1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,720 God, Lord, I just love you and your beauty. 2 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:20,360 And that is the one thing that I, in my little words, am going to try and capture this morning, 3 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:21,360 Lord. 4 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:24,880 So I just ask that your spirit may fill me. 5 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:30,360 Lord, only you, only you can speak to our hearts. 6 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:34,800 I'm no one to be up here to be sharing your word, Lord. 7 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:37,320 I don't deserve it. 8 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:41,400 But you can use someone like me to be your tool. 9 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:45,720 And so I ask that I may be that just that this morning. 10 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:47,960 Fill me with you and fill us all with you. 11 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:53,560 May we all leave here changed and absolutely blown away by the power of your word. 12 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:57,960 In Jesus' name, amen. 13 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:02,440 Only 5% of the ocean has been explored. 14 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:09,380 Only about 24.9% of the ocean floor has actually even been mapped. 15 00:01:09,380 --> 00:01:14,240 And those are crazy numbers because that tells you how little we know about these big massive 16 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:17,200 bodies of water. 17 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:21,960 Water has been a mystery for a long time, right? 18 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:27,680 Ancient civilizations would base their entire culture, their entire religion around water. 19 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:31,400 A lot of civilizations would grow around water. 20 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:38,040 People would set sail in hopes of finding land across massive bodies of water and all 21 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,360 of a sudden they don't come back. 22 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:46,300 Ships would sink and stories and rumors would arise about water. 23 00:01:46,300 --> 00:01:50,400 Many tribes and ancient civilizations made this their focus. 24 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:52,520 Water itself is an intriguing substance, right? 25 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:54,760 You can do so much with it. 26 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:55,760 It can do so much. 27 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:57,840 It exists in three substances. 28 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:00,760 Liquid, solid, gas. 29 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,520 It has a wide range of uses. 30 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,240 And you can harness it for almost anything. 31 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:07,660 It creates life. 32 00:02:07,660 --> 00:02:11,180 It can even take away life. 33 00:02:11,180 --> 00:02:13,000 Water can be stressful. 34 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:14,740 Water can be peaceful. 35 00:02:14,740 --> 00:02:17,040 Water is just everywhere. 36 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:18,040 And this is the thing. 37 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:22,000 You can't escape water. 38 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:26,680 The way it behaves, the things it does, water serves no one. 39 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:28,200 Water is water. 40 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:30,240 You can't avoid water. 41 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:34,920 All you can do is deal with the reality of water. 42 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:36,760 Water is essential. 43 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,640 Water is mysterious. 44 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:41,200 Water. 45 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,440 And it gets more interesting because there appears to be a connection between the God 46 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:47,680 of Scripture and water. 47 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:52,040 It seems that there's a theme throughout Scripture of God and water. 48 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,120 Water and God. 49 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:58,500 God seems to have a special relationship with water. 50 00:02:58,500 --> 00:03:01,480 It seems like where God is, water is. 51 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:05,380 And where water is, God is there as well. 52 00:03:05,380 --> 00:03:07,840 And I don't know if I can fully grasp it. 53 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:09,960 I don't know if I myself can fully understand it. 54 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,980 I don't think any of us can fully understand it. 55 00:03:12,980 --> 00:03:15,340 But there's just something prominent about it. 56 00:03:15,340 --> 00:03:18,560 And I think there are beauties here to be discovered. 57 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:21,720 That the Bible is full of the theme of water and God. 58 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,120 And so I think it's important to talk about it this morning. 59 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:29,740 You see, the Bible starts out with God and water. 60 00:03:29,740 --> 00:03:30,740 Water and God. 61 00:03:30,740 --> 00:03:36,480 The spirit of God hovered over the waters. 62 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:43,140 All there was here in the beginning was a disorganized mass of water. 63 00:03:43,140 --> 00:03:47,800 The Bible describes this as the plural maim, or waters. 64 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:49,800 The spirit hovered over the waters. 65 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:56,280 Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 says, now the earth was formless and empty. 66 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,440 And darkness was over the face of the deep. 67 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:06,160 And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 68 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,360 God creates man and he forms him out of the dust of the ground. 