"I Have Set Thee To Be A Light of the Gentiles, That Thou Shouldest Be For Salvation Unto the Ends of the Earth" - Part 1668

"" ... I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth." (Isaiah 49:6)

Thus saith the Lord, "In an acceptable time I have heard Thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped Thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped Thee; and I will preserve Thee, and give Thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; that Thou mayest say to the prisoners -- "Go forth" "to them that are in darkness; Shew yourselves." They shall feed in the ways and their pastures [shall be]  in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He guide them ..." (Isaiah 49:8-10)

Thus saith God the Lord, "He that created the heavens and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; He that given breath unto the people upon it, and Spirit to them that walk therein. I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles -- to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I [am] the Lord: that [is] My Name, and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles and the inhabitants thereof." (Isaiah 42:5-10)

Herein, the Lord (through the prophet Isaiah) is announcing His coming plan of salvation to the world. In speaking, the Lord is foretelling of the events still to occur, so that those who heard could know that the Lord God was going to "lift up Mine hand to the Gentiles." (Isaiah 49:22) And we see the Lord's Christ revealed in Luke 2:25-35 with Simeon who had been waiting for the consolation of Israel; the Holy Ghost being upon him.

"And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." (Luke 2:26) 

Thus, when he took Jesus up in his arms, he blessed God and said, "Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word -- for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to light the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.

As the angel and a multitude of the heavenly host had announced to the shepherds (tending their sheep in the field) -- "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:14) 

The new testament was being ushered in. And for this cause, He is the mediator of the new testament that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament [is], there must also of necessity be the death of the testator." (Hebrews 9:14-18)

In other words, there had to be a purchase. "And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all ..." (Hebrews 9:3) But we know that as long as the first covenant (with its ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary) was still standing, the Holiest of all could not yet be made manifest -- as signified by the Holy Ghost in Hebrews 9:8.

But then God commanded the light to shine out of darkness and hath shined in our hearts -- "To [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ ..." (II Corinthians 4:5) 

" ... the light of the glorious gospel of Christ -- who is the image of God -- should shine unto them!" (II Corinthians 4:4)

This is why understanding what happened when Jesus was water baptized by John the baptist/baptizer is critical. But not as the modern day religious culture and traditions of men teaches, but rather as the scripture elaborates -- rightly dividing the Word. (II Timothy 2:15) 

Jesus said, "These [are] the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and [in] the prophets, and [in] the psalms concerning Me." (Luke 24:44-45)

Thus, as we understand from John baptizing Jesus, the Son of God [named Jesus] was baptized, the Spirit descended like a dove, and a voice spoke from heaven. Yes? If we only examine this one scripture from Matthew 3:16-17, we are left with a plural understanding of God, even when the first commandment dictates that the Lord thy God is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29-31) So what is happening here? Let's examine the scriptures.

"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).

Luke 3:22 adds that the heaven was opened. "And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, "Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased." (Luke 3:22)

To understand, we need to remember that God is omnipresent; His right arm bringing forth salvation to the Gentiles. We also need to recognize that Jesus is God and was God manifested in the flesh. (I Timothy 3:16) "The fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in Him." (Colossians 1:17; Colossians 2:9) 

"He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not." (John 1:10-11)

At the same time, God did not sacrifice His omnipresence while on earth. The same Spirit of the Lord God who moved upon the face of the waters in the very beginning was the same Spirit of the Lord God which dwelt in the physical body of Christ Jesus. (Genesis 1:2) After His kindness and love, God became our Saviour. (Titus 3:4-7)

A good analogy might be to think of taking a cup of water from the ocean. The separated cup of water retains the same qualities and attributes of the water in the ocean, but does not (as a consequence of being apart from the ocean) prevent the tides from continuing to beat against the shoreline - as established in the beginning as part of God's perfect timing. 

"No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." (John 3:13)

Because of who Jesus said He was ["I and My Father are ONE!" -- John 10:30; "If ye had known Me ye should have known My Father also; and from henceforth ye know Him and have seen Him" -- John 14:6-12], He was both on earth and in heaven at the same time.

From this perspective, it is easy to understand that the Spirit of Jesus could speak from heaven while sending a manifestation of His Spirit in the form of a dove to remain on Him as a sign both for John the baptist/baptizer and those observing. Still, who did we see in the Jordan River? We saw only Jesus! And this same "seeing Jesus" is indicative of examples in other scriptures, like the transfiguration on the mount. But I digress.

Perhaps, we should first ask -- what was the purpose of Jesus' baptism? Certainly, He was not baptized for remission of sin as we are, because He was sinless. "Who did not sin, neither was guile found in His mouth." (I Peter 2:22) Instead, the Bible says He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. And Jesus answering said unto John, "Suffer [it to be so now;] for thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness." (Matthew 3:15; Mark 1:10; Isaiah 11:2; John 1:32) Therefore, Jesus herein is our example. He was water baptized in the River Jordan, thus leaving us His example to follow. (I Peter 2:21)

Moreover, Jesus was baptized to make Himself known to Israel, and as a starting point for His ministry on earth. A public declaration if you will of who Jesus was, and what He had intended to do. Again, Jesus was fulfilling the prophecies which had been told afore. We see this even in John, the messenger that went forth as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, telling one and all to "make straight the way of the Lord" [as said the prophet Isaiah, and also spoken of in Malachi 3]. Thus, John answered the Pharisees saying, "I baptize with water but there standeth one among you whom ye know not. He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose." (John 1:26-27) But as we also understand from John 1:33, John knew Him not.

At least not until this point. John needed a sign to acknowledge that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. This is why the Holy Ghost had previously indicated to John -- "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizes with the Holy Ghost." (John 1:33) When John saw this occur, he "bare record that this is the Son of God. (John 1:34) That Jesus was the prophesied Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. (John 1:29-34; Matthew 1:21-23)

Having now established the purpose of Christ's baptism, we can understand that the dove was a sign for the benefit of John the baptist. (John 1:32-33) And since John was incapable of seeing the Spirit of God anointing Christ, God used the likeness of a dove to be the visible sign of His Spirit. Since Jesus was God Himself manifest in the flesh, the Lord coming forth as a mighty man, He remained sinless. (I Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 42:13; Isaiah 9:6) Therefore, the symbolic oil from the old covenant was not sufficient. This is why Jesus was anointed directly by the Spirit of God. 

As for the voice that came from heaven, that was for the benefit of the people. We see a similar account of a voice from heaven in John 12:20-33, Matthew 17:1-9, and Luke 9:28-36. In all accounts (including Jesus' baptism), Jesus was always found alone. His disciples only saw Jesus.

Again, the miraculous voice from heaven was for the benefit of those standing on the shore (and by extension, for us today to understand that Jesus was He who would preach the acceptable year of the Lord. God's way of formally introducing Jesus to Israel as the One and Only -- and for them to "Hear ye Him!" (Matthew 17:5)

Jesus -- the second Adam being the Lord from heaven. (I Corinthians 15:47) [Note the first Adam was the son of God but earthly-- Luke 3:38]

"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17) In John 12:30, Jesus explains that the voice was not for Him but for the people "Jesus answered and said, "This voice came not because of Me, but for your sakes ..." (John 12:30)

This is why Jesus said, "He that believes on Me, believes not on Me but on Him that sent Me [because] he that sees Me sees Him that sent Me. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believes on Me should not abide in darkness ...." (John 12:44-50)

Yes, Jesus knowing that the Father had given ALL things into His hands also knew "that He was come from God" and that He similarly would be going back -- "went to God." (John 13:3)

We need to understand this too. Jesus is the greatest love story ever told. He wrote His own love story in both the heavens and on earth -- for one and all to behold, signed with His very own precious holy blood on that cross for you and I. 

Indeed, as Jesus said, "Now I tell you before it come, that when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am He." (John 13:19) 

Jesus - Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the ending. Jesus -- King of kings and Lord of lords. 

Get to know Jesus today. Find a King James (or earlier translation) of the new testament and begin reading the greatest love story ever told. Make notes. Underline those scriptures which stand out and make your heart dance as you continue to hide His Word in your heart. And make Jesus your all in all, because He alone is worthy of our praise and honour. 

Stand in the offering plate.