Luke 2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord…
18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them…
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law…
Matthew 2: 13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod.
Angels, messengers of God, do not suddenly appear to men, appear in dreams, and bring proclamations and warnings to certain chosen ones without intention to glorify God. The birth of Jesus was first evidence to some of the glory of this Christ child, a son of man, of the lowest of castes, born in a manger, then to become a refugee from the murders in the places of God and the palaces of kings.
At a time when Jesus is baptized in the Jordan, God the Father makes His glory known.
Mark 1: 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven,
“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Imagine the public scene of the faithful, being baptized by John. Jesus walks into the water of the Jordan. They have a brief conversation. (Some heard it was about who should baptize and who should be baptized; for John did not feel worthy to baptize Jesus, the Messiah of God.)
Then the VOICE of GOD ALMIGHTY, the LORD, speaks! The heavens open (this no man can explain) and the Holy Spirit of God descends to the earth and the glory of God rests on Christ Jesus, the Son being baptized.
No picture can do justice to the glory of this scene at the river Jordan in this awesome moment in time. Suddenly there appeared the glory of LORD and those present for the purification of their sins, the baptism and permanent change of their hearts, hear of the VOICE of the LORD!
Deuteronomy 5:
22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders.
24 And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. 25 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us.
If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’
Who, indeed, has heard the Voice of the Living God, chay ‘elohiym?
For our God is the Living God, He IS and He exists! He is no idol.
And the Voice of the Person of the Father speaks as a Living One of His Son and sends down from the heavens (like a dove lighting upon a man) the form of the Very Spirit of the Living God!
How awesome! is this sight for which words cannot illustrate the glory of the LORD!
To be continued…
