Salvation

Before God created the heavens and the earth, the Bible describes the Spirit of God hovering over waters.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Genesis 1:2

There is much symbolism associated with water throughout the Bible that describes the nature of God and who He is to us. In this post we will touch on a few.

Provision

After Hagar, Abraham’s concubine, and Ismael, his son, were sent away they were about to die of thirst in the desert. Yet God heard their cry and provided for them and their eyes were opened to see a well in the desert. Whether it was there all along or divinely placed, God met their needs when they least expected it in the least likely of places. In our lives, we may be in a dry, desert-like season, but God is faithful to provide in a miraculous way. At certain times, I believe that God allows us to get to a point of desperation so that we can recognize Him as our provider and the main One we should be depending on for our wants and/or needs.

After 38 years of wandering in the desert, the children of Israel were restless and vulnerable. When they cried out for their thirst to be quenched, who would have thought that water could come from a most unimaginable source. Are you catching the pattern yet?

‘I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.’ So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Exodus 17:6

Here, we see how water from a most unsuspected place became provision for them. Sometimes, God grants us provision where we least expect it that at times requires obedience before it manifests. Moses had a part to play by striking the rock for God’s will to be fulfilled.

This picture is parallel to how Christ is the rock from which provision of salvation flows from. In the story, Moses is instructed to strike the rock as a foretelling of Christ being struck and sacrificed in order for salvation to be available for all. Even though many people never saw anything special in Jesus, His offer of grace still stands for anyone who partakes in Him to have streams of living water flow them.

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. John 7:38

Life

Jesus is eternal life to all who believe in Him. To the woman at the well He said,

…whoever drinks of me will never thirst again.

John 4:14

We were created as vessels to be filled by God Himself and to find satisfaction and meaning in life through Him. However, there are so many distractions in this world that are vying to fill the void in each of us that can only be filled by God. It’s true that this is why some of the most successful people say that they are still not satisfied with their lives, even after reaching the height of their success. I have also discovered this to be true as sometimes enough can never seem enough. However, I have found that abiding in Christ is what is worth living for and that everything else will simply fade away some day.

When we receive salvation, the life of Christ enters us so that we come alive in Him. Water baptism represents this process of us being buried, submerged in the water, and then resurrected reemerged from the water, with Christ. 2 Corinthians describes this perfectly:

For I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved us and gave His life for us.

2 Corinthians 5:21

It is the life of Christ in us that sustains us to be in right standing with the Father when we were once enslaved by sin and death:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23

And this is why Christ died, so that we could have eternal life in Him (John 3:16) not just after we die but during our time here on earth as well.

I love the picture the book of John depicts after one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side to ensure that He was dead:

One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.

John 19:34

Here, again, we see water in the process of God’s act of redemption for mankind through this fatal blow the Roman soldier gave Christ. If He were not dead yet, this would have surely killed Him with most likely the tip of the spear piercing His heart for there to be such an emission of blood and water to flow. John includes this imagery to expel any doubt that Christ truly expired as He hung on the cross. Through His death, the blood and water was a foreshadowing of what was to come for any who believe in Christ to be redeemed and enter into eternal life.

Mystery

There is a lot of mystery surrounding the concept of water in the Bible. For example, when the disciples were trying to cross over the sea of Galilee, they witnessed Jesus walking upon the water. As we all know, this is not humanly possible, but Jesus is not just human, but God in flesh, and with God, all things are possible. Peter had an opportunity to enter into this mystery by defying natural laws when he chose to believe and fix his eyes on Christ. Walking upon the water, Peter was imitating Christ through faith and obedience which made it possible for the impossible to occur in his life despite all the odds.

Another famous story is Jesus turning water into wine which, also from a natural perspective, is certainly impossible. Yet here we see another pattern similar to Jesus walking on the water in which there was an obstacle that needed to be overcome.

Though faced with challenge, Christ used water to show the mystery of combined faith and obedience for the impossible to occur. Still, you might be wonder how water was an obstacle in the story of Jesus turning water to wine when the main one was that there was hardly any wine left for the wedding guests.

After Mary asked Jesus to work a miracle to this effect, she told the servants involved to obey whatever Jesus told them. When Jesus requested barrels of water to be brought, those involved probably followed His instructions wondering how in the world how water could take the place of wine and may have never saw its potential to become wine as Christ did. Not yet seeing Jesus perform a miracle, the water was far from being what they needed at the wedding and was just as good as any obstacle blocking a practical solution for the dilemma at hand. Yet God is capable of using anything seemingly unfit and unexpected for His perfect will to unfold and His glory be revealed. Nothing is impossible with God, and just like in the story of Jesus walking on the water, the obstacle was turned into a stepping stone, and what seemed to have been an area of weakness was turned around for God’s glory when the people involved chose to trust in Him and obey Him despite not foreseeing the outcome.

