Well Pleased

“This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.”

These words ring with the tone of a loving Father, one who has no reserves in His love for His son. Of course, we know these are the words of God to Jesus His son and of course we know He loves him. The display of love that God gave to Jesus is magnificent, the heavens open and God audibly declares His fatherhood and Christ’s sonship. To imagine hearing that with our own ears... how magnificent!

But, we don’t believe it. Not fully at least, because with each doubt about God’s love for us we doubt His love for the Son. God has always been pleased with Jesus why did He need to say it? Why did He need to say it audibly?
  For us. 
When God said these words to Jesus it was not the beginning of the plan for salvation. That plan was set before time began. It wasn’t the beginning of God’s pleasure in Jesus... that is eternal. But what the ears of those present could not yet grasp was that these words were meant for them as well. They are meant for us. 

This display of love was amazing, but the display of love of Christ on the cross trumps even this. The display of love and power at the resurrection of Christ proves the depth of God’s affection for mankind. God loves Jesus, for Jesus deserves that love. But the fact that God loves us, even when we do not deserve it... that is powerful. And when God spoke these words, for mankind to hear for the first time, He also knew that he would be speaking them over and over again to every son and daughter who has faith in His Son.

Do we fully believe that God is pleased with us? Do we completely trust that we are His beloved? Jesus deserved to be called these things, we did not. And yet, He still calls out to us as His beloved. He still claims us as His daughters and sons. Let us not doubt His love for us because it is not dependent upon our fragile human ability. It is simply dependent upon God’s love for His Son and that love is eternal.

God, with us?

The Gospel of Matthew begins the whirlwind of fulfilled prophecy in the form of Jesus Christ. The pages that lead up to this book are filled with expectation, sinful desires, longing for freedom, and God’s broken heart over mankind. They are mixed with struggles of sin and His Grace. His righteous judgement constantly collides with His mercy. It is too much for us to fathom because we are post-salvation. But in Matthew 1, the author gives us a glimpse of how amazing this God-man actually is. God’s judgement had to be satisfied, not because He’s evil, but because He is perfect. And the only way to satisfy His judgement was to send Himself.

The angel gives Joseph the name of this child which is not his own. This child that had been there at the beginning of the world (Genesis 1:26). “Call his name, Jesus...”  This name is the Greek for Joshua which means “The LORD saves”. And it is vital that this name is mentioned first for without His salvation we could not enjoy the next name of Jesus.

Immanuel, God with us. We know what this word is. We sing it at Christmas, it hangs on our walls in the form of paintings, it brings a sense of love and comfort. But without Jesus, God with US is too heavy to bear. We’ve lost the sense of awe at God’s perfection. This same God who is with us, is the God whose glory was too much for Moses to glance at.. This is the same God whose presence killed 70 people because they simply looked into the ark of the Lord. God... with us? That’s terrifying.

BUT, because we have this Salvation, because we have Jesus, God with us becomes heaven on earth. Jesus is the perfect mixture of salvation and justice. He is truth and grace. Let’s not forget how beautiful and terrifying Immanuel is. But let us also praise the Father for saving us from His unfathomable judgement through Jesus Christ.