Romans 6:1-11

Often, substitutes are not quite as good as the real deal. When you arrive at a show and find out that the lead role is being performed by the understudy, you might feel a little disappointed. If you're going on vacation and need to leave someone in charge of your responsibilities, you might be a little worried that your job won't be done as well as it should while you're gone.

Today we see that Jesus is exactly the opposite as our substitute. At his baptism, God the Father declared his pleasure and satisfaction with Jesus. By our own baptisms, we're connected to Jesus, our perfect substitute, who pleased God in our place and died to pay for our sins, so that God's affirmation of love and pleasure are ours too!