Jesus knew the love of the Father and experienced the foundational love that every believer should encounter regularly. In the Gospels, we can find the account of Jesus experiencing His Heavenly Father’s love.
This was imperative for Him, as He was about to begin His earthly ministry on the planet.
“Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove on Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son. In You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22, MEV).
As Jesus arose from the water, Father God decides He is going to speak.
It important to know there are only three times we specifically read Father God speak in the record of the Gospels. Two of the three times, we see Him say what we read here in this account.
The Father of all creation makes the decision to manifest His voice.
With this utterance, He doesn’t talk about the majesty of His greatness or echo the earth about His works. He takes the opportunity to brag about His Son.
In Father God’s expression about His Son, Jesus, there are three main components that are established.
These are the needs that all people carry in their hearts:
1. The Father’s love. At the core of every human being lies the need to know the love of their Heavenly Father. “This is my beloved” or we could say, “dearly loved Son.”
If Jesus was going to walk confidently and carry the love of God to humanity, He needed that love from the Father to be established in His heart. Receiving the love of the Father puts a stamp of security upon us. Notice in this Scripture that the love was expressed through words spoken. Jesus needed to hear His Father speak love to Him.
It is time we stop playing the tough person and recognize we need love restored. Some people have lived thinking that it was not that important to hear they were loved. But when love is not spoken and expressed to us, it embeds a reference within that love does not need to be expressed.
This is why many will say, “My parents didn’t tell me that they loved me, but I know they loved me.” It shows that our references for love are skewed and damaged. We then end up reproducing the empty love we experienced.
2. The Father’s affirmation of our identity. When God said, “You are My beloved Son,” He was affirming the identity of Jesus through declaration.
The Father communicated His love for His Son and spoke His identity. At the end of the day, He was Father God’s Son.
As evidenced throughout the Gospels, Jesus walked with a deep security in His identity as the Father’s Son. He never crumbled in insecurity. He never doubted His own actions and He never lacked authority in His identity. He didn’t waver in being able to give out love. He was affirmed by His Father in who He was and is as the Son of God. The Father communicated His love for His Son and spoke His identity. This is my dearly loved son!
3. The Father’s approval. In You I am well pleased. Every human being on the face of the earth desires to be affirmed and validated. The greatest level of approval comes when we are affirmed in who we are, not just in what we do.
We have to remember that, in this biblical encounter, Jesus had not begun His public ministry yet. He had not cast out any demons; He hadn’t healed anyone; His recorded miracles had not taken place yet; and His ministry had not yet begun.
This is because in the kingdom of God, approval is given at the beginning. God’s approval is designed to be given at the beginning, so that we do not have to spend our lives trying to earn His approval.
If Jesus did not receive the foundational approval from His Heavenly Father at the beginning of His ministry, He would have been vulnerable to the opinions, approval and affirmation of people. Being affirmed by the Father gave Him the foundation from that point on to clearly hear what the Father was saying and do what the Father was doing.
The key here is that if Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect life on this planet, needed His Father’s love and approval, you and I as sons and daughters of God also do! In order for us for us to experience this love, we will need to address the hindrances that have kept us from it.
We will need to uncover the areas of bondage that have entered as a result of not knowing the Father’s love, identity and approval. A major part of this process will involve recognizing where human beings in our lives have not represented the heart and love of God in our lives. {eoa}
Question: Which of the three areas do you relate to the most?
Mark DeJesus has been equipping people in a full-time capacity since 1995, serving in various roles, including teaching people of all ages, communicating through music, authoring books, leading and mentoring. Mark is a teacher, author and mentor who uses many communication mediums, including the written word, a weekly radio podcast show and videos. Out of their own personal renewal, Mark and his wife, Melissa, founded Turning Hearts Ministries, a ministry dedicated to inside-out transformation. Mark also founded Transformed You, a communication platform for Mark’s teachings, writing and broadcasts that are designed to encourage people in their journey of transformation.
For the original article, visit markdejesus.com.
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