, so everyone who came to Jesus was cured of sickness, blindness, deafness, etc. Everyone who came near Him who was under the power of the devil was delivered by Jesus from the evil spirits in them. Because Jesus was one with the Father and the Holy Spirit at all times, He was completely victorious over all the forces of the enemy, unbelief and earthly desires.

 

As we let Jesus fill us with the Spirit, the Spirit creates in us a strong bond with Jesus and we will share the same victory over enemy forces attacking our lives.

 

When John the Baptist started preaching at the River Jordan the people who heard him were so excited. The voice of prophecy had not been heard for 400 years. His message was so powerful that most people thought he was God’s promised Messiah – God’s Saviour King!

John puts them right. He tells them he has come to prepare them for someone much mightier than him; someone who would be the baptiser with the Holy Spirit and with fire! Just as Jesus was filled with the Spirit and empowered to do great things, He would fill others with the same Spirit and empower them to do what He had done and even greater things (see John 14.12). Jesus did not do what John said He would until after He had died, risen and ascended back into Heaven. Before He ascended, Jesus told the disciples, “John baptised with water, but I will baptise you with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1.5). On the Day of Pentecost Jesus baptised the band of 120 disciples with the Holy Spirit and fire. They were given so much power that they turned the world upside-down.

Jesus still baptises with the Holy Spirit and fire. The charismatic movement is made up of all the people God has baptised with the Holy Spirit and fire today. Jesus would love to baptise you with the Holy Spirit too, or refill you if you have already received the Holy Spirit.

 

As we heard on Tuesday, we are sure of who Jesus is because God has spoken and revealed to us who He is. Today we listen to God speaking at Jesus’ baptism to tell us that Jesus is indeed His Son whom He loves very much and He is pleased with Him.

When we hear God speaking we are filled with faith (Romans 10.16). When John and all the people who witnessed Jesus’ baptism heard God’s message, they were filled with faith in Jesus.

 

Let’s all take this as a word from the Father for us personally. Let’s together put all our faith and trust in Jesus. To enable Jesus to work in us, let’s follow the example of John, the prophet. He said, “He must be become greater, I must become less” (John 3.30). Let’s all be willing to have the same mind as Jesus, having the same love and being one in Spirit and purpose with Him. Let’s do nothing out of selfish ambition and conceit, but be truly humble and consider others to be better than ourselves, always looking after their interests before our own (Philippians 2.1-11). Then Jesus will be able to use us (the Strathpine family) to do all He wants to do.

 

Baptism is very important for all Christians.    Through Baptism we all enter into a covenant relationship with God.   As we surrender our lives to Jesus, repent of our sins and renounce evil, we receive all the benefits Jesus won for us by dying on the cross and rising again from the dead. All our sins are wiped out and we are made into new people, born again as God’s own children. We become members of Christ’s Body, the Church and we inherit eternal life.   To put it more simply, we enter into a most wonderful, loving relationship with our creator.

 

If this is so why did Jesus have to be baptised?   He was already one with His Father, was perfectly sinless and was eternal, having been God from the beginning of all time.

He was baptised by John the Baptist so that he could fully identify Himself with all of us that He came to save.    He showed that He was one with us and that it was possible for all of us to have a very deep personal relationship with our Father.

 

After His baptism Jesus spent the next three years pouring out God’s love onto all mankind.     As Jesus was fully human as well as being fully God He needed to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to enable him to carry our His ministry and dispense God’s love.   That is why The Holy Spirit came upon Him at his Baptism. As well as being baptised in water He was baptised by the Holy Spirit.

 

John the Baptist promised that Jesus would baptise us with the Holy Spirit.   He did this first on the Day of Pentecost and he has been pouring out His Holy Spirit on Christians ever since.  

 

Let us all pray that as we give thanks to God for our personal salvation and baptism that Jesus will continue to pour out His Holy Spirit upon us and empower us to carry on His ministry in the world by dispensing God’s love to everyone!

 

Some ask the question, “If Jesus was sinless, as the Bible says He was, why did He have to be baptised at all?” The reason for this is that although Jesus was fully God (which made it impossible for Him to sin), He was also fully human. In His baptism He identified Himself with us. He showed that He was one with us as a human being. When we are baptised, we identify ourselves with God; we become one with God. As a human being Jesus needed help in His spiritual life and to give Him power for His ministry. This help is always given to us by God giving us His Holy Spirit. At His baptism, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

In our reading today we see the prophet Isaiah predicting what Jesus would do after He was empowered by the Holy Spirit. Firstly, He would bring justice to society. Everyone would have a fair go. The weak members of society, represented by the bruised reed and smouldering wick, would not be down trodden but given the same hope as everyone else. No one would need to be discouraged anymore! As we look at world history, we see this prophecy fulfilled. The more Christian the governments, the more justice and hope for everyone.

 

Jesus was empowered by the Spirit in His baptism to start a new covenant (agreement) with God and men. God promises to share salvation with every race on earth, to open the eyes of the blind and bring freedom to all captives. This means especially those who are spiritually blind and captives of their own sin and selfishness.

 

How do we know anything about God? We know God and everything there is to know about Him because God has spoken to us. We are reminded of this in one of our favourite hymns, 92 – “God has spoken by his prophets”. The most significant thing about Jesus’ baptism is that God spoke to us as Jesus was being baptised and revealed the truth about Jesus to us. Over the waters of Jesus’ baptism God spoke very powerfully. God showed us the full splendour of His Son, Jesus. In this psalm God tells us to ascribe to Him all that we would ascribe to Himself. Jesus shares all the Father’s glory and strength. He has a special name which means ‘God our Saviour’, so we give Him all the appreciation we possibly can. Our hearts are filled with gratitude as we look upon Jesus. This impels us to fall on our knees and worship Him in all the splendor of His holiness. As we worship and adore Jesus, the power endued on Him in His baptism seeps into our hearts. All become one with Him.