69 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:14,600 But the Hebrew word here literally means soil, dirt, ground. 70 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:18,020 So we know it wasn't just dust and breath of life. 71 00:04:18,020 --> 00:04:20,080 It was water also. 72 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,360 Our bodies are made up of water mostly. 73 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,360 When we're born, our bodies are 78% water. 74 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,760 Babies themselves develop in water in the womb. 75 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:35,460 When the spirit of the Lord moved over the face of the water, the spirit of the Lord 76 00:04:35,460 --> 00:04:39,020 also moved over man, which was also water. 77 00:04:39,020 --> 00:04:42,100 There is something about God and water. 78 00:04:42,100 --> 00:04:46,000 The way God uses water to bring life. 79 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,880 There is a state of chaos of water before creation and then after creation, God used 80 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,280 water for life. 81 00:04:54,280 --> 00:04:59,640 Then we get further and the world has grown twisted and sin has grown rampant. 82 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:07,580 Genesis chapter 6 verse 17 says, and I behold, I am about to bring the flood waters over 83 00:05:07,580 --> 00:05:14,560 the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under the heaven. 84 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:19,000 Everything that is on the earth shall perish. 85 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:23,060 God uses water to cleanse the earth of its sin. 86 00:05:23,060 --> 00:05:27,360 The waters bring Noah and his family to the surface, but bring everyone else down to the 87 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:28,360 bottom. 88 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:34,560 Isn't it funny how God can use water to bring both life and death depending where you are 89 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,700 at the right time at the right moment. 90 00:05:37,700 --> 00:05:40,480 He was killing one and making the other one live. 91 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:45,600 God calls Abraham out of a land in which he lived, Babylon, and called him to inherit 92 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:50,640 a new land and a land that God had promised him. 93 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:53,740 And God sends him straight to a river. 94 00:05:53,740 --> 00:05:56,480 His journey could have been straight through dry land. 95 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:58,840 His journey could have been through the wilderness. 96 00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:00,840 His journey could have been through the mountains. 97 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:05,560 But God said, go to the river. 98 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,880 Now something we don't talk about often is the fact that this must have been the first 99 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,440 time that God parted a river for someone to cross through. 100 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:17,920 Because the Euphrates ranges in width and depth. 101 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:24,080 It ranges from 150 to 500 meters wide and the depth varies around 10 meters to 45 meters 102 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:25,720 at times. 103 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:28,960 Abraham and a whole caravan couldn't have crossed this river. 104 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:31,400 God must have parted the river. 105 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,600 Nevertheless, Abraham could have gone any other way. 106 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,480 But God said to the river, you go. 107 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:40,200 God could have asked him to go to another route. 108 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:42,860 But God said, go through the river. 109 00:06:42,860 --> 00:06:51,040 In Exodus chapter one to two, God uses water to save Moses in a basket. 110 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,640 Pharaoh uses the river to kill. 111 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:57,060 God uses the river to bring forth salvation. 112 00:06:57,060 --> 00:07:02,140 The same river that brought death to the other babies that were being tossed in there was 113 00:07:02,140 --> 00:07:08,720 the means through which Moses was going to be freed and delivered. 114 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:12,000 God uses water in powerful ways. 115 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:17,440 It's not long before the Israelites are brought to a massive body of water. 116 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:22,400 The Red Sea in Exodus chapter 14 stood before them. 117 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:25,040 God brought them to the edge of the water. 118 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:29,400 The Israelites thought that they had been brought to their fate. 119 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:33,160 But in fact, God had brought them to their liberation. 120 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:40,160 The Israelites saw an uncrossable boundary, but God saw an unavoidable miracle. 121 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:46,040 The Bible says that God breathed on the waters and the waters were ripped apart. 122 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:53,880 Not just that his breath ripped them apart, but he dried the ground that had been covered 123 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:56,440 by water since the creation. 124 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:02,200 And in an instant, it was dry for his people to cross over. 125 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:07,920 In creation, God's word, God's breath places the water there. 126 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:14,840 And in Exodus, God's breath moves the water away from where he placed it. 127 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:20,120 But then as the Egyptian army chased behind them, God let go of the waters and drowned 128 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:21,400 the army. 129 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:26,640 The waters that brought salvation for the Israelites brought death to the Egyptians. 130 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,520 You see, it's not wise to get in a fight with God. 131 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:35,240 His ways are past understanding. 