In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.   Luke 15:10

Several years ago, Marie and I were blessed to vacation in a small Colorado town with a mountain stream running right down the center of it. The banks of the river were very well kept, and an inviting walkway followed along the water.   After church on Sunday, we decided to take a stroll along the stream to enjoy the warm sunshine and beauty of God's creation.  

As we neared a foot bridge crossing the river we heard the cheers of a large crowd of people gathered along the banks and on the bridge. When we arrived at the bridge we could see that the excitement was over a baptism service that was being held right out in the middle of the waterway. Each time a new Christian was dipped under, he or she arose from the water with a boisterous welcome reminiscent of rejoicing angels.

This Sunday, the church remembers Christ's baptism. When Jesus stepped into the water, he was known only as the human son of a carpenter. When he came out of the water, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and blessed as God's Beloved Son. Can you hear the Angels rejoicing?

Christ was so much like us, yet He was God. He didn't need to be baptized as a public remission of sin, He was sinless. Yet, through His example and humility, we share in the same Holy Spirit descending upon us and are given the privilege, through Christ, of becoming children of God.

Just as the Father and Holy Spirit came upon Jesus at His baptism, they dwell within us through our relationship with Christ. Because we are Children of God, we are blessed with power, and life, and spirit that will sustain us through all trials.

As Christians, when we celebrate Christ's baptism, let us remember that in all that we do, we are proclaiming to the world that we too have become children of God. We are given that same Holy Spirit, we are claimed by the same Heavenly Father, and rejoiced over by the same Angels of Heaven.