Power, Authority, Deliverance

Most of the earth is water yet it’s a wonder that we are not threatened to be submerged by it at any moment. This is because God ensured a barrier between the land, sky, and bodies of water during creation. But just as He had the had the power and authority to create these barriers, He also has the authority to break them when necessary like in the time of Noah during the Great Flood. It was never God’s plan for humanity to be so wicked and far from Him that He would regret ever making them.

The LORD regretted making human beings on the earth, and he was heartbroken. -Genesis 6:6

.Along with the the extreme depravity, there was also commingling of the human race with angels that led Him to make to decision to wipe the slate clean as this was the only way to restore hope for mankind to return to their Maker.

The Great Flood wiped everyone out, except for Noah and his family, through the intermingling of sky, land, and sea. The rain poured from the sky and helped the once contained bodies of water to cross its boundaries into land where rain on its own was already filling rapidly with water. God allowed opened the physical boundaries that He created in order for the entire earth to be flooded.

Along with God being all powerful and just, He is also mighty to save. Think of the story when Moses and the Israelites were at the Red Sea. With Pharaoh’s army behind in hot in pursuit, God used His power to divide the water for a path of dry land to come between when there seemed to be no way for the Israelites to cross. In the time of Noah, He broke down the boundary, but here we see Him make one to deliver the children of Israel from Pharaoh’s army. Splitting the Red Sea, God enabled the Israelites to safely cross to the other side. With this same water, He was able to eliminate the threat against them and their destinies having trained men of war drown in their pursuit of the Israelites.We see here how water, though an obstacle at first to the Israelites, was used for God’s glory and helped demonstrate His power and authority.

Sacrificial Cleansing

The story of Noah and the flood, devastating as it was for the purpose of cleansing the earth of a very polluted human race, is also a story of cleansing that points to the Holiness righteousness, and justice of God. Although I’m sure the Lord did not enjoy this process, He knew this was what needed to be done for humanity to have a chance of being restored back to Him. Furthermore, we see time and time again that there must be some sort of sacrifice for cleansing and renewal to come. This is most true when Jesus sacrificed His own life to cleanse us from our sins through the blood that He shed.

In addition to this, baptismal water is also symbolic for the cleansing power of the blood of Christ to bring us into new life with Him. Even Jesus was baptized in water before His ministry on earth began. Its purpose was not a need for redemption but rather served as a representation of His part in the redemption plan of God. When we are baptized, it is not for remission of sins because we already receive that in salvation through the blood of Christ. Our baptism, like Christ’s, is symbolic for our calling to be like Him in His burial and resurrection and our commission to spread the news of salvation to the world. We are cleansed from just living natural lives, to living supernatural lives with meaning and purpose in God.

During Jesus’ ministry on earth, several of the miracles He performed involved water. An example is when He instructed ten lepers to wash in the Jordan. This, of course, was for physical healing, but how about for spiritual healing? Jesus washing the feet of the disciples showed His love and humility to love and serve them and to bring healing to their hearts out of a desire for closer relationship. While Jesus humbled himself, the disciples had a tendency to compare themselves to each other especially on who would be the greatest among them. This kind of comparison exposed their insecurities that they were not enough and thus depended on comparisons to feel worthy or strive to achieve a higher level of greatness. Meanwhile, Jesus taught them that reaching greatness did not mean being better than each other in status or ability, but was about humility and being willing to serve in even the lowest, dirtiest positions.

By washing the disciples’ feet, Jesus not only showed them that they could reach greatness through service and humility but also that they were enough, loved and worthy of His cleansing love that could never be earned or deserved. Back then, the feet was one of the, if not the most, dirtiest parts of the body. Imagine how your feet would look like during a time when walking was the primary mode of transportation on filthy dirt made roads laden with animal and human waste.

The water cleansing of the disciples feet is symbolic for Him not shying away from loving us, even at our dirtiest and worst. Nonetheless, He does not just snap His fingers and our struggles with sin and temptation are gone. There is usually a process of purification that occurs when we allow God to approach us in our mess and let go of our own measures to be right with Him. We need to surrender completely to His way of bringing us to Himself in right standing and can never come by anything we do.

Though we may not deserve this kind of love, does not mean that we are not worthy it. As our Maker, God declares us worthy of His love, and there is absolutely nothing that can stand in the way of that.

When Peter, at first, did not want Jesus to stoop down to wash his feet, Jesus replied:

Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.

John 13:8

From this, we have the assurance that we need not be ashamed of ourselves, but rather accept the love of God and allow Him to wash us clean from all unrighteousness and any hindrance from us fulfilling His will in our lives.

Summed Up

We can gain a better understanding of some of God’s attributes through passages in Scripture that involve water. Here we discussed this through

-provision in the least likely of places,

-eternal life for all who drink of Christ,

-mysterious manifestations that occur when faith and obedience are combine,

-power, authority, and deliverance to bring judgment against and salvation from wickedness,

-and lastly, sacrificial cleansing to wash away sin and shame and bring us into right standing with God.

In becoming aware of these attributes we can have more confidence in God and connect with Him on a deeper level. In this state, we can just be who He has called us to be.