132 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:39,520 His methods are way beyond what we can comprehend. 133 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:41,640 God kills the Egyptians with water. 134 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:44,260 Of all things, water. 135 00:08:44,260 --> 00:08:52,600 The most powerful nation at that time was fully and completely eradicated with water. 136 00:08:52,600 --> 00:09:01,880 They were spending their entire lives training for war and God used water to destroy them. 137 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:08,640 They came with swords, chariots, and spears, but God came with water. 138 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:10,520 That's why you don't pick fights with God. 139 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,920 God will come at you with water, locusts, and frogs. 140 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:15,940 God doesn't need an army. 141 00:09:15,940 --> 00:09:18,160 God fights different. 142 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:21,540 God's ways are so much higher than our ways. 143 00:09:21,540 --> 00:09:23,000 Water and God. 144 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:26,760 God and water. 145 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:34,560 God then brings the Israelites into the wilderness and Moses has to be the means through which 146 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:38,380 the Israelites get water. 147 00:09:38,380 --> 00:09:42,440 And so Moses strikes a rock and water comes out. 148 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:44,320 God didn't birth a river. 149 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,200 God didn't tell them to dig a hole. 150 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:51,620 God didn't tell them to go to a body of water or find an oasis. 151 00:09:51,620 --> 00:09:56,640 God creates water from where water cannot come from to feed his people. 152 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:57,640 God and water. 153 00:09:57,640 --> 00:09:59,080 Water and God. 154 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:05,120 Once God establishes the Israelites in Leviticus in Numbers, he uses water as a means to cleanse 155 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:08,040 those who were going to go into the sanctuary. 156 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:13,520 In Joshua chapter 3, Joshua prepares the Israelites to cross the Jordan. 157 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:18,920 In order to step into the promised land, God brought them to another river like Abraham 158 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:20,760 before them. 159 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:27,880 God makes his people once again cross over water to enter his promise. 160 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:34,120 In 1 Kings chapter 17, Elijah calls for a drought and then calls for rain at the end 161 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:35,120 of it. 162 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:41,800 God holds back the water through Elijah's word in response to the rampant sin that existed 163 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,360 in the Israelites. 164 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:49,980 And then Elijah proclaims in faith for the water to return and calls the water back through 165 00:10:49,980 --> 00:10:56,000 his wrestling in the spirit and water withheld, water released. 166 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:02,480 In 1 Kings chapter 18 verses 33 to 38, we can find the story of Elijah on the mountain 167 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:06,000 with a showdown against the prophets of Baal. 168 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:10,000 He's having a showdown against these prophets and while they struggle to even get a blade 169 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:17,460 of grass on fire, Elijah pours four large jars of water on the altar and God consumes 170 00:11:17,460 --> 00:11:24,400 the altar, the rocks, and the Bible says that God's fire licked the water up. 171 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:29,160 Have you ever seen an animal lick water up from a pond? 172 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:31,960 God's fire licked it up. 173 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:40,720 The Hebrew word here for lick, there literally is used to describe an ox licking the water. 174 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,080 And the word was used in a derogatory sense. 175 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:50,620 It was used in a humiliatory sense as a humiliation to these prophets. 176 00:11:50,620 --> 00:11:57,060 The prophets of Baal have been trying all day and Elijah gets up and commands that water 177 00:11:57,060 --> 00:12:02,360 should be thrown on the altar and after a simple prayer, God's consuming fire licks 178 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:05,120 up the water. 179 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,780 The fire ate the water. 180 00:12:07,780 --> 00:12:14,160 In 2 Kings chapter 2 verse 8, Elijah crosses the river water right before being taken to 181 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:16,820 God. 182 00:12:16,820 --> 00:12:20,480 God could have picked him up straight where he was. 183 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:23,580 God could have sent a chariot to his door. 184 00:12:23,580 --> 00:12:28,480 God could have picked him up during his morning walk, but Elijah splits the river in two and 185 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:35,460 walks right through it and then is taken up by God and then Elijah picks up the cloak 186 00:12:35,460 --> 00:12:41,560 and goes back and crosses the same river and parts it with the same spirit and crosses 187 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:42,560 the river. 188 00:12:42,560 --> 00:12:48,320 He splits the water of officially starting his ministry as a prophet of God. 189 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:54,140 God and water, water and God, Naaman is told that the cure for his leprosy would come from 190 00:12:54,140 --> 00:12:57,600 dipping in the water an exact number of times. 191 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,500 God could have told him to roll around in the dirt. 192 00:13:00,500 --> 00:13:03,920 God could have told him to go run around a city. 193 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:09,680 God could have told him to sit and wait for a day, but God tells him get in the water 194 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:11,640 and be healed. 195 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:18,860 God could have said go up a mountain, but God chose and said go in the water. 196 00:13:18,860 --> 00:13:24,640 The great psalmist wrote in the spirit that God and water has something going on. 197 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:29,580 Psalm 18 verse 11 says, he made darkness his hiding place. 198 00:13:29,580 --> 00:13:34,160 All about him his covering was a darkness of waters, thick clouds. 199 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:38,480 Psalm chapter 29 verse 3 says the voice of Yahweh is over the waters. 200 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:43,560 The God of glory thunders, Yahweh is over many waters. 201 00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:49,720 Psalm chapter 65 verse 5 says you care for the land and water it in reference to God. 202 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:51,640 You greatly enrich it. 203 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:56,420 The stream of God is full of many waters. 204 00:13:56,420 --> 00:14:01,020 You provide their grain for so you have established it. 205 00:14:01,020 --> 00:14:05,240 God works with water and water works with God. 206 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:10,320 To Jeremiah God calls himself the living water that the Israelites needed when they forsook 207 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:11,320 God. 208 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:16,600 Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 13 says for my people have committed two evils. 209 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:22,760 They have forsaken me, the source of living water, to hew out for themselves cisterns, 210 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,920 cracked cisterns that can hold no water. 211 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,120 And later in Jeremiah's book he's shown something interesting. 212 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:35,680 In chapter 10 verse 13 he says that when God utters his voice there's a noise of water 213 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:37,960 in the heavens. 214 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,460 God and water. 215 00:14:40,460 --> 00:14:46,080 To another prophet named Ezekiel he saw in a vision the following in chapter 43 verse 216 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:47,080 2 of Ezekiel. 217 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:54,800 And look the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east and its sound was 218 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:55,800 like what? 219 00:14:55,800 --> 00:15:03,080 The sound of many waters and the land radiated due to his glory. 220 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:07,600 God showcased what his most stubborn prophet happened over water. 221 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:13,120 Jonah flees from God and water becomes the testing ground upon which will be discovered 222 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:16,760 how far he's willing to run from God. 223 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:21,720 God uses water to trap Jonah and uses the fish to save Jonah. 224 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:23,040 God and water. 225 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:25,680 Water and God working together. 226 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:29,360 If we fast forward to the New Testament we find God and water again. 227 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:34,220 Jesus' first miracle was with water at Cana. 228 00:15:34,220 --> 00:15:41,900 The wine ran out and Jesus the creator of the world says grab me some water. 229 00:15:41,900 --> 00:15:48,600 The creator who used the same water in creation that was formless in Genesis to create life 230 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:50,560 out of nothing. 231 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:57,040 That same creator says grab me some water and I will create again. 232 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:00,640 Jesus begins his ministry in the water. 233 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:08,280 Matthew chapter 3 as John the Baptist baptizes him Jesus' struggles, hardships, tests, ministry 234 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:12,860 all of that starts the moment he gets out of the water. 235 00:16:12,860 --> 00:16:16,340 Our very own baptism happens in the water. 236 00:16:16,340 --> 00:16:20,080 There is no reason behind why it's water. 237 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:24,200 It comes from nowhere other than God chose it. 238 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:28,520 God could have chosen for us to sit in the dirt and count to ten and we'd be baptized 239 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:31,480 but God chose water. 240 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:36,600 Jesus calls most of his disciples while they were near or in water. 241 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:43,020 In Matthew chapter 8 verse 32 Jesus cast demons out of a man and those demons go into pigs. 242 00:16:43,020 --> 00:16:45,400 Those pigs could have been choked to death. 243 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,080 Those pigs could have run off. 244 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:52,280 Wolves could have come after those pigs and eaten them but those pigs were driven out 245 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:55,040 into the water and they died in the water. 246 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:57,960 They met their fate in the water. 247 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,920 In Matthew chapter 14 the storm is raging. 248 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:02,360 The wind is blowing. 249 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:04,360 The rain is hammering the boat. 250 00:17:04,360 --> 00:17:06,960 The waves are crashing against it. 251 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:08,520 But Jesus is there. 252 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:10,520 Jesus knows the water. 253 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:15,040 The sea is raging yet Jesus is calm because he knows the sea. 254 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,200 He placed it there. 255 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:24,760 Peter sees Jesus and asks to go out on the water and Jesus calls out to him. 256 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:31,880 With eyes locked on Jesus Peter steps out onto the water and walks in faith. 257 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:38,000 Mark writes down another account in Mark chapter 4 verse 37 where Jesus is sleeping in the 258 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,040 storm. 259 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:45,920 On the water on a boat that seemed to be seconds away from destruction. 260 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:51,840 The disciples are just looking all around them and all they see is potential tragedy. 261 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:52,840 That's all they see. 262 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:54,960 They see mystery and tragedy. 263 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:57,460 The sea was about to swallow them up. 264 00:17:57,460 --> 00:18:01,920 At least it seemed like that to them but what they fail to realize is that the creator of 265 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,040 the water was in the boat. 266 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:07,960 The sea was never going to destroy them. 267 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:13,240 Jesus sleeps in the midst of turbulent water. 268 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:14,740 God and water. 269 00:18:14,740 --> 00:18:15,880 Water and God. 270 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:20,800 Jesus tells the woman at the well if you drink of the waters that I have for you you will 271 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:22,880 not thirst again. 272 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:24,960 There's just something about it. 273 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:26,400 Something beautiful. 274 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:27,540 Something intriguing. 275 00:18:27,540 --> 00:18:28,680 Something powerful. 276 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:30,240 Something mind boggling. 277 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,880 The theme is evident throughout all of scripture. 278 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:40,920 Then we make it to the cross and on the cross the creator of the universe hangs there dying. 279 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:47,760 He gives up his spirit and listen to what happens next in John chapter 19 verse 34. 280 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:56,920 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and blood and water came out immediately. 281 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:03,560 A soldier pierces his side and blood isn't the only thing that comes out. 282 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:05,800 Water comes out as well. 283 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:07,960 Living water comes out. 284 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:13,600 This creator of the universe bleeds blood and water. 285 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:15,280 God created water. 286 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:17,040 God commanded water. 287 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,780 But now water comes out of the creator. 288 00:19:20,780 --> 00:19:23,340 Finally we got to Revelation. 289 00:19:23,340 --> 00:19:27,360 The culmination of the entire narrative of scripture. 290 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:31,060 And to no one's surprise there's water in Revelation. 291 00:19:31,060 --> 00:19:36,920 The decisions have been made, the wars have been won, everyone and everything has been 292 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:41,520 settled and what is flowing from God? 293 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:43,400 Water. 294 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:50,400 Revelation chapter 21 verse 1 says, and he showed me the river of the water of life clear 295 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:56,920 as crystal coming out from the throne of God and of the lamb. 296 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:07,280 Water flows from the throne of God and it's not a stream, it's not a trickle, it's a river. 297 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:11,160 And it's not just coming from God. 298 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:14,320 It also symbolizes God. 299 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:21,440 Jesus says this, Revelation chapter 21 verse 6, and he said to me, it is done. 300 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:27,760 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, to the one who is thirsty I will 301 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:33,420 give water from the spring of the water of life freely. 302 00:20:33,420 --> 00:20:39,280 People will finally be able to drink living water for the rest of eternity. 303 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:42,520 But there's something deeper here. 304 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:47,340 Jesus himself calls himself the living water in scripture. 305 00:20:47,340 --> 00:20:53,560 And so what God is saying here is that now to the one who's thirsty for Jesus, you can 306 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:58,440 have all the Jesus you want for the rest of eternity. 307 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:02,640 Jesus will supply your thirst for all of eternity. 308 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:08,320 And it continues in Revelation chapter 22 verse 17 when he says, and the spirit and 309 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:11,280 the bride say, come. 310 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:16,160 And the one who hears, let him say, come. 311 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,560 The one who is thirsty, let him say, come. 312 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:27,400 To the one who wants, let him take the water of life freely. 313 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:31,400 Water and God, God and water. 314 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:33,640 What is it about that? 315 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:36,360 The Bible is clear about the connection. 316 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:40,400 There's this constant theme of God and water throughout scripture. 317 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:44,080 God calls himself the living water. 318 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:48,100 God creates with water, through water and in water. 319 00:21:48,100 --> 00:21:53,180 God cleanses with water. 