Capital City Church International (3Ci)

Luke turns the genealogy around so that we will see Jesus side by side with "Adam the son of God" showing that "Jesus the son of God" is the new Adam who overcomes in the wilderness as He begins his ministry.

Jesus goes straight from the water (His baptism), into the wilderness (His temptation). In the water – the faith-building place of acceptance, blessing and commissioning – the Word of God came over Him. And in the wilderness – the desolate place of danger, rejection and fear – the Word of God came out of Him. This is a pattern, for us. Because for the rest of our earthly lives, it’s going to be all about the water, and the wilderness.

Through the first letter of the impulsive, ambitious and sometimes violent Peter we see a remarkable picture of a transformed, restored and equipped apostle (sent ones) of Jesus Christ. Peter is an example to us all of our need for covenant, cleansing and commissioning. From our sincere failed attempts at greatness to our glaring obvious shortcomings, all can be covered, all can be restored and all can even be used to the glory of God. Through Peter’s words we see Jesus and the effect of His blood impacting our lives in 5 transformative ways.

Our biggest problem in life is that we listen to voices from earth and not from heaven. We live unsure of what God’s tone of voice says about us.

Through chapters 1, 2 & 3 Luke weaves a golden tapestry into the narrative like a string of pearls about Jesus the saviour, redeemer or ransomer. This is not just true in Luke’s gospel but all though history we have fictional and factual stories of ransoms being demanded, refused and paid. From Frank Sinatra’s son to Aldo Moro, from John Paul Getty the third to Walter Kwok Ping-sheung; story after story, ransom and ransom, confronting us with the inherent value of life especially a son or daughter’s life.

In Luke Chapter 3 we see how the word of the Lord came to John calling him to preach a message of baptism for the forgiveness of sin in preparation for the coming of Jesus. To understand the full implication of John’s message we need to understand baptism from a Biblical viewpoint.