chosen, beloved, pleasing

At Jesus' baptism, a Voice from heaven said, This is My Son, Whom I love; and with Him I Am well pleased (Matthew 3:17).  Mattew, Mark, and Luke record this. Peter also writes, We heard this Voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain (2 Peter 3:18), referencing that same Voice and those same Words at Jesus' Transfiguration.  On these two public occasions, Jesus heard the Father encourage Him in His Life, His Relationship, and His ministry. 

Since we are in Christ and, through Him, are in The Father and the Holy Spirit, we are meant to hear the same Fatherly commendation.  God wants us to hear Him say, You are My child, you are My beloved, and you are pleasing to Me.  Let's note a few things about this.  

Note the timing.  At Jesus' baptism, He had done nothing humanly significant other than grow up as one of us.  He lived and worked with His human parents.  And so our being chosen, beloved, and pleasing to God has little to do with performance before God and more to do with our proximity to God in Christ.  After the Transfiguration, Jesus would head to the Cross, where His identity, security, and ministry would be assailed.  So, we need to hear God's encouragement as much as, if not more, than Jesus when we head into hard times.

Note the word sequence.  Jesus was called God's Son first, beloved second, and pleasing third.  Other so-called gods would have reversed the order:  "You are pleasing, so you are beloved, so you are my son."  Other religions operate as the world does: performance is everything.  Not so our God.  If we are in Christ, we are legitimate children of God because we have been chosen by Him; we are beloved because God is Love; and we are pleasing only in our responding to that Grace.

You are My child, My beloved, and you are pleasing to Me.  Do you hear this?