A Theology of Water (Karl Camacho, 11/16/24)

God, Lord, I just love you and your beauty.

And that is the one thing that I, in my little words, am going to try and capture this morning,

Lord.

So I just ask that your spirit may fill me.

Lord, only you, only you can speak to our hearts.

I'm no one to be up here to be sharing your word, Lord.

I don't deserve it.

But you can use someone like me to be your tool.

And so I ask that I may be that just that this morning.

Fill me with you and fill us all with you.

May we all leave here changed and absolutely blown away by the power of your word.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Only 5% of the ocean has been explored.

Only about 24.9% of the ocean floor has actually even been mapped.

And those are crazy numbers because that tells you how little we know about these big massive

bodies of water.

Water has been a mystery for a long time, right?

Ancient civilizations would base their entire culture, their entire religion around water.

A lot of civilizations would grow around water.

People would set sail in hopes of finding land across massive bodies of water and all

of a sudden they don't come back.

Ships would sink and stories and rumors would arise about water.

Many tribes and ancient civilizations made this their focus.

Water itself is an intriguing substance, right?

You can do so much with it.

It can do so much.

It exists in three substances.

Liquid, solid, gas.

It has a wide range of uses.

And you can harness it for almost anything.

It creates life.

It can even take away life.

Water can be stressful.

Water can be peaceful.

Water is just everywhere.

And this is the thing.

You can't escape water.

The way it behaves, the things it does, water serves no one.

Water is water.

You can't avoid water.

All you can do is deal with the reality of water.

Water is essential.

Water is mysterious.

Water.

And it gets more interesting because there appears to be a connection between the God

of Scripture and water.

It seems that there's a theme throughout Scripture of God and water.

Water and God.

God seems to have a special relationship with water.

It seems like where God is, water is.

And where water is, God is there as well.

And I don't know if I can fully grasp it.

I don't know if I myself can fully understand it.

I don't think any of us can fully understand it.

But there's just something prominent about it.

And I think there are beauties here to be discovered.

That the Bible is full of the theme of water and God.

And so I think it's important to talk about it this morning.

You see, the Bible starts out with God and water.

Water and God.

The spirit of God hovered over the waters.

All there was here in the beginning was a disorganized mass of water.

The Bible describes this as the plural maim, or waters.

The spirit hovered over the waters.

Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 says, now the earth was formless and empty.

Genesis 1:2

And darkness was over the face of the deep.

And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

God creates man and he forms him out of the dust of the ground.

But the Hebrew word here literally means soil, dirt, ground.

So we know it wasn't just dust and breath of life.

It was water also.

Our bodies are made up of water mostly.

When we're born, our bodies are 78% water.

Babies themselves develop in water in the womb.

When the spirit of the Lord moved over the face of the water, the spirit of the Lord

also moved over man, which was also water.

There is something about God and water.

The way God uses water to bring life.

There is a state of chaos of water before creation and then after creation, God used

water for life.

Then we get further and the world has grown twisted and sin has grown rampant.

Genesis chapter 6 verse 17 says, and I behold, I am about to bring the flood waters over

Genesis 6:17

the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under the heaven.

Everything that is on the earth shall perish.

God uses water to cleanse the earth of its sin.

The waters bring Noah and his family to the surface, but bring everyone else down to the

bottom.

Isn't it funny how God can use water to bring both life and death depending where you are

at the right time at the right moment.

He was killing one and making the other one live.

God calls Abraham out of a land in which he lived, Babylon, and called him to inherit

a new land and a land that God had promised him.

And God sends him straight to a river.

His journey could have been straight through dry land.

His journey could have been through the wilderness.

His journey could have been through the mountains.

But God said, go to the river.

Now something we don't talk about often is the fact that this must have been the first

time that God parted a river for someone to cross through.

Because the Euphrates ranges in width and depth.

It ranges from 150 to 500 meters wide and the depth varies around 10 meters to 45 meters

at times.

Abraham and a whole caravan couldn't have crossed this river.

God must have parted the river.

Nevertheless, Abraham could have gone any other way.

But God said to the river, you go.

God could have asked him to go to another route.

But God said, go through the river.

In Exodus chapter one to two, God uses water to save Moses in a basket.

Pharaoh uses the river to kill.

God uses the river to bring forth salvation.

The same river that brought death to the other babies that were being tossed in there was

the means through which Moses was going to be freed and delivered.

God uses water in powerful ways.

It's not long before the Israelites are brought to a massive body of water.

