In telling the story of Jesus’ baptism, Mark is tying Jesus directly back to the story of creation and giving us an amazing glimpse into the inner working of the eternal relationship of the Trinity.

Mark 1:9–11

“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: ‘You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased’” (nasb).

Now what makes this so powerful is that the baptism of Jesus is one of only two places in Scripture where all three persons of the Trinity manifest themselves at the same place, at the same time. You’ve got God the Son. He’s in the water. All of a sudden, the heavens open up, and God the Spirit shows up on the scene and descends upon God the Son in power, and then lo and behold, you’ve got God the Father who says, “This is My beloved Son with whom I’m well pleased.”

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit are always together. They’ve always been together except at the cross, but this is one of only two places where they manifest themselves, where the Scripture actually describes them at the same place and the same time. The other place is Genesis 1.

If you’re wondering where Jesus is in the creation story, in Genesis 1:3 (ESV) it says: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” God spoke. John 1:1–5 (esv) says: “In the beginning was the Word”—that’s Jesus—“and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him not anyt hing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Mark is deliberately pointing us back to creation. The same Father and Son and Holy Spirit that was active and present in creation, is the same Father and Son and Holy Spirit that has come back to us to renew and to restore creation from the destruction of our sin.

The Cross

When Jesus was hanging on a cross for six hours becoming your sin so that you could become the righteousness of God, something happened for that six hours that had never occurred in all of eternity. God the Father turned His back on God the Son, while He was bearing the burden of your sin.

And that’s why He cried out, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” Imagine the pain He was experiencing. Every other time in eternity He called Him, “Daddy, Father, Abba,” but not on the cross. He was forsaken from that divine, eternal, loving relationship for you.

Conclusion

If you go to Jesus and trust in Him, you will experience the unbroken relationship with God the Father that your sin has kept you from. And because of Christ, He accepts sinners with open arms.