The Inauguration

INTRO:

In about a year from now we will be inaugurating the 47th President of the United States.

With this will come great fanfare and expense.

Months of planning and millions of dollars will go toward this event.

It’s kind of a big deal.

This morning I want us to look at another Inauguration that took place a couple thousand years ago.

Remind them of the series we have been doing:

We have been looking at two events in history that mankind will never to be able to go back to the way it was before these events took place.

The first one ......

Gen. 3 about the fall of man.

Sin entered into the world because of Adam and Eve.

There is no going back......... no do over!

Man was no longer able to walk with God in the garden anymore.

Sin caused a wall of separation between us and God.

There is this great divide.

There is another lifestyle that is being lived out now.

They are no longer going to be able to live like they did prior to this event.

For man (Genesis 3:17–19 “And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.””)

For woman (Genesis 3:16 “To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.””)

(NIV) “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

For the Serpent (Genesis 3:14–15 “The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””)

The Second event that took place in our world that mankind was never to be able to go back to the way it was before this event.......

It’s found in the latter part of Matthew 3

BODY:

Matthew 3:13–4:10 (ESV)

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 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.”

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”

Let’s catch us up to speed with what’s going on....... , Jesus’ Baptism!

His cousin, better know as (JB) “John the Baptist,” was out at the Jordan River administering a Baptism of Repentance.

This was prophecy being fulfilled .....

Malachi 3:1 ““Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come ......”

Isaiah 40:3 “A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

Jesus is around the age of 30 when he approaches John and ask to be Baptized by him.

John refuses to do this ..... asking Christ to Baptize him.

Jesus say’s (Matthew 3:15) “..... Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

My translation: No, you have to Baptize me because its the right thing to do for this moment in history. It’s the Fathers WILL.

(Verse 15) Righteousness “must be seen as the whole purpose of God for his people, and not just as a moral quality only.”

He therefore takes the phrase “to fulfil all righteousness” to mean the fulfillment not only of the purpose of God upon his people, but also the fulfillment of those Scriptures in which those demands are set out—law, prophets, writings.

Its not like God was saying, “Go be Righteous” and then you were to figure it out on your own what that meant.

He wrote it down for us ...... The Bible!!!

The basic meaning of righteousness in the Gospel of Matthew is that of doing the will of God.

JB baptizing Jesus wasn’t about a moral responsibility but about obedience.

It was about doing the WILL OF THE FATHER.

Righteousness is in no way a legalistic term, but describes the natural and inevitable response to God by his people.

In the present context Jesus interprets baptism at the hands of John the Baptist as a means by which both he and John must react to God’s will and grace.

I love this picture ......

In the redemption plan of God, for mankind, He incorporates Man in it.

John the Baptist is being used to Baptize Jesus which is ordained by God to do so.

As a matter of fact, Gods plan to bring back all his lost Sheep is by the use of us.

You are part ....... we are part of God’s redemptive plan.

I can see you are not in awe of this like I was.

Let’s look at it this way, if we have been forgiven of our sin’s then what will we be judged on when we stand before Jesus?

Can’t be sin ........ forgiven!!!!!

On our purpose! God’s purpose for our lives.

What will be asked is, “Did you do the will of the father?”

Did I preach the truth?

Did I feed the hungry?

Did I give to the poor?

Did I love the unlovable?

Did I bless those who needed a blessing?

Did I lift up those who needed a hand?

Did I cast out demons and set the captives free In Jesus Name?

Did I pray for my enemies?

Did I pray for my family, friends, and my neighbors?

Did I stand for righteousness?

Think of it like this, John the Baptist was not Baptizing Jesus for Forgiveness of sin.......

John the Baptist was just doing the will of the father just as we are asked to do.

What’s the will of the Father?

Well one one thing comes to mind: Matthew 28:19–20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

But going back to the questions: Why, then, was Jesus baptized?

The answer is given in His reply to John: “thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness” (v. 15).

The baptism was an actual entrance into the human race.

In so doing Jesus identified Himself with all humanity.

Though He never sinned, He united Himself in a real way with sinful men.

He did not place Himself upon a pedestal, but plunged into the arena of moral conflict.

He became one with us in our lowly estate.

The climax of Christ’s identification with sinful humanity came when He hung on the Cross in man’s place, condemned as a criminal.

That is the mystery of divine redemption.

Only the Love of God could have done it.

CONCLUSION:

God is calling us today.

He has been calling us to His purpose.

Let me get more direct ..... “God is calling you today/” “He has been calling you to His purpose.”

I run across people who will say, “I don’t know what Gods purpose is for my life?”

