When the waters of judgment receded from the earth in the time of Noah, it was a dove that brought back the sign that the judgment was over. And so it is a dove that descends on Jesus at His baptism, a sign of the peace and peaceable kingdom that Jesus is bringing (Isaiah 11). The dove rests and stays on Jesus as a sign of abiding presence. Then when the Spirit is poured out on Christ-followers in Acts 2, flames of fire rest upon them much as the dove rested upon Jesus at His baptism. The prophet Joel points to this outpouring as a significant shift in how the universe is run, and we are the benefactors of that fulfillment. He comforts, empowers, seals us, and establishes and maintains our identity as children of the King. February 4, 2024 worship service.
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