“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…” (Matthew 3:16-17). At Jesus’ baptism that began His ministry, the heavens were opened, and they were also opened at the close of his ministry (Acts 1:9-11; Mark 16:9-20; Hebrews 4:14-16; 9:23-24).
In the same manner, the heavens were opened when we were baptized, for we are “united with Christ in baptism” (Romans 6:1-5; Colossians 2:12; Galatians 3:26-27). The heavens will be opened to us again when we meet Christ at His Second Coming. If alive, that will certainly be when we close our ministries (John 14:1-4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10).
At our Lord’s baptism, Matthew 3:17 says, “And Lo a voice from heaven…” Again, it is most enlightening to read the times when “a voice came from heaven to Jesus.” We note this, too, at His birth in Luke 2:10-12. At His transfiguration in Matthew 17:1-5 and during the last days of His ministry as revealed in John 12:28, a voice from Heaven came to our Lord.
The problem in the world today is that people are not hearing the voice of God. God speaks to us today through His Word as we are told, “Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:14). Faith comes “by hearing the word” (Romans 10:17; John 6:44-45).
Everyone who becomes a Christian does so because he has heard and hearkened unto God’s calling (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46; John 6:45; Romans 10:13-17). We, today, have a choice to make. We can either heed the voice of God as He calls us by the Word, or we can dismiss such a calling (Luke 8:18; Mark 4:24; Hebrews 2:1-4).
This is not the only time we will hear the voice of God. We need to be reminded that if we are alive at Jesus’ Second Coming, we will hear His voice—in this case, Jesus Christ, who possesses all of the qualities of being God (1 Thessalonians 4:16). If we are dead and in the grave at the time of the Second Coming, we will still hear Him when the call is given (John 5:28-29). When we stand before God in the Judgment, we will, yet once again hear His voice (Matthew 25:34, 40-41, 44-45).
We have a choice today as to what we will do with the voice of God, but when God speaks to us at the Judgment, not a single one of us will have an opportunity to refute our eternal assignment, even though we may argue with the King (Matthew 7:22; Luke 13:25-27).
It is in Matthew 3:17 that we read, “…saying, This is my beloved Son…” It is imperative that we realize we become sons of God (Christians) when we are baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-27). Let us know that it was after His baptism that God called Jesus “my beloved Son.” Many today mistakenly teach and believe that they can become “a son of God” before being born again—born into the family of God.
We please the God of Heaven when we believe (Hebrews 11:5-6) and are baptized (Mark 16:16). Then, we must be steadfast (Hebrews 10:36-39; 1 Corinthians 10:1-5), live the life of a Christian (Romans 12:1-2; 14:16-19; Galatians 5:25; Hebrews 13:16; 1 John 5:11-12) and do His will (Hebrews 13:20-21).
If the above is not our top priority, we will hear him say, “Depart from me” because we failed God by being displeasing to Him. May this never be our disposition entering into eternity.
