Like A Dove

Like A Dove (John 1:29-34)

The Revealing By John (vs.29,31)

Behold the Lamb of God!

John’s ministry was to be the forerunner of Christ.

Isaiah 40:3–5 “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, And every mountain and hill shall be made low: And the crooked shall be made straight, And the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together: For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, Even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Manifest - to make known, reveal openly, bring into clear view.

John’s baptism was used, not for redemption, but for a revealing. God used John’s baptism as the means to publicly reveal Jesus Christ as the Messiah. (John 1:31 “And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.” )

The Realization By John (vs.33-34)

John knew him not (to know intuitively without any effort)

You know that 2 + 2 = 4 without having to consciously work through the calculation. You don't need to count objects or reason through the steps—you simply recognize the answer immediately.

Though John was Jesus’ cousin, he hadn’t yet realized that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Before God showed John who Jesus was, John was just as clueless as everyone else about who Jesus was.

Do you know who Jesus is? Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ?

Matthew 16:13–16 “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 16:17 “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

John believed the word that God the Father said about Jesus Christ.

John 1:33–34 “And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.”

Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God!

The Resting on Jesus (vs.32)

Abode - rested, resided

Matthew 3:13–17 “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 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.”

The Holy Spirit descended LIKE A DOVE on the Son of God. This is no random act. This is a wonderful picture and type of an Old Testament story.

Genesis 8:8 is the first mention of a dove in the Bible.

The Dove Typified Rest

The dove couldn’t find rest, but the Holy Spirit rested on Jesus.

The you cannot find a place to land in this world, but you can land and find yourself on the Rock of Ages!

The Dove Typified A Receding

The dove is mentioned when the waters begin to recede (vs.11), the Holy Spirit lands on Jesus when He comes out of the water after being baptized.

The dove in Genesis represents that the old world has passed. The Holy Spirit descending on Jesus represents that the Old Covenant is soon to be done away with! It’s a transition from and old life to a new life!

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Romans 6:4 “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Galatians 6:15 “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”

Hebrews 10:19–20 “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;”

Hebrews 12:24 “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”

The Dove Typified Reconciliation

Genesis 8:11 (Olive leaf pluckt off)

This showed that the judgment waters was gone because the dove brought a leaf back to Noah. There’s only one person who can show that judgment is gone!

Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

Ephesians 2:11–17 “Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.”

The Dove Typified Refuge

Genesis 8:9 (the dove returned to the ark)

Christ is the ark of safety. Refuge can’t be found in this world, but in can be found in the ark! (Christ!)

Psalm 9:9 “The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble.”

Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”

Psalm 57:1 “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: For my soul trusteth in thee: Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, Until these calamities be overpast.”

Psalm 62:7–8 “In God is my salvation and my glory: The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, Pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.”

Psalm 91:2 “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: My God; in him will I trust.”

The Dove Typified a Report

Dove announced judgement had passed and peace was made possible. Holy Spirit resting on Jesus announces that judgement can pass and peace is possible!