Baptism of Jesus Mark 1:1-8

The first book

The first book of New Testament is the gospel of Mark its significant as the first recorded word of God. Similarly, the first book of Old Testament is about God’s intention and the very first episode of history of His created earth and His created image. The first book of New Testament is about the very first episode of His created Church and His restoration of His blemished image

The Characters

The first character, God himself, Jesus Christ (first person, the Son of God, the Messiah). the perfect image of God (Gen 1:26–28). He is the past, present and future: the Alpha and Omega.

The second character the past prophet, Isaiah (Second person, the prophet, the messenger of God),

The third character, the present prophet, John the Baptist (Third Person, the prophet, the fore-runner of the Messiah)

The names

the meaning of Jesus Christ means Saviour and anointed one;

the meaning of Isaiah in Hebrew means God is salvation

the meaning of John in Hebrew means God has been gracious.

The image of God (Grace and Sin)

Man and woman are said to have been created in the image/likeness of God in only three passages in the early chapters of Genesis (Gen 1:26–28; 5:1–3; 9:6). (Curtis, E.M., 1992. Image of God (OT) D. N. Freedman, ed. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, 3, p.389.)

We are the same as the first images of God, Adam and Eve, and are blemished. From eternal begin being temporal. our lives are timed. From residing in the eternal garden of Eden to residing in the temporal corrupted world through Adam’s sin. everything is temporal, nothing last forever in this corrupted world. Adam, the blemished image of God, is the gateway for sin to enter this world and

The Water Baptism of Jesus Christ

The meaning of baptism means physical cleansing. Traditionally a Jewish ceremonial washing before entering the temple, the House of God, the Holy place.

John the Baptist used it as an act of repentance for the Jewish people. Repentance means turning away from sin and turning back to God.

Jesus is sinless, the water baptism is not an act of repentance from Jesus. it is an act of obedience to God the Father.

The Baptism of Holy Spirit

God’s Spirit descended on Jesus when Jesus emerged from the water.

By Adam’s disobedience, sin entered His image and this world. Adam became the blemish image of God and multiple on this earth. By Jesus, the first Adam’s obedience, God’s spirit returned to His own perfect unblemished image and dwell in Him as His living temple. His living temple as His kingdom enter this world.

God’s Spirit

In the first chapter book of Genesis: In the beginning there was God, the earth was empty, formless, dark and the spirit of God hovered over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light.' so there was day, followed by night. Each New day came New creation, Vast Oceans, the vast sky, the Earth green and growing. the Spirit of God, the creator Spirit. brought out of the chaos-the cosmos; out of disorder-order; out of deformity- beauty. Out of lifeless - life.

The Temple

God’s dwelling place is the Kingdom of God. The temple is the only God’s dwelling on earth.

God’s spirit dwell in Jesus’ sinless body and God’s perfect image as God’s living temple.

Our Father in Heaven proclaimed that He is please with His son, His perfect image as His living temple and is the living water to give eternal life to who believed in Him.

Jesus therefore proclaimed the Kingdom of God is here. Jesus himself is the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom of God, there is no sickness, no deformity, no sadness, no suffering, no thirsty, no hunger and no death. Whoever come to Jesus is made free from spiritual bondage, healed, blind can see, deaf can hear, lame can walk, dead can live again.

The blueprint of God’s plan

OT is the blueprint of God’s plan for Jesus in NT.

In parallel with the OT, we can compare the first chapter of OT with the first Chapter of NT.

the First chapter of Genesis, the God’s spirit, Creator spirit (spiritual form) came with God’s word. To bring light, the new heaven and new earth amongst the dark, chaos and without form. The Trinity is the first Saviour in spirit. Moses is the the first Saviour in fresh. There were 400 years in Egypt’s oppression. Egypt in Ancient Hebrew means double trouble or double press in. God guide Moses to bring His people out of the double trouble and double oppression. (www.ancient-hebrew.org). the two oppression were oppression from the King of Egypt and the Spiritual oppression of the false regions and false gods in Egypt the greatest god in Egypt is The Pharaoh him self. therefore double oppression from one single person.

in Parallel in Mark 1:1-8, the Creator Spirit came down in Physical Form descended on Jesus the Son of God in Physical form (fresh). the Creator Spirit and the word are in Physical form (in Fresh), the Trinity appears before the people. This is the tipping point in God’s plan for his people (his blemished part of His image) after 400 years of Silence after Malachi. In Parallel, there were 400 years in Egypt before Moses arrived to redeem the people of Israel from oppression. There were 400 years after the last OT prophet Malachi, Jesus, God himself came in fresh as the Messiah, the Saviour, to save His people from the Spiritual oppression and chaos, and to restore His own image and return us to His family and live in a place overflow of His living water in the book of Revelation like Eden once again.

The first Person: Jesus Christ

The centre of the whole New Testament. the most important tipping point in the Jewish and the world history introduced in the first sentence of the entire New Testament. Jesus Christ is the centre piece of the Gospel, the Good News.

God’s spirit himself in his own perfect sinless unblemished image came amongst his blemished images in the first book and the first chapter of New Testament. All begins with God to give by His grace.

