"In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove" (Mark 1:9-10, ESV).
The English Standard Version of the Bible most accurately captures the power of this historic moment. Clouds did not simply part over the Son of God; Heaven was torn open. Truly, Isaiah's prayer was being answered. The heavens were rent and the Presence of God was being released into the Earth.
Make no mistake, Jesus was, is, and forever will be God. There is so much confusion on this topic, when there should not be. Jesus did not graduate to godhood. He did not attain God-status. He was in the beginning as God. He was born of the Virgin Mary as God. He lived as God. He died as God. Jesus Christ is God. I want that to be plainly and clearly communicated.
That said, only God could pull off what He did in the person of Jesus Christ. My mind has difficulty processing it, so I have to rely on the inspired nature of the written text to direct my theology here. Jesus was God, but likewise, Jesus was dependent upon the Presence of God. How is it possible that God could be filled with God? That is exactly what happened during Jesus' baptism in the Spirit. God was standing in the Jordan River, being baptized by a clearly overwhelmed John the Baptist. Heaven opened over God, and God descended upon God. I repeat, only God could pull this one off!
So why did God let Himself be filled with the Holy Spirit (God?) Simple. He was giving you and I a model for what normal life could look like being filled with the Spirit. Jesus Christ demonstrated what a consistent habitation of God's Presence (the one Isaiah was crying out for) could look like for every single Christian. It was no longer exclusive for the king, priest or prophet. It was not for the elite. The anointing was not simply task-oriented, where God would come down for a season and empower a chosen vessel to complete a certain job. God made Himself available to all who would call upon His name from generation to generation!
The English Standard Version of the Bible most accurately captures the power of this historic moment. Clouds did not simply part over the Son of God; Heaven was torn open. Truly, Isaiah's prayer was being answered. The heavens were rent and the Presence of God was being released into the Earth.
Make no mistake, Jesus was, is, and forever will be God. There is so much confusion on this topic, when there should not be. Jesus did not graduate to godhood. He did not attain God-status. He was in the beginning as God. He was born of the Virgin Mary as God. He lived as God. He died as God. Jesus Christ is God. I want that to be plainly and clearly communicated.
That said, only God could pull off what He did in the person of Jesus Christ. My mind has difficulty processing it, so I have to rely on the inspired nature of the written text to direct my theology here. Jesus was God, but likewise, Jesus was dependent upon the Presence of God. How is it possible that God could be filled with God? That is exactly what happened during Jesus' baptism in the Spirit. God was standing in the Jordan River, being baptized by a clearly overwhelmed John the Baptist. Heaven opened over God, and God descended upon God. I repeat, only God could pull this one off!
So why did God let Himself be filled with the Holy Spirit (God?) Simple. He was giving you and I a model for what normal life could look like being filled with the Spirit. Jesus Christ demonstrated what a consistent habitation of God's Presence (the one Isaiah was crying out for) could look like for every single Christian. It was no longer exclusive for the king, priest or prophet. It was not for the elite. The anointing was not simply task-oriented, where God would come down for a season and empower a chosen vessel to complete a certain job. God made Himself available to all who would call upon His name from generation to generation!
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