The Red Sea in Exodus chapter 14 stood before them.

Exodus 14 · chapter mention

God brought them to the edge of the water.

The Israelites thought that they had been brought to their fate.

But in fact, God had brought them to their liberation.

The Israelites saw an uncrossable boundary, but God saw an unavoidable miracle.

The Bible says that God breathed on the waters and the waters were ripped apart.

Not just that his breath ripped them apart, but he dried the ground that had been covered

by water since the creation.

And in an instant, it was dry for his people to cross over.

In creation, God's word, God's breath places the water there.

And in Exodus, God's breath moves the water away from where he placed it.

But then as the Egyptian army chased behind them, God let go of the waters and drowned

the army.

The waters that brought salvation for the Israelites brought death to the Egyptians.

You see, it's not wise to get in a fight with God.

His ways are past understanding.

His methods are way beyond what we can comprehend.

God kills the Egyptians with water.

Of all things, water.

The most powerful nation at that time was fully and completely eradicated with water.

They were spending their entire lives training for war and God used water to destroy them.

They came with swords, chariots, and spears, but God came with water.

That's why you don't pick fights with God.

God will come at you with water, locusts, and frogs.

God doesn't need an army.

God fights different.

God's ways are so much higher than our ways.

Water and God.

God and water.

God then brings the Israelites into the wilderness and Moses has to be the means through which

the Israelites get water.

And so Moses strikes a rock and water comes out.

God didn't birth a river.

God didn't tell them to dig a hole.

God didn't tell them to go to a body of water or find an oasis.

God creates water from where water cannot come from to feed his people.

God and water.

Water and God.

Once God establishes the Israelites in Leviticus in Numbers, he uses water as a means to cleanse

those who were going to go into the sanctuary.

In Joshua chapter 3, Joshua prepares the Israelites to cross the Jordan.

Joshua 3 · chapter mention

In order to step into the promised land, God brought them to another river like Abraham

before them.

God makes his people once again cross over water to enter his promise.

In 1 Kings chapter 17, Elijah calls for a drought and then calls for rain at the end

1 Kings 17 · chapter mention

of it.

God holds back the water through Elijah's word in response to the rampant sin that existed

in the Israelites.

And then Elijah proclaims in faith for the water to return and calls the water back through

his wrestling in the spirit and water withheld, water released.

In 1 Kings chapter 18 verses 33 to 38, we can find the story of Elijah on the mountain

1 Kings 18:33–38

with a showdown against the prophets of Baal.

He's having a showdown against these prophets and while they struggle to even get a blade

of grass on fire, Elijah pours four large jars of water on the altar and God consumes

the altar, the rocks, and the Bible says that God's fire licked the water up.

Have you ever seen an animal lick water up from a pond?

God's fire licked it up.

The Hebrew word here for lick, there literally is used to describe an ox licking the water.

And the word was used in a derogatory sense.

It was used in a humiliatory sense as a humiliation to these prophets.

The prophets of Baal have been trying all day and Elijah gets up and commands that water

should be thrown on the altar and after a simple prayer, God's consuming fire licks

up the water.

The fire ate the water.

In 2 Kings chapter 2 verse 8, Elijah crosses the river water right before being taken to

2 Kings 2:8

God.

God could have picked him up straight where he was.

God could have sent a chariot to his door.

God could have picked him up during his morning walk, but Elijah splits the river in two and

walks right through it and then is taken up by God and then Elijah picks up the cloak

and goes back and crosses the same river and parts it with the same spirit and crosses

the river.

He splits the water of officially starting his ministry as a prophet of God.

God and water, water and God, Naaman is told that the cure for his leprosy would come from

dipping in the water an exact number of times.

God could have told him to roll around in the dirt.

God could have told him to go run around a city.

God could have told him to sit and wait for a day, but God tells him get in the water

and be healed.

God could have said go up a mountain, but God chose and said go in the water.

The great psalmist wrote in the spirit that God and water has something going on.

Psalm 18 verse 11 says, he made darkness his hiding place.

Psalms 18:11

All about him his covering was a darkness of waters, thick clouds.

Psalm chapter 29 verse 3 says the voice of Yahweh is over the waters.

Psalms 29:3

The God of glory thunders, Yahweh is over many waters.

Psalm chapter 65 verse 5 says you care for the land and water it in reference to God.

Psalms 65:5

You greatly enrich it.

The stream of God is full of many waters.

You provide their grain for so you have established it.

God works with water and water works with God.

To Jeremiah God calls himself the living water that