 

The Jews were a very exclusive race of people. They believed that they were God’s chosen people and that it was scandalous to even think of associating with non-Jews, people they called Gentiles. Jesus concentrated nearly all of His ministry on Jews and many of the early Christians still thought that Jesus came to save Jews only. Read from the beginning of Acts 10 and you will see how God completely changed this attitude. Through visions, God spoke to both Peter and Cornelius, a Roman officer. In verses 34-36 we see Peter sharing this wonderful good news with Cornelius and his family. These Gentiles were earnestly seeking God and they were overjoyed to hear the news. Shortly after, they were to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The good news that makes them so happy is that God shows no favouritism. He accepts men from every race on earth. His strong desire is to be Lord, supreme boss and ruler of every nation. Let us not fall into the trap the Jews fell into. Let’s make sure that we do not allow any barrier – language, culture, prejudice, geography, economic level or educational level – to stop us telling others about Jesus and sharing our lives with them!

 

We saw earlier this week that the most significant thing about Jesus’ baptism was that it was the time when God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power! It was the power of the Holy Spirit that was in Jesus that enabled Him to do all the mighty works that He did! As He was human, He had to rely on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gave Jesus so much energy. He enabled Him to completely die to Himself and His own needs and to completely spend His life on others. The Holy Spirit gave Jesus power over sickness and power over the devil, so everyone who came to Jesus was cured of sickness, blindness, deafness, etc. Everyone who came near Him who was under the power of the devil was delivered by Jesus from the evil spirits in them. Because Jesus was one with the Father and the Holy Spirit at all times, He was completely victorious over all the forces of the enemy, unbelief and earthly desires.

 

As we let Jesus fill us with the Spirit, the Spirit creates in us a strong bond with Jesus and we will share the same victory over enemy forces attacking our lives.

 

When John the Baptist started preaching at the River Jordan the people who heard him were so excited. The voice of prophecy had not been heard for 400 years. His message was so powerful that most people thought he was God’s promised Messiah – God’s Saviour King!

John puts them right. He tells them he has come to prepare them for someone much mightier than him; someone who would be the baptiser with the Holy Spirit and with fire! Just as Jesus was filled with the Spirit and empowered to do great things, He would fill others with the same Spirit and empower them to do what He had done and even greater things (see John 14.12). Jesus did not do what John said He would until after He had died, risen and ascended back into Heaven. Before He ascended, Jesus told the disciples, “John baptised with water, but I will baptise you with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1.5). On the Day of Pentecost Jesus baptised the band of 120 disciples with the Holy Spirit and fire. They were given so much power that they turned the world upside-down.

Jesus still baptises with the Holy Spirit and fire. The charismatic movement is made up of all the people God has baptised with the Holy Spirit and fire today. Jesus would love to baptise you with the Holy Spirit too, or refill you if you have already received the Holy Spirit.

 

As we heard on Tuesday, we are sure of who Jesus is because God has spoken and revealed to us who He is. Today we listen to God speaking at Jesus’ baptism to tell us that Jesus is indeed His Son whom He loves very much and He is pleased with Him.

When we hear God speaking we are filled with faith (Romans 10.16). When John and all the people who witnessed Jesus’ baptism heard God’s message, they were filled with faith in Jesus.

 

Let’s all take this as a word from the Father for us personally. Let’s together put all our faith and trust in Jesus. To enable Jesus to work in us, let’s follow the example of John, the prophet. He said, “He must be become greater, I must become less” (John 3.30). Let’s all be willing to have the same mind as Jesus, having the same love and being one in Spirit and purpose with Him. Let’s do nothing out of selfish ambition and conceit, but be truly humble and consider others to be better than ourselves, always looking after their interests before our own (Philippians 2.1-11). Then Jesus will be able to use us (the Strathpine family) to do all He wants to do.

 

Baptism is very important for all Christians.    Through Baptism we all enter into a covenant relationship with God.   As we surrender our lives to Jesus, repent of our sins and renounce evil, we receive all the benefits Jesus won for us by dying on the cross and rising again from the dead. All our sins are wiped out and we are made into new people, born again as God’s own children. We become members of Christ’s Body, the Church and we inherit eternal life.   To put it more simply, we enter into a most wonderful, loving relationship with our creator.

 

If this is so why did Jesus have to be baptised?   He was already one with His Father, was perfectly sinless and was eternal, having been God from the beginning of all time.

He was baptised by John the Baptist so that he could fully identify Himself with all of us that He came to save.    He showed that He was one with us and that it was possible for all of us to have a very deep personal relationship with our Father.

 

After His baptism Jesus spent the next three years pouring out God’s love onto all mankind.     As Jesus was fully human as well as being fully God He needed to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to enable him to carry our His ministry and dispense God’s love.   That is why The Holy Spirit came upon Him at his Baptism. As well as being baptised in water He was baptised by the Holy Spirit.

 

John the Baptist promised that Jesus would baptise us with the Holy Spirit.   He did this first on the Day of Pentecost and he has been pouring out His Holy Spirit on Christians ever since.  

 

Let us all pray that as we give thanks to God for our personal salvation and baptism that Jesus will continue to pour out His Holy Spirit upon us and empower us to carry on His ministry in the world by dispensing God’s love to everyone!