Jesus is the Firstborn of the New Creation: A Sermon on Luke 3:21-22

Date: 31st May 2026

Place: Trinity Baptist Church, Charlesworth, near Glossop

Preacher: Benedict Allmand-Smith

Passage: Luke 3:21-22

Listen below:

Luke 3:21-22

40:42

Jesus Christ: The Firstborn of the New Creation

A Sermon on Luke 3:21–22

When Jesus came to John the Baptist to be baptised, John was understandably perplexed. John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. It was for sinners who recognised their guilt and desired forgiveness. Yet Jesus had no sins to confess. He stood before John as the spotless Lamb of God, perfectly holy and entirely righteous.

Why then was He baptised?

Matthew records Jesus' answer: "It is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness." Christ did not undergo baptism because He needed cleansing. Rather, He submitted to it because He had come to do the will of His Father. Everything that was required for the salvation of His people, He would willingly undertake. Baptism would become an ordinance for His disciples, and therefore the Lord Himself entered into it first, identifying Himself with the people He came to save.

Yet Christ's baptism contains far more symbolism than an ordinary baptism. The Son stands in the water, the Spirit descends in the form of a dove and the Father's voice speaks from heaven. The entire Trinity is revealed in a single glorious moment.

What is this event communicating?

I believe the central symbolism points us to a profound truth: Jesus Christ is the firstborn of the New Creation.

The Dove and the New Creation

To understand the symbolism, we must ask where else in Scripture we find a dove descending upon something that has emerged from the waters?

The answer takes us back to Genesis 8.

The flood had been God's judgment upon a wicked world. Humanity's corruption had become so great that God swept the earth clean through the waters of judgment. Yet Noah and his family were preserved in the ark according to God's covenant mercy.

As the waters receded, Noah sent out birds to determine whether dry land had appeared. The raven found sustenance among the remains of the old world, ravens being omnivorous. The dove, however, could find nowhere to rest and returned to Noah.

Seven days later the dove returned with an olive leaf in its beak. The new world was beginning to emerge. Seven days after that, the dove did not return at all. It had found a home. The new creation was now sufficiently established for life to flourish.

This imagery provides a striking parallel to Christ's baptism.

The waters of baptism represent, among other things, judgment. Paul speaks of believers being buried with Christ through baptism (Romans 6:3-4). Jesus Himself later referred to His coming sufferings as a baptism that He must undergo (Mark 10:38). The floodwaters in Genesis represented divine judgment; the waters of baptism point us toward the same reality.

When Jesus emerges from the Jordan, He symbolically emerges from judgment itself. The waters do not overwhelm Him. They do not consume Him. Instead, He rises victorious from them.

Then, just as the dove descended upon the first signs of life in Noah's new world, so the Holy Spirit descends upon Christ.

The symbolism is beautiful. The dove lands upon Jesus because Jesus is the true beginning of God's New Creation. He is the first shoot emerging from winter's ground. He is the first blossom announcing the coming spring. He is the first living reality of a renewed humanity.

Where Adam failed, Christ succeeds. Where the old creation fell into ruin, Christ stands as the beginning of a new and eternal order.

God's Perfect Pattern for a New Humanity

The first thing we learn from this truth is that God has chosen Christ to be the model and pattern for His people.

After Adam sinned, humanity became corrupted. Every generation inherited the stain of sin. Yet God had already purposed to establish a new humanity – one that would be founded not upon Adam, but upon Christ.

John the Baptist understood something of Christ's greatness. He declared that he was not worthy even to untie the strap of Jesus' sandal. In Jewish culture, even disciples were generally exempt from such a menial task. Yet John considered himself unworthy even of that lowest service.

He was right. Jesus stands infinitely above every other man.

Adam was created upright and good. Scripture tells us that God looked upon His creation and declared it "very good." Yet Adam's righteousness was mutable. He could remain obedient, but he could also fall.

And fall he did.

Christ is different.

Though tempted in every way as we are, He never sinned. His holiness was not a temporary condition that might be lost. He was perfectly filled with goodness and righteousness.

There was never a moment when evil found lodging in His heart. When the Father speaks from heaven at Christ's baptism, He declares, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." Unlike Adam, Christ never ceased to please the Father.

The Father's delight in the Son is not momentary but eternal. Yesterday, today, and forever, Christ remains the perfectly beloved Son.

This is why He can serve as the head of a new humanity. Those united to Him are being fashioned into His image. God is creating a people modelled upon His beloved Son.

The New Creation Comes Through Death

There is another vital truth contained within this imagery.

The new creation begins through death. That may sound paradoxical, but it lies at the heart of the gospel.

The flood in Genesis was judgment through water. Before the new world could emerge, the old world had to perish. Likewise, before Christ could become the firstborn of the New Creation, He had to endure the judgment of God against sin.

Hebrews tells us that Christ was made perfect through suffering – not because He lacked moral perfection, but because through suffering He fully accomplished the work required to save His people.

He obeyed where Adam disobeyed.

He suffered where we deserved to suffer.

He bore the judgment that belonged to us.

The waters of baptism point forward to this reality.

Would Christ be overcome by judgment?

Would He be consumed by God's wrath?

Would He be exposed as unworthy?

Absolutely not.

He emerged victorious.

Just as gold remains precious when placed in the fire, Christ remained perfectly righteous under the full weight of divine judgment. Death could not hold Him. Sin could not stain Him. The grave could not keep Him.

His resurrection publicly demonstrated that He truly is the firstborn of the New Creation. He passed through judgment and emerged victorious on the other side. The Spirit descends upon Him to symbolise that the victory shall be secured.

Christ Possesses the Power to Create New Life

Adam was given the responsibility of filling the earth with a race of blessed people. Had he remained obedient, humanity would have flourished under his leadership. Instead, Adam became the father of a fallen race.

Christ becomes the father of a redeemed race. But unlike Adam, Christ does not populate His kingdom through ordinary generation. His people are born through the power of the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist speaks of this when he declares that Christ will baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Only Jesus possesses such authority. Because He has fulfilled all righteousness, conquered sin, and risen from the dead, He now pours out the Spirit upon His people.

The Spirit regenerates dead hearts. The Spirit grants faith. The Spirit produces repentance. The Spirit conforms believers to the image of Christ.

Just as a flourishing tree produces seed capable of bringing forth new life, Christ produces spiritual offspring through the ministry of His Spirit and Word. Every believer is evidence that the New Creation has already begun.

The presence of the Spirit within God's people is a guarantee that God will one day renew not merely individuals but the entire cosmos. The new heavens and new earth are coming because Christ has already risen. The firstborn has appeared. The harvest will follow.

A Trinitarian Work of Salvation

Luke notes that Jesus was praying when the heavens opened. Throughout Luke's Gospel, prayer accompanies the great turning points of Christ's ministry. Here, as He prepares to begin His public work, He communes with His Father.

Then heaven responds. The Spirit descends. The Father speaks. The Son stands in obedience. The salvation of God's people is revealed as a thoroughly Trinitarian work.

The Father sends. The Son obeys. The Spirit empowers. All three persons of the Godhead are united in the accomplishment of redemption.

What encouragement this should bring to believers. Your salvation is not the work of one divine person acting alone. It is the united purpose of the Triune God.

The Father loves the Son. The Son loves the Father. The Spirit delights in both. And through grace, believers are brought into that glorious fellowship.

More astonishing still, we are being transformed into the likeness of this beloved Son. The One upon whom the Father declared His eternal pleasure is the very One whose image we are being made to bear. What greater privilege could there be?

The firstborn of the New Creation has appeared. The dove has found its resting place. The Father's approval has been declared. The Spirit has descended.

And all who belong to Christ will one day share fully in the glorious new creation that has already begun in Him.

To God be the glory.