After a few questions I find they haven’t really been seeking or listening.

I want to challenge you today ......

Seek the fathers purpose/plan for you today.

If you already know his purpose for you ....... Are you doing it?

If not, repent and get back at it.

If you are, keep going!

I want you to pray a declaration with me this morning ........

Dear Jesus, I declare today that I will join heirs with you and do the will of the father for my life. I will passionately seek out the purpose for my life and put it into action. I declare that 2024 will be the year I seek your will over mine. I will trust in your plan more than mine. I will allow my faith to grow and will saturate myself in your word. I will trust, in that still small voice of the Holy Spirit, and follow His directions. I declare this by faith in Jesus Name.

_STOP___________________________________________________________________________________________

Scripture tells us that “when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water”

This is referencing the understanding that Christ came up out of the Jordan River and stood on the bank.

What is about to take place is a “world changing” moment in history.

Life, as people knew it back then, was about to change and they would never be able to go back to the way it was before.

When Jesus comes up from the water he experiences three things that in Jewish tradition signified the inauguration of God’s eschatological kingdom:

1) the heavens were opened above him,

2) the Spirit descended upon him,

3) and the heavenly voice spoke to him.

There is only three times recorded in the NT we find God speaking:

Here (Matthew 3:17)

Luke 9:35 “And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!””

John 12:28 “Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.””

The concurrence of these momentous events at the baptism signals that Jesus is the “more powerful one” that we read about in Mark 1:7 “And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.”

He is the one promised in the OT and the inaugurator of God’s eschatological kingdom.

Side note: This is also one of the rarities of the presence of the Trinity, all at the same time:

The Father “spoke” ...... The Spirit “rest upon” ...... Jesus “rose”!

This unique unity has been compared to water (H2O).

It appears in three forms: as liquid, as solid ice, and as steam—yet is all the same substance.

What I want to focus on this morning is Matthew 3:16 “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;”

In and through Jesus Christ, the heavens are opened to the children of men.

Sin shut up heaven, put a stop to all friendly intercourse between God and man;

..... but now Christ has opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

The heavens were opened when Christ was baptized, to teach us, that when we duly attend on God’s ordinances, we may expect communion with him, and communications from him.

John 14:15 ““If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

James 4:8 “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

In Scripture, heaven is presented as the abode of God and angels.

1.It is the throne of God (Matthew 5:34 “But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,”).

2.The Lord Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father which art in heaven” (Matt. 6:9). Scripture also describes, “Your Father … in heaven” (Matt. 6:1), “My Father … in heaven” (Matthew 10:32 “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,”)

3.At the baptism of Jesus, God Himself “tore open,” schizoménous, the heavens (Matt. 3:16).

It was as if the heavens, indeed, declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”) and of His Son, Jesus Christ (Matt. 3:16).

What was about to take place was preeminently the age of the Spirit according to the prophets (cf. Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;”), and therefore the one who is to baptize with the Spirit must himself experience the formal anointing of the Spirit.

What we see at this moment, Jesus coming up out of the water; The heavens opening up; the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus; and the Voice of God proclaiming “This is His Son!” is the inauguration of the KINGDOM OF GOD here on earth.

What was never here before has now been ushered in, THE HOLY SPIRIT!

The Incarnation was more than a coming in physical flesh.

It was an actual entrance into the human race.

Here is what I want to stress to you and me today ......

The followers of Christ are now going to see what it is like to “Live by the Spirit.”

At this point, once Christ was baptized he was led off to the wilderness to be tempted by the enemy.

But by living “in the Spirit,” Christ was able to rebuke the temptations of the enemy and move forward to set the captives free.

I want you to hear me when I say this,

Because of Christ baptism we are liberated from the oppressive power of sin (Romans 8:9–10 “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”).

Because of Christ baptism we are renewed believers the Spirit of God = Spirit of Christ = Spirit .... imparts life to believers (Romans 8:2–6 “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”),

Because of Christ baptism it has freed us from the law, sin, and death (Romans 8:1–17), so that they possess “the new life of the Spirit” (Romans 7:6 “But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”);

Because of Christ baptism we are supplied directive power as “the sons [and daughters] of God” (Romans 8:14 “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”);

Because of Christ baptism the Holy Spirit Intercedes for the children of God (Romans 8:26–27 “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”),

Because of Christ baptism the holy spirit Is the sanctifying agent of believers (Romans 8:1–17),

Because of Christ baptism the Holy Spirit bears witnesses to their adoption, and pledges the certainty of their future glory (Romans 8:16–17 “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”) ,

CONCLUSION: