Water of Life
1 Corinthians 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them:
and that Rock was Christ.

Picture a desert in your mind, a dry, barren wasteland, nothing green for miles. A place that is uninhabitable, its dry, no water and where there is no water there is no life. However, what we will be focusing on is not on a physically dry land but rather on a spiritually dry land—the lifeless ground of people’s sin-hardened hearts. In the beginning God provided a spring in the desert that became a source of life for plants and animals. Here, God brought together a man and a woman so that humanity can flourish and spread the life of the garden he had created, a garden that brings forth a river that flows out to water the entire world – a gift from God -. Despite all this water that God had provided, there was a drought deep inside of us, an image of human condition, how we are always thirsty for more. We desired more wisdom to create more security and more control on our own terms, we lost access to the water of life. Because of this loss, we were not able to spread God’s life into the world, so God needed a plan to rescue us from the dryness of our spirit. Through Jacob, God creates the family of Israel, to share in His own life so through them we can be His partners and spreading His life to others. But, we continued to struggle with the same drought of the soul, thirsting for more power and more control, leading us down, as even today, a path of violence. The Apostle Peter commented on the condition of spiritual drought brought on by evil actions this way, “These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error” (2 Peter 2:17–18).
There will come a day when God will pour out His own life presence, His Spirit, to water the land, to create a new Eden and people who can spread God’s life to others. Numerous Old Testament passages also use the vivid imagery of a dry, thirsty wilderness to portray our need as humans for the life-giving water of God’s Spirit. The prophets often used water as a picture of salvation, for example in Isaiah 12:3 “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” Isaiah 55:1, the Lord calls to any who will come and drink of His salvation: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

 People need ‘living water’ to give life to their spirits more than they need water to give life to their bodies. Living water is a gift of God. This life-giving water of salvation was prophesied throughout Scripture—even by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6. This promise finds its fulfillment in Jesus and the salvation offered through His blood. This brings us to the story of Jesus in John 4:7-15, where he is at a well that Jacob use to own. Here Jesus meets a Samaritan woman, asking her for a drink. The woman wondered how Jesus was to get water from the well having nothing to draw it with. Jesus said to the woman, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water”. The woman asked how and where Jesus would get this living water. His awsome answer was: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13–14. Jesus was letting her know it is God’s life that comes through Him to us to satisfy our deepest thirst. Jesus Christ wants to teach us about what God would make available (the Holy Spirit) to those who believed His teachings and chose the way of life He offered. This water is available to everyone if they are willing to walk in the Way of life that the Messiah proclaimed. This is why he said in John 7:37-38 “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

When Jesus was on the cross a Roman soldier thrusts a spear in Jesus’ side, blood and water came out; John 19:34 “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” Jesus’ death was the fountain of life, from Him God’s own love died for His enemies and this fountain of life flowed out into the world. After He was raised from the dead, Jesus sent His Spirit into His followers, filling them with God’s own life, allowing His fruit to start growing in us (Love, Joy, Peace Longsuffering, Faithfulness, Goodness, Kindness, Meekness and Temperance). This is a new river of life, flowing out from God into a renewed creation bringing life to where ever it goes. Jesus Christ is the water of life, here the physical points to the spiritual, and those who are His have an eternal well of living water. Are you drinking from that fountain, or are you parched and thirsty? The “living water” Jesus offers is really the Holy Spirit. He is the one who will be able to cleanse and satisfy our thirsty spirit. Jesus Christ is the only source of living water, which is eternal life. The water of life mentioned in Revelation 21-22, tells of the blessings of those who will spend eternity with God in the new heavens and new earth. In Revelation 21:6 God says, “To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.”, singnifying a bountiful spiritual supply. Revelation 22:1 expounds further: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” A final invitation is issued in Revelation 22:17, “Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” The abode of God and of the believer for all eternity is pictured as having a pure, clear river running through the heart of it; in other words, it is a place where no need will be left unmet.
Considering what we know about the vital role of water in our physical life, is it any wonder that Christ chose wondrous, life-enabling water as a symbol for the wondrous, life-giving Spirit of God? Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden.

Let us all thank God and declare His Glory for the wisdom with which He has designed our world giving us the fountain of the water of life!

Revelation 21:6 “And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”