This is centre of the whole New Testament. The new era and the most important tipping point in the Jewish and the world history introduced in the first sentence of the entire New Testament. Jesus Christ is the centre piece of the Gospel, the Good News for His blemished image.

The Speech of God, the Trinity

God’s Word became fresh. Our father is well please of His Son in His own image on earth.

Jesus on the cross took away all our blemishes and covered with His righteousness and Holiness by the Holy Spirit. the image of God is restored by believing in Jesus Christ. by Faith, we received the blessing to be the temple of God. we are the priest of God we are the disciple of Christ. we are Christian and Christlike in our daily lives, in our hearts, souls, and minds.

Jesus said to Pharisee, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. Matt 22:37-39

The Omega (Everlasting Grace)

Mark 1:8 ESV John the Baptist says: ‘I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”

We are baptised with Jesus’ eternal Spirit means we are cleaned and covered by His eternal Spirit and righteousness once for all after Jesus’ fresh died on cross for us. Jesus substitutes for us to take the wrath of God for our sins. We, Christians, are in Christ covered by His righteousness and our Father only see us in Christ eternally righteousness and will not see our sins, His blemished images anymore forever.

Revelation 1:8 ESV

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

By our Father’s Grace, we are blessed through Christ. Through Jesus Christ’s righteous on us and in us, we are blessed with our Father’s wisdom wisdom and favours. His Grace is our unearned and undeserved favours. God has been gracious ( by the meaning of His messenger’s name John the Baptist) in the beginning and to the end by the writer of God’s final written message in the book of Revelation, John the Apostle (God has been gracious until the end).

Jesus is almighty limitlessness

Nicky Campbell in the alpha online said that

the first one to forgive is the strongest,

the first one to forget is the happiest.

Jesus gave himself for me, our Father will never look at our sin anymore.

Through Jesus, Our Father has given us limitless forgiveness because He is the strongest almighty (as Jesus taught Peter to forgive seventy times seven). He is the fountain of happiness. Imagine there there 2.4 Billion people on earth are Christian in 2020 and have been forgiven. There are 17.2 Billion people are not Christians. Many of them are at our doorstep, our neighbours. we are Christians mean we are Christ-like. What should we do every day to our non-believing neighbours and friends?

Fountain of limitless joy and happiness

Our Father Through Jesus Christ has given us the fountain of limitless joy and happiness.

The scripture says: Hebrews 10:16–18 ESV 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

The Law demands, The Grace gives

The Law demands righteousness, and the Jewish Priests developed ritual to show their people how to be physically righteous by behaviours but lack Godly hearts.

After the first Pentecost in OT, the Law came (Moses brought the two tablets of commandments from Mt Sinai), 3000 were judged and killed (The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died (Exo32:28))

The first Pentecost after Jesus ascension, the Holy Spirit came in ACT 2 to the Disciples of Jesus Christ, by God’s grace, 3000 were saved.

For if, by the trespass of the one man (Adam), death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! (Roman 5:17)

We Christians received God’s grace by faith through Jesus Christ our saviour. After the Baptism of Holy Spirit, we are covered by Christ’s righteousness before Our Father.

We believed in Christ by faith and received and filled by His Grace until eternity.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing through reading the God’s word.

The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16–20 ESV

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

By faith in Jesus Christ, we are Baptised in the name of the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit. We have received the limitless of Grace from our God. We Christians live like Christ will also pass His grace to the unbelievers: we can start with giving our times to share the Good News of Christ in our lives with all the unbelievers. Boldly proclaim that we are Christians, its not by our might but by Jesus’ name we do it. By His Grace we give that has already given to us.

God’s Plan

Mark 1:1-8 has summarised God’s eternal plan for restoring His own images Through His Son Jesus Christ and finished covering His people turn back with Jesus Christ righteous Through the holy Spirit. Its all initiated, executed, restored by God alone. We Christians are just here to received His grace of redemption and justification by our faith in Christ.

Roman 5:1 says : Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

(peace may be translated to let’s keep rejoicing (the Bible Knowledge Commentary))

God is our future hope and the hope is now in us through Jesus Christ and is forever. Forever Shalom. Amen.

This is my moment of thoughts whiling writing this bible note: The painful past is death, there is no future but death in the painful past. It is sin that bring us back to our painful past and keep our focus away from God in our presence. Stay with God’s glory means stay in his presence. Look at God means look away from sin. This is repentance. When we look at God by praying, reading his word, singing and worship Him, mediating His word in spirit and even just praise and proclaim in our minds and by our mouths that “ we are the righteous of God in Christ” at any time day and night. Jesus will walk us together to his Glory from our presence to eternity. Just keep looking away from unhappiness by look at God. We are saved by Jesus Christ. God is out Fountain of peace joy and happiness, we are righteous in Christ. we are filled with peace, joy and happiness. we are filled with overflowing grace, Satan always try to tempt us to think that we are not filled. its does and finished by Jesus Christ on the Cross. Its once for all. there is no second cross.

Doubt is non-believing. so don’t doubt. Jesus gives us once for all the mean to the fountain, we are over-filled by faith in Christ. Jesus is the Word. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by reading the Word of God.