Psalms 16:2 and 31:1-3, with Father, I Adore You!

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in Luke 3. The Mind of the Spirit engaged the spirit of my mind in what the Father said at His Son’s baptism:

Luke 3:21 ¶ Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,

Luke 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

I always smile when I read this!

The Father does not speak from Heaven in an audible voice very often. He talked with Moses as a man talks with his friend (Exodus 33:11). Maybe one reason He is careful about speaking out loud is the way people tend to respond when He does (Exodus 20:19-22).

Along the still waters, I thought about this. The LORD spoke out loud once when giving the Ten Commandments. But He spoke out loud from Heaven at the baptism of His beloved Son (Matthew 3:16-17), at Jesus’ transfiguration on the Mount (Matthew 17:1-8), and on His Son’s trek to the Cross (John 12:27-30).

At Jesus’ baptism, the Father said, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” On the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” On Jesus’ way to be crucified, He prayed, “Father, glorify thy name.” The Father responded, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” Jesus explained that the Father spoke from Heaven for our benefit (John 12:30 —“This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.”) Notice that the audience in each instance was not His Son, but those in His presence.

He spoke aloud once the words that bring all mankind into condemnation (Romans 3:20), but three times aloud concerning the Word Who came to bring salvation.

Jesus is the “only begotten” Son of the Father (John 1:14, 18; 3:16-18; Hebrews 11:17; 1 John 4:9). Adam is called “the son of God” (Luke 3:38), but God created Him in His image and likeness from the dust of the earth (Genesis 1:26-27).* Jesus was formed in the womb of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 2).

Adam was not a favored son. Nevertheless, he was loved, and all his seed, so that God entered into the world through him and identified the incarnate Son as the “Last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45). Jesus is the only descendant of Adam Who was begotten of God, by virgin birth, bypassing the male. Creator God became created man, “made of a woman” (Colossians 1:16 with Philippians 2:5-11; see Galatians 4:4).**

In the valley, Jesus attended me, guiding me to the Cross by His Light, his rod and staff meanwhile comforting and correcting me along the way. When we arrived, His words filled my heart with His peace: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). I did!

At the table, He anointed my head with His oil and mixed His grace into my cup. Goodness and mercy appeared, and we walked together into the harvest.

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live asap:

https://rumble.com/v7e37es-shepherds-pasture.html

[*The Greek word for son is used at the beginning of this genealogy (Luke 3:23). Notice verses 23-38 are one continuous sentence. It begins by identifying Jesus as the son of Joseph, with the qualification that He was not begotten of Joseph, but was the chosen adoptive father, and thereafter, the Greek word that means of or from is used, carrying forward throughout the list a repetition of the sense —the son of without the qualifier, which was set off in parentheses.]

[**There is a mystery in the incarnation not often spoken of. Mary was made from Adam’s “rib,” not his “seed.” Nevertheless, she is of Adam and so her genetic makeup is connected to him, but it is unique. The chromosome identification for the female is XX, and that of the male is XY. The first X of both male and female is the same, but the second X of the female contains significantly more information. The second X in the female has 155 million DNA base pairs, while the Y in the male includes 59 million base pairs. (No wonder women are more complicated!) God expressly says Christ would come into the world through “the woman’s seed” (Genesis 3:15-16; 1 Timothy 2:14-15). It’s not my interest here to argue whether Matthew’s traces Joseph’s genealogy and Luke traces Mary’s genealogy. (Spoiler: Scripture says the genealogy of both is Joseph’s. Nevertheless, it is clear that Mary’s genealogy connects somewhere upstream to David because the Bible tells us Jesus is of the seed of David according to the flesh (Romans 1:3; 2 Timothy 2:8).) What interests me is that the woman’s seed, which genetically was connected with David, would be the seed God would use to incarnate His Son. Jesus was “made of a woman” (Galatians 4:4; Genesis 3:15-16), “of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3), and by way of “adoption” genealogically connected to Adam (Luke 3:23-38; note, Jesus’ connection to Joseph is qualified). Christ is called the “Last Adam,” which should not be taken to mean He is the end of the Adamic line, although, I suppose it could have that meaning. Rather, I think Jesus is called the “Last Adam” in the sense that He is the federal head and progenitor of a new man. Assuming our science concerning genes and DNA is correct, what puzzles me is the question: from whence came the Y chromosome in Jesus’ genetic makeup? I think the answer is from the same place it came when God created Adam: the Word! (See 1 Peter 1:23, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever,” with John 1:1, 14.)]