Daily Bread

1 John 5:6 - "This is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus the Christ. Not with the water only but with the water and with the blood and the Spirit is the witness because the Spirit is the truth."

Of the three witnesses that are in the earth the water, the blood, and the Spirit, the water is the one most associated with the word of God. Although all three of these are very clearly identified as the agents by which we are both consecrated and begotten of God, the water is revealed to be that which flows out of the believer as rivers. These rivers of living water that pour out of the believer are the expressions of divine empowerment which enable us to be the witnesses of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of John, water is identified with the Spirit as essential to being begotten of God (John 3:5). It is again identified with eternal life springing out of those who drink of this spiritual water (John 4:11). In John 7:37-38, water is once again applied to the gift of eternal life and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Additionally, from a purely traditional Jewish perspective the drawing of the water on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles symbolized the appearing of the Holy Spirit. Probably the easiest argument to make for the meaning of the "water" in the Gospel of John is that it represents the activity of the Holy Spirit flowing through the life of the believer. When Jesus ministered He only spoke the words that the Father gave Him to speak, and, therefore, these words could be viewed as the rivers of living water flowing out of His belly much the same as the 120 on the day of Pentecost. In fact, the argument can be made that every expression and attribute of God witnessed in the life of God's people is an expression of this living water. The water that Jesus desired to give to the woman at the well was simply received through the testimony of His words. The wellspring on the inside of this woman resulted in "many of the Samaritans out of that city believed on Him because of the woman testifying..." (John 4:39). The only other application of water is in baptism. John the Baptist compared water baptism to the baptism in the Holy Spirit, a baptism that produces an expression of the heavenly language and more (Luke 3:16, Acts 1:5, Acts 2:4). Paul takes up the message of baptism in association with the immersion into the life and identity of Christ, Rom 6:3-4, 1Cor. 12:13, Gal. 3:27, Co. 2:12. Finally, the water is symbolized as the Word of God (Eph. 5:26, Isaiah 55:10-11, Deut. 32:2). Furthermore, it is the Word of God that is declared to be the active agent of God by which men are saved and matured in Christ (Acts 20:32, Rom. 10:8, Col. 3:16, 1Th. 2:13, Titus 1:3, Heb 4:2,12, Heb 6:4, James 1:21, 1Peter 1:23, 1 John 2:14). Therefore, we conclude that the water symbolizes the word and the life of God which comes forth by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Blessings,

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
www.abidingplace.org