320 00:21:53,180 --> 00:21:56,040 God restores with water. 321 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,460 God heals with water. 322 00:21:58,460 --> 00:22:03,320 God blesses with water. 323 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:05,080 God revives with water. 324 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,140 God ends droughts with water. 325 00:22:07,140 --> 00:22:09,260 God marks seasons with water. 326 00:22:09,260 --> 00:22:11,500 God creates boundaries with water. 327 00:22:11,500 --> 00:22:13,520 God destroys with water. 328 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:18,360 God saves with water. God and water. Water and God. 329 00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:23,340 I've been asking myself this question for the past few weeks, trying to find the answer 330 00:22:23,340 --> 00:22:29,340 until God revealed to me some diamonds of truth that lay hidden in this. There is a 331 00:22:29,340 --> 00:22:37,240 theology to be extrapolated from water. Water sheds light into who God is. You see, it's 332 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:43,720 not until you take all the accounts of water in scripture until you see that there is a 333 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:51,560 bigger picture than just one verse. This means everything. This meaning is everything. It 334 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:57,680 means that every time water shows up, it reveals something about who God is, and that is what 335 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:05,400 I want you to take away from this today. In fact, there are a few things as properly capable 336 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:12,600 of displaying the magnificent character of God and the way God behaves than water. 337 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:19,240 Water is so diverse in what it does and how it acts and so unique that it sheds light 338 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:26,880 into how God acts and what he does. Water gives us insights into God that we need to 339 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:34,160 see. In Genesis, water shows that God creates life out of something lifeless. It seemed 340 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:40,760 like a mess. It was chaos, but God created out of nothing. God is the creator and has 341 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:47,400 authority over everything. He uses everything and chooses what to make his power made known 342 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:54,480 through. When God creates man, God infuses him with water to show him that in the same 343 00:23:54,480 --> 00:24:02,280 way that we need water to live, we need God to live. God is our spiritual water, and we 344 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:09,240 need God as much as we need water to live, if not more. Your thirst is made out of what 345 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:17,440 you're made of. You want what you are. God satisfies the needs of your body and of your 346 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:26,260 mind, of your heart. He revives our body. He fills us. We desire what we are. We are 347 00:24:26,260 --> 00:24:32,480 water and we need water. Spirit needs spirit. Water needs water. When God uses water as 348 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:39,680 a means of destruction, God shows us that he is God. That God has the final word. That 349 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:46,720 God is omnipotent. That God is powerful. That God makes use of the simplest substance, two 350 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:52,280 molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen to do incredible things. How much more 351 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:58,720 can he use the simplest things in your life to make miracles happen? With Moses and the 352 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:05,600 Egyptians, we see that God fights battles differently than how we do. We see the visible. 353 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:10,920 We see the sea. We see the army. We see the chariots. We see the swords drawn. We see 354 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:17,420 the numbers. But God sees water and says, they're nothing for me. God fights battles 355 00:25:17,420 --> 00:25:22,440 differently than how we could ever fight them. He fights them over our head. Pharaoh may 356 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:28,920 come at God's people with everything he built up for the past century in Egypt with military 357 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:35,000 strength. And the Pharaoh in your life may come at you with guns, bombs, with jobs not 358 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:39,880 working out, with money running out, with payments pressing you, with health decline, 359 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:46,360 with sickness, with pestilence, with natural disaster. But God fights differently. God 360 00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:59,040 fights with water. With the simple things. God uses water. God uses the simple things 361 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:05,760 and eradicates the enemy's fiercest attacks with the simplest things. God is like water 362 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:11,760 in that he is a neutral force. He doesn't work for anyone. God fights in the name of 363 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:19,160 justice. He fights battles at his level. God isn't content with just fighting the battles 364 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:25,560 that we can see. God fights those and the battles we can't see. God fights in the name 365 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:33,040 of love. Love has a way of fighting for two sides at the same time. When we fight, we 366 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:40,680 take sides. When God fights wars, it's a win-win situation always. God fights above our head. 367 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:45,600 This is why Joshua asked the commander that appears to him out of nowhere in Joshua 5 368 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:52,880 verse 13 and 15. He said, whose side are you on? And the commander responds, no. But I 369 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:59,700 am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come. The question doesn't apply. 370 00:26:59,700 --> 00:27:05,320 God doesn't fight like we do. God doesn't take sides. When Joshua asks him which side 371 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:12,480 he is on, God doesn't even answer the question. As if to say, my response to your situation 372 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:21,240 transcends your questions. Love takes no sides. Love fights for love. Love always wins. God's 373 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:28,520 ways are higher than our ways. God can use water to destroy an Egypt that was posed against 374 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:37,720 God's people. And God can use water to save the persecuted, the oppressed. God brings justice for everyone. 375 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,800 Water cleanses and just as it did for the Israelites through the sanctuary system in 376 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:48,100 Leviticus and Numbers, just like water cleanses us and makes us clean through God's working 377 00:27:48,100 --> 00:27:55,220 through it, he purifies us. God purifies us. God has the ability like water to seep into 378 00:27:55,220 --> 00:28:01,200 all the cracks in our heart and clean us. God cleans all the places that only water 379 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:09,280 could reach. A continuous drop of water over time erodes anything. And in the same way, 380 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:17,160 a continuous drip of God, a continuous knock on the door from God, a continuous drip of 381 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:23,920 the love of God on a hard heart can crack the shell and make way for the Savior. With 382 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:29,960 Elijah, we see that God alone decides when the drought is over. You may be in a drought 383 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:35,360 in your life spiritually, emotionally, or whatever type of drought it may be, but God 384 00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:41,880 alone determines the time. And when God says it's over, it's over. The rains come. The 385 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:47,880 land is healed. When God brings the rains of blessing in your life, it is over. That 386 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:54,120 land will be healed. The dry areas in your life will be revived. Life will flourish again. 387 00:28:54,120 --> 00:29:00,880 You will be able to live and breathe again. God will restore. The rainwater means God 388 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:07,100 is your provider. God is in charge of watering. God brings water at the right time. You know 389 00:29:07,100 --> 00:29:11,880 how they say that if you get lost, just stay there. Stay put because you'll make yourself 390 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:17,800 even more lost if you try wandering around and trying to find your way back to safety. 391 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:23,200 So don't do it. That's what you would here. To stay put in your last location so that 392 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:28,000 people can find you. Well, guess what? If you're in a desert and you're trying to find 393 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,240 water and you're trying to go and go and go, but all there is is desert, you're going to 394 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:37,120 burn yourself out. You're going to dry out faster. Let the God of scripture bring the 395 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:43,200 rain to you. When you're in a desert, stop trying to find the water because you'll burn 396 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:48,320 yourself out. The rescuers will tell you to wait, but God has a better one. God says, 397 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:54,480 be still and know that I am God. I will bring water at the right time. I will revive at 398 00:29:54,480 --> 00:30:01,320 the right time. I restore at the right time. I vindicate at the right time. I come through 399 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:07,960 on my promise at the right time. I will bring healing at the right time. I will bring answers 400 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:13,320 at the right time. I will make new at the right time. I will pick you up at the right 401 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:18,960 time. If you're in a desert, if you are in a desert, you just wait on God because the 402 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:26,520 rain is coming. God's people don't need to fear because our provider provides the rain. 403 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:34,280 Be still and know that I am God, says Yahweh. When the Bible characters crossed over rivers, 404 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:40,640 it shows us that God leaves the past behind. God is the God of new chapters. When you cross 405 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:46,880 a river, you can leave it all behind. When you cross the Red Sea, you can leave the slavery 406 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:53,160 behind. When you cross a river, you can leave it all behind. When you cross the Jordan, 407 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:57,680 you can leave the desert, the wandering, the rebellion, the impatience, the immaturity, 408 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:03,600 the complaining, the thirsting behind and welcome to the plenty. When God brings you 409 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:10,160 to a river in life, it's to show you that he is the God of new beginnings, of tomorrows, 410 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:16,880 of new seasons, of promises fulfilled, of futures made reality, of blessing. God fulfills 411 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:24,680 his plans in our life and we can count on him to do so. God makes his word come to pass. 412 00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:29,360 When the psalmist talks about God and water, it shows us that God's ways are beyond our 413 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:36,280 wildest thoughts, that we wish to comprehend God, but we just cannot. The day you finally 414 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:42,360 think you have God figured out in your life is the day you stop believing. God is beyond 415 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:48,920 comprehension. The mystery that deep waters bring is the mystery of God's character. God 416 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:54,160 is beyond what you can understand or think. God's goodness is deeper than the deepest 417 00:31:54,160 --> 00:32:00,440 ocean. His wisdom is hard to understand. God is just above it all, but the good thing is 418 