Mrk. 1:11 ... "And a Voice came from heaven, 'You are My beloved Son; with You I am well pleased'."
For several months John the Baptist had been preaching, and baptizing in the Jordan River, when Jesus appeared in the crowds one day and came forward to be baptized Himself. John's entire ministry had the coming of Christ as its object, so that Jesus' appearance was the climax of John's work. He had been proclaiming to the multitudes, "After me comes He who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit," (vs. 7-8). When Jesus presented Himself for baptism, John immediately protested his unworthiness to perform such an honored task. Matthew then reports that "John would have prevented Him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?' But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness'," (Mat. 3:14-15). When it was accomplished, there came the Voice from heaven, "You are My beloved Son; with You I am well pleased."
The phrase, "to fulfill all righteousness,' means to do entirely what God has decreed that one should do. It was God's will that Jesus should submit to John's baptism. Jesus complied with His Father's will and even insisted that John baptize Him when John protested. The only reason that Jesus was baptized was to do His Father's will. It is otherwise with us today. It is still God's will that people should be baptized. Those who deny this are perverting a number of very clear statements in the New Testament. Jesus Himself, to cite just one passage, commanded His disciples, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," (Mat. 28:19). Our purpose in baptism, however, goes beyond the singular objective "to fulfill all righteousness." That purpose is "for the forgiveness of your sins," (Acts 2:38). Saul of Tarsus was ordered to "rise and be baptized and wash away your sins," (Acts 22:16). One wonders why so many people today object to baptism "to fulfill all righteousness" and to receive "the forgiveness of sins," since these are clearly stated Biblical reasons for it. Moreover, there is the moving example of Jesus that calls for emulation by every prospective disciple.
God the Father put His stamp of approval upon Jesus' compliance with the proclamation from heaven, "You are My beloved Son; with You I am well pleased." Jesus is THE SON OF GOD in a way that is unique and unparalleled. By virtue of His exclusive relation to God as THE SON and His supreme sacrifice for sin, Jesus enables all who obey Him to become sons of God in a way that is essentially important. It is written that "it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the Founder of their salvation perfect through suffering," (Heb. 2:10). It is also written, "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called 'children of God'; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God's children now," (I Jno. 3:1-2).
When a person today is led by faith, planted in his heart by the word of God (see I Pet. 1:22-23), to obey Jesus' commandment to receive baptism "for the forgiveness of sin," that person is indeed born again. It is only by this birth that one enters the family of God as a son of God. It is therefore conceivable that on His throne in heaven God then proclaims, "you are My beloved son; with you I am well pleased." (Notice the small case, highlighted, underlined letter!) This day of that person's birth into God's family immediately becomes the greatest day of his life.
