A Divine Declaration

Introduction

Good morning please open in your Bibles to Luke 3:15-22 that is Luke 3:15-22. If you are using one of the Bible’s scattered throughout the chairs that is on page 806. Again that is page 806, Luke 3:15-22.

Declarations matter. They proclaim, announce, make clear important moments, truths, or laws. In 1776 the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain as 56 delegates from the Continental Congress signed their names on a document entitled The Declaration of Independence. Abraham Lincoln declared enslaved people in the Confederate states free with the Emancipation Proclamation, fighting ceased at the end of world war 2 at the announcement of V-E Day, and couples are married when an officiant pronounces them man and wife. Our declarations are not mere formalities, rather they codify and make official independence, freedom, peace, and commitment.

In today’s text we will see that Jesus the man from Nazareth, born of Mary, is the declared Son of God who baptizes in the Holy Spirit and fire and judges the world in righteousness. Jesus is the Christ. Sent from God the Father to save His people from their sin. I pray this morning that either you will see for the first time that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Or if you are a Christian, that God would renew in your mind the wonder and glory of Christ. Read Luke 3:15-22

Declaring Christ as Greater v. 15-17

Luke 3:15–17 “As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.””

Last week we saw the John was out in the wilderness preaching and people of various walks of life were responding in large numbers by repenting of their sin and being baptized. This great movement caused the people to wonder, “is this man the Christ?” God’s work through John prompted people to be in expectation. God’s plan to prepare the way of Jesus through John was working! The hears of the people were being stirred and they were primed and ready for the Christ. So, John answers them. He tells them that he is not the Christ, and as he does this he tells them about the Christ.

John explains that He is not the Christ, but that the Christ will be better than him in three specific ways. The Christ’s baptism will be greater than John’s baptism, the Christ status will be greater than John’s, and the Christ’s judgment with be greater. John baptizes with water, but the Christ will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. John is only a man, while Jesus is a man and He is God. He is the person of the Son. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and therefore to be baptized into the name of Jesus, which is the response of repenting of your sin and placing your faith in Jesus, is to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. This comes to fruition in Acts 2 as the Spirit falls upon the believers at Pentecost and they begin speaking speaking in other languages. A way in which the Spirit equips Christians to declare the Gospel to all nations. In Acts 1:4–5 “…he [Jesus] ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.””

We should not understand this to be a second baptism or something that happens after you become a Christian at some later date. We shouldn’t even understand this to be something that happens only at the moment of water baptism. Rather, we need to see that we are baptized with the Holy Spirit the moment we put our faith in Christ. Every Christian, is indwelt in the Holy Spirit. It is only the work of the Spirit that grants new birth in Christ and only the Spirit that can open the eyes of the sinner, so that they can receive Christ by faith. All Christians are baptized or immersed (the literal rendering of the greek word baptizo) in the Holy Spirit. And this happens where we believe. Ephesians 1:13 “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,”

John could baptize with water as a symbol of the cleansing power of repentance. But only Christ can baptize you in the Holy Spirit, and this baptism as we just read is the promise of the Father. All who believe in Jesus are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We are immersed in Him.The Holy Spirit, is not an it, but a Him. He is a person, the 3rd person of the Trinity and He promises to be with you wherever you go. He promises to comfort you, give you peace, convict you of sin, empower you to change, equip you for ministry. He is so great that Jesus Himself said in John 16:7 “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” and Peter reminds us that 2 Peter 1:3–4 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” In Christ, normal sinful people like us become partakers of the divine nature. We are immersed in the Spirit of God!

So is John the Christ… No way! John merely baptizes in water. The Christ baptizes in the Holy Spirit! The baptism of Christ is far superior. Just as the status of Christ. John explains that he cannot be the Christ, because he is not worthy to even untie the strap of the Christ sandals. This would be task given to a low ranking slave. And John is saying He is not even worthy to be the slave of Jesus. Jesus far outranks John, and every preacher and Christian. No matter how great John’s ministry was, it only would prepare the way for true greatness.

John also knows that the Christ will be able to execute judgement against the unrighteous. John could warn of the judgement to come, but Jesus is the judge. He baptizes the believer in the Holy Spirit, but he will baptize the unbeliever in fire. Jesus will discern between the Christian and the non-christian. The illusion to wheat and chaff is reference to a common practice of John’s time in which a person would use a winnowing fork to separate the good and useable parts of wheat from the unusable parts of the plant, aka the chaff. The good portions would be kept to make bread, the bad parts would be burned. In the same way, Jesus is coming to discern who is wheat and who is chaff. His judgement as to who is wheat and who is chaff is perfect. You will not fool him. You can’t fake your way into heaven. He will discern between the wheat and chaff. If you are here today, and you are not confident of you status before God, then I encourage you, please repent of you sin and place your faith in Jesus.

The greatest of sinners can be baptized by the Holy Spirit like the tax collectors we discussed last week. The hated of society can find forgivness of sin and be found to be wheat by the righteous judge. Jesus paid the price for your sin. In Him, you can be saved from the judgement of God.

And knowing that our eternity is secure in the hands of God enables us to not fear the opposition we will experience in this world. John declares the greatness of Christ, and he declares Christ even in the midst of opposition

Declaring Christ Through Opposition v. 18-20

Luke 3:18–20 “So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.”

John declared that Jesus was the Christ. The one who would come after him and baptize people in the Holy Spirit and fire. And he preached that everyone was to repent of their sin. He showed not partiality in his exhortations and declarations. Herod was the tetrarch of Galilee, which means he had great political and civil power. He used this power to take out his enemies. John reproved or openly stated that Herod was in the wrong, for marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias. He was an adulterer.

He did many evils things, and John called these things evil as well. In preaching a baptism of repentance, he declared that all should repent, even government rulers who hurt him. It is always tempting to pull our punches when the person we are talking to you can cause us harm in some way. Yet, we are called to declare what is right to all people. John reproved Herod for his adultery, and it landed him in prison.

Imprisoning a prophet of the Lord is an evil thing. It added to the evil that Herod had done. This is how sin works. Our sin breeds more sin in our lives. We sin, and then we have to cover it up. A little sin here leads to greater and greater sin there. And when caught in our sin, we can become willing to silence those that bring light to our sin. Herod is an evil ruler, a evil king who uses his power to prop up his evil acts. He takes what is evil and calls it good, and takes what is good and calls it evil. He takes his brother’s wife, and locks up the prophet of God.

This is in great contrast to the King who will sit on David’s throne forever. Which we learned about Jesus in Luke 1:32-33. In the same chapter Herod is called the king of Judea. In these opening chapters of Luke there is a tale of two kings. Jesus who will rule with justice and righteousness and Herod who uses his rule to take another man’s wife and silence those who would dare say anything. This tale of two kings is really a grander tale of two kingdoms. A tale that expands all of human history that tells of of two kingdoms at war. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. The kingdom of darkness uses power, imprisonment, and death to coherence and force its demands upon its subjects. All who belong to this kingdom live under the rule of the desires, just like Herod. The desire for Herodias led him to the great evil of imprisoning a prophet of God. While those who belong to the kingdom of God are like John. They use love and truth to declare what is right and wrong. They declare the good news of repentance and the possibility of forgivness of sin. Even sins like Herod’s. John is loving Herod, just like he loved the crowds, the tax collectors, and soldiers who came to him in the wilderness to be baptized. He is warning him of the rather to come, and in preaching the good news he offers to every man, king or pauper the gift of forgivness of sins and a relationship with God.

T/S- You and I are called to follow John’s example. We are to declare the good news that sinners can repent and put their faith in Jesus to be forgiven of sin. This is a privilege. Because this declaration isn’t just a human one, but it is a divine declaration.

A Divine Declaration v. 21-22

Luke 3:21–22 “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.””

At the baptism of Jesus we see all three persons of the Trinity. The Father speaks, the Spirit descends as a dove, and the Son is declared as beloved. John is used as a human instrument to prepare the way for Jesus’ earthly ministry, but that ministry is ultimately inaugurated by a voice from heaven. The voice of a mortal man, even one like John who was chosen for the task in the womb, was still not sufficient. God’s voice would declare his love and pleasure in His Son.

This event fulfills Jewish expectations for what would occur at the start of the last days. The Jews believed, according to tradition, that three events would occur: the heavens would open, the Holy Spirit would descend on the Messiah, and a voice would speak from heaven. In the Testament of Levi, a document composed around 250 BC, says the following:

The heavens will be opened, and from the temple of glory sanctification will come upon him, with a fatherly voice, as from Abraham to Isaac. And the glory of the Most High shall burst forth upon him. And the spirit of understanding and sanctification Shall rest upon him [in the water]. For he shall give the majesty of the Lord to those who are his sons in truth forever

Second temple Judaism, the Judaism of this time believed that God was no longer speaking directly to His people, since the OT prophets had ceased. The coming of the Messiah or the Christ marked the begining of an age in which God would speak directly to his people again. He was essentially silent for 400 years, and now He speaks, but not just through a human prophet, but his very Son. Hebrews 1:1–2 “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, …

The Father declares his love for the Son and through the life and death of the Son he will declare his love for His people. Because it is through the Son that we can be made sons of God. It is through the Son that God can delight in us. There is no greater pleasure than being the object of God’s pleasure. This is the promise of the Gospel. You are a sinner far from God. But by his Son you can be brought near, forgiven of your sin, and become the recipient of the pleasure of the Father.

The feeling of pleasing a good earthly father is hard to describe. I have a specific memory as I was practicing to lead a worship service at my church growing up. I was on stage playing my guitar and I looked out to the empty sanctuary to see my Dad worshiping the Lord with tears in his eyes. When I finished the song, he looked up at me and told me he was proud of me. That happened 15 years ago, at least and I am sure there were many interactions with my Dad at that time. I don’t remember what we ate for dinner that weak, I don’t remember if we watched a good show together, what jokes we made, I don’t even remember what song I was playing, I remember the look on his face, the tears in eyes, and him telling me he was proud of me. There is a distinct joy for son knowing that his father finds pleasure in him.

Psalm 149:4 “For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.” How can a holy God take pleasure in sinful people? How can those who are enemies of God bring him joy? Romans 5:10–11 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” God can take pleasure in us and we rejoice in him because through the death of His Son we have been reconciled. God made peace with man, when he poured out his wrath on Jesus. And those who repentant of their sin and place their trust in Jesus are made sons and daughters of God. And when God looked upon His Son he makes a declaration. “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” God is please with those who are his. If you are in Christ, God is pleased with you.

Knowing that God is pleased with you is a game changer. If God is pleased with us we do not need to fear the opinions of others, if God is pleased with us shame and guilt cannot rule us, if God is pleased with us we do not need to fear the future, if God is pleased with us we can repent, embrace forgiveness, and try again. If you are in Christ, God is pleased with you, because you are in the Son, and he has declared from heaven His pleasure in the Son.

Conclusion

God’s declaration of his pleasure in us fuels our ability to declare his Gospel. We can push through opposition because if God is for me, then who can be against me. If the kingdom of darkness attempts to silence me, it is means nothing so long as the King of Glory declares that I am His beloved. We can endure pain, knowing the pleasure of God awaits us. We joyfully celebrate the greatness of Jesus as we experience the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. This text declares to us this morning God is with you by His Spirit, God is for you, even if the world is against you, and God is pleased with you, even you are not pleased with yourself. Let’s pray.