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:07,520 that God is not just any mystery. God is a mystery of love. When Jesus offers a drink 419 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:13,640 to the woman at the well, it's because his character, he himself pours into us in our 420 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:20,440 lives. God is our living water. He is the source for everything we need. He is the source 421 00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:26,240 we need to cling to in order to live. He is the substance our bodies crave for. It is 422 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:32,560 living because something living adapts to whatever life throws at it. In the same way, 423 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:39,360 Jesus being living water means he works differently, in different ways all the time, depending 424 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:45,960 on what you need. When you find yourself faced with lack, Jesus is Jaira, my provider. When 425 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:52,800 you get hurt, Jesus is Yahweh Rafa, my healer. When your foundation seems to be sliding from 426 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:59,480 under you, Jesus is your Yahweh Tsuri, my rock. When you find yourself in trouble and 427 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:06,080 need refuge and safety, Jesus is El Shaddai, God Almighty, God of the mountain. When you 428 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:10,320 feel like there are dead things in your life or a family is dead, your marriage is dead, 429 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:16,080 your relationships are dead, Jesus is Elohim, mighty creator. When you feel like no one 430 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:22,560 sees you, like you go unnoticed, like you are struggling alone, Jesus is El Roy, the 431 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:30,120 one who sees me. When you are going into a battle and you need a name to proclaim in 432 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:37,160 faith, Jesus is Yahweh Nisi, my banner. When you feel like a failure because you're no 433 00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:43,880 good, you're a sinner, you've messed up and keep messing up, Jesus is Yahweh Tzitkenu, 434 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:49,840 the Lord is our righteousness. When you have entered into turbulent waters in your life, 435 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:55,640 stormy waters, raging seas, where you can't rest, can't sleep, can't eat, can't think, 436 00:33:55,640 --> 00:34:02,600 can't breathe, Jesus is Yahweh Shalom, the Lord is peace. Jesus is the living water because 437 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:09,440 he supplies exactly what you need from him in every one of your life circumstances. When 438 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:18,280 blood and water spurt out of Jesus on the cross, it's a reminder of union of spirit 439 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:27,000 and flesh. God forever became a man and will forever be a man as a testament to all the 440 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:34,080 worlds and universes for all of eternity, of the extents to which he went to save specks 441 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:45,080 who lived on a speck. That God was willing to put on human flesh to save. That when blood 442 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:52,320 came out, Jesus himself was reliant on God, on the living water throughout his life here 443 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:59,000 on earth in the same way that we need to be. When Jesus died on the cross, the living water 444 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:05,480 and blood flowed out of him to show us that Jesus' blood was now accessible to all as 445 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:11,720 it ran down the rocks on that mountain called Golgotha. And the water symbolized that along 446 00:35:11,720 --> 00:35:20,640 with water, along with blood ran the living water. The sustenance for all believers to 447 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:27,160 live on for the rest of eternity. And Revelation seals this truth by saying that the living 448 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:37,240 water flowed from the throne of God and that God himself will offer living water for all, 449 00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:47,960 accessible always and for the rest of eternity. God and water, water and God. There's a theology 450 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:56,040 to be extracted from this dual. Water, raging water, peaceful waters, persistent waters, 451 00:35:56,040 --> 00:36:03,240 powerful waters, rainwater, sea water, parting water, flood water, raging water, rivers, 452 00:36:03,240 --> 00:36:09,440 stream, mysterious water, still water, steady water, cleansing water, reviving water, drought 453 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:17,040 ending water, purifying water, clear water, hydrating water, saving water, life giving 454 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:23,720 water, living water. That is our God. 455 00:36:23,720 --> 00:36:33,480 God, you are so great. Your ways are above our ways. We can't understand you. We can't 456 00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:41,360 fit you into a box no matter how hard we may try sometimes. You are so good to us. You're 457 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:48,520 full of so much love. You're full of so much goodness. And Lord, you convey this theme 458 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:56,800 of water through scripture to remind us of just how diverse your character is in goodness, 459 00:36:56,800 --> 00:37:03,840 in power, in omnipotence. And just everything that you can do, Lord, the ways you show off, 460 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:09,760 the ways you're just God. So God, we just ask that you remind us of that this morning. 461 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:16,440 That we may go from here believing in that. That we may be reassured in who you are. That 462 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:24,760 we may hang on to the truth of who you are. That you're great. We have nothing to fear 463 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:30,160 because our God is like mighty waters, Lord. That we may be reassured of that truth this 464 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:40,480 morning. Fill us with your love and with your goodness. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.