Answer
to the question:
How many Beings were
present at Christ's baptism?
Answer. Two Beings. The Father
and Son.
Matthew 3:16,17 And
when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and
behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying,
"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Here, we are told, there
were the three members of the godhead all in one place. The Son was
baptized, the Father spoke, and the Holy Spirit descended on the Son
in the form of a dove. Let us see how Ellen White explains this passage.
Never before had
angels listened to such a prayer as Christ offered at His baptism,
and they were solicitous to be the bearers of the message from the
Father to His Son. But, no! Direct from the Father issues the light
of His glory. The heavens were opened and beams of glory rested upon
the Son of God and assumed the form of a dove, in appearance like
burnished gold. The dovelike form was emblematical of the meekness
and gentleness of Christ. . . . From the opening heavens came these
words: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
. . . Notwithstanding the Son of God was clothed with humanity, yet
Jehovah, with His own voice, assures Him of His sonship with the Eternal.
In this manifestation to His Son, God accepts humanity as exalted
through the excellence of His beloved Son. --That I May Know
Him, p. 31
'John came bearing witness
of the One whose divinity they were now questioning. Christ himself
had gone to the Jordan, not to repent of sin, but to fulfill every
specification required of the sinner. The Baptist saw the Saviour
walking at a distance, and his face lighted up. "Behold the Lamb
of God," he cried, "which taketh away the sin of the world."
There Christ stood revealed before the people. The glory of God
descended upon him in the form of a dove like burnished gold,
and the voice of the infinite One declared, "This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased."' --Review and Herald, February
13, 1900 par. 14
'After Christ was baptized
of John in Jordan, he came up out of the water, and bowing upon the
banks of the river, he prayed with fervency to his Heavenly Father
for strength to endure the conflict with the prince of darkness in
which he was about to engage. The heavens were opened to his prayer
and the light of God's glory, brighter than the sun at noonday,
came from the throne of the Eternal, and, assuming the form of a dove
with the appearance of burnished gold, encircled the Son of God, while
the clear voice from the excellent glory was heard in terrible majesty,
saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."'
--Signs of the Times, August 7, 1879 par. 7
Here we see that there is
a Father, Son and Spirit of God. But what is the Spirit of God? The
Spirit of God is the glory of God. It is the Father's glory that assumed
the form of a dove and encircled the Son of God.