“But now thus says the LORD, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name. You are Mine’” (Isaiah 43:1).
We know these words were not just spoken to Israel but to us as well. For the Lord extends the mission of Servant Israel to be the beacon for all the nations (49:6). The Lord has made you His in holy adoption. “In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will” (Ephesians 1:5). When did this holy adoption occur? In your Baptism. For in Baptism, you were born again and made a son of God (John 3:5), and therefore an heir according to the promise of Christ. “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ… And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-27, 29).
Therefore, if you ever wonder if God loves you, look no further than your Baptism. For there, you were made His child, and our heavenly Father loves all His children. We believe that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Loving you is what He does; it’s who He is. You cannot undo your Baptism; you are not that powerful. Sure, you may run off and squander your inheritance like the prodigal son, but what did the father do when he ran out to him? He didn’t scold him for his reckless living and say, “You must do something worthy to become my son again.” No. Instead, he “felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). And when the son confessed his sins and his unworthiness to be his father’s son, the father ignored him and demanded he be clothed and join the feast. When the older son couldn’t accept such grace for his younger brother, he listed all his brother’s sins before their father, but the father wouldn’t hear it, “for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found” (v. 32). His son is no longer dead in sin but alive in him.
Just so, if you were to run off in reckless living and return to your heavenly Father, He does not scold you for your licentiousness and demand you prove yourself by recommitting yourself to Christ by being “re-baptised.” That’s ridiculous, for you were already baptised; you were already made His son. If a father’s adopted son runs away from home and returns—or is found—he does not need to adopt him again, for he is already his son. Neither do you need to be re-baptised, for you were already adopted as God’s son in Baptism. “One Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). Thus, when you return to Him, He has compassion, He embraces you with the Word of His Gospel, and He kisses you with the Sacraments. When you confess your sins to Him, He simply affirms your Baptism by clothing you with Christ again and welcomes you to the heavenly feast of the Lord’s Supper. For you are “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11).
The Lutheran Column 