What God Declares About Me Matters!

“And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Mt. 3:17 (NIV)

This is one of those passages that has always moved my heart. Although the Father’s love for His Son was unmistakable, God still chose to voice his divine declaration of deep affection when Jesus was baptized. What a beautiful statement of identity, love and affirmation spoken at the outset of Christ’s public ministry by his Father. Throughout eternity past, Christ had experienced nothing but a relationship of perfect mutual love and that same relationship extended on into his earthly ministry.  Despite the fact that the Almighty was certainly not required to make this proclamation, yet he very deliberately reminded his Son of who he was, how deeply he was loved and how he brought pleasure to his Father. I can only imagine how sweet these words of affirmation must have been in ministering encouragement to the humanity of Jesus as he embarked on the tremendous mission that lay before him.

I’m profoundly challenged by this tender expression of verbalized love from the Father. It’s easy to think that in his divinity Jesus did not need to hear these words. And yet God chose to speak these truths over his Son.

There is tremendous power in words of genuine affirmation and love to others. We live in a culture where our value and worth are too often measured by our performance and abilities, by what we do rather than who we are and who our Maker designed us to be. God’s tender example moves me to want to be better at verbalizing my love to others… at expressing sincere words of affirmation, not so much for what others can do but for the beauty of Godly character that is evidenced in their lives demonstrating that they are truly His.

It’s interesting to note that the very next scene after this verse opens with the temptation of Christ in the desert by the devil.

The Father knew His Son’s identity would be the first thing the devil would seek to undermine, particularly at a time of great human vulnerability. Isn’t that just like our enemy to capitalize on our moments of greatest weakness?  The tempter began to launch his fiery darts of doubt at Jesus, “If you are the Son of God …”  “If?” Did not the Father just make this abundantly clear at Christ’s baptism? Jesus did not engage in discussion or debate. He didn’t have to. God had already declared him to be “my Son” and that was enough! He took his Father at his word.

Not much has changed in the schemes our enemy employs against God’s children today. Satan still seeks to attack our identity in a variety of ways in an effort to discourage, discredit and defeat us. He hopes to render us ineffective for the kingdom through his lies, his whispers of condemnation and through sowing seeds of doubt in our minds. 

So the question we need to ask ourselves is, “Do I really believe God’s declarations over me?” Or more specifically, “Does my life demonstrate that I believe what God says about me? Do I take him at his word? Is what God declares about me enough?” It’s one thing to know what God says about me in the Scriptures; it’s quite another to embrace these truths for myself and live them out, particularly in the midst of disappointments, chronic pain, dashed dreams, financial pressures, job loss or relational challenges. These unexpected and unwelcome situations in life have a way of exposing what we really believe. Our times of greatest weakness, frailty or uncertainty test the reality of our faith and where our identity lies.

Our God is so faithful! He continually reassures me with words of truth set forth in the Scriptures. As with his Son, my Father proclaims my divine identity. He reminds me that I am his, that I am dearly loved and that, because I am in Christ, I bring him pleasure. These powerful declarations of truth from God himself give me tremendous confidence, security and comfort. What God says about me matters and it is more than enough to extinguish those fiery darts of the devil. God’s powerful truths equip me to run the race He has set before me as I seek to live for His honor and glory cooperating with his Kingdom purposes in this broken and corrupt world.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 Jn. 3:1 (NIV)