Today's Passage - Luke 3:18-22

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 3:18-22   "And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them... When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: 'You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.'"   We believe in the God of Trinity.  The Ten Commandments in the Bible clearly tells us that we should not worship other gods, and we should not worship idols.  Isaiah 45:5 says that "I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God."  We worship the only true God, but He is three persons - Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy Spirit.  The distinct personalities demonstrate that the three of them have independent minds, wills and emotions.  Although they are of equal in position and nature and no one is higher ranked than others, the three are different: Holy Father is the one who plans, Holy Son is the one who executes, and the Holy Spirit is the one who completes.  In the example of salvation, Holy Father planned the salvation, but who came to the world to be nailed on the cross for you and me?  It was Jesus Christ!  Some believers would pray and say "Heavenly Father, I thank you because you were nailed on the cross for me."  That's wrong!  Holy Father wasn't nailed on the cross, it was Jesus!  Jesus is the incarnated Word who executed the plan of salvation.  After Jesus resurrected from death, how does salvation matter to us?  It was the work of the Holy Spirit!  Holy Spirit brought the salvation of Jesus to our lives, and completes the salvation in us.   When Jesus was baptized, the three persons appeared at the same time: Spirit came like a dove, and the voice of the Father God came down from the heaven: "You are my son, whom I love."  This is such a beautiful picture, and also our example.  Although we are different parts of the body, there is only one body, just like the trinity.  In the body of Christ, we need to learn to accept one another and collaborate with everyone.  Each part of the body has its function, and the body won't operate properly if any part is missing.  Just like a piano, some keys are used more frequently than others, but there can't be any key missing.  Only when we are collaborating together will the glorious beauty of God be manifested.       Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I thank you because you are the God of Trinity, and you taught us that there can be differences within unity.  Help us to accept and collaborate with each other in our church life, so that your completeness will be manifested through our unity.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!