At the Jordan River in Matthew 3:13-17, Jesus steps into the water not as someone set apart from others, but as one who stands fully among them. He doesn’t arrive with announcements or demands. He simply comes, obedient and willing, entering a moment meant for repentance even though He has nothing to confess. In that ordinary, quiet act, heaven opens. God speaks and calls him His beloved before Jesus teaches, heals, or serves, naming Him as His Son and declaring His love and delight. Identity comes first, before action, before mission, before sacrifice.

That moment reshapes how we understand our own relationship with God. God’s voice over Jesus makes clear that love is not earned through performance or faithfulness proved over time. It is spoken freely and firmly at the beginning. In the same way, our baptism names us as God’s children before we have our lives figured out. We belong before we believe perfectly. We are claimed before we are consistent. God’s love does not rise and fall with our success or failure, but remains steady even when faith feels fragile or life feels uncertain.

From that place of being named and claimed, life takes on a different shape. We move into the world not trying to prove ourselves, but trusting that we are already held. We serve not out of fear, but out of gratitude. We face challenges knowing we are not alone, because the same Spirit who rested on Jesus continues to walk with God’s people. Identity leads to purpose, love leads to mission, and grace becomes the ground beneath every step forward.