“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17)

We have not only the solemn endorsement of our Lord for the ordinance of baptism by His submitting to it (to fulfill all righteousness, Matthew 3:15), but also such a glorious demonstration of baptism as will never occur again. In this event, we see the presence of all three persons of the holy Trinity—God the Son who is baptized, God the Spirit who descends like a dove and rests upon Jesus, and God the Father who audibly speaks from heaven.

This is a clear indication that Christ’s redemptive mission involved the eternal counsel of all three persons of the Godhead. Interestingly, we also see evidence of the trinitarian counsel at the beginning of man’s creation in Genesis 1:26: “Let us make man in our image.” And again the triune God makes a profound declaration at the beginning of the New Testament journey of Christ Jesus to redeem and save mankind, created 4,000 years prior, who had fallen into total depravity in the Edenic rebellion (Genesis 3).

In the Lord’s baptism account, “a voice from heaven” is also significant because of the previous instance of God speaking from heaven in the giving of the law on Sinai (Exodus 20). Our Father in heaven wanted to mark both occasions with special honor. Profoundly, the introduction of the gospel was heralded by the Father’s words proclaiming, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” JPT

Days of Praise Podcast is a podcast based on the Institute for Creation Research quarterly print devotional, Days of Praise. Start your day with devotional readings written by Dr. Henry Morris, Dr. Henry Morris III, Dr. John Morris, and others to strengthen and encourage you in your Christian faith.