Matthew 3:13-17

Matthew 3:13-17
English Standard Version (ESV) 

  Think about a passport for a moment.  If you're an American citizen and you go abroad, you have a document that demands that you are treated like an American citizen.  If you try and come back home, you don't have to give a detailed account of what kind of person you are and how you have grown up.  You don't have to detail all your childhood wrongs -- you are viewed as an American citizen and welcomed home. 
  This passage has great news for us.  Those of us who bow before Jesus Christ and acknowledge him as Lord and Savior are viewed by God the same way as Jesus Christ.  We aren't seen for our flaws and our sins.  Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, when he gives his perfection to us, we are no longer seen as unworthy -- we are seen as righteous and welcomed before the throne of grace to worship forever along with the saints and angels.  We who were once hopeless due to sin now have the boldness to claim that we are worthy of God's love because of what Christ has done for us.
  That's how much God loves you -- to send his son to transform your standing before God and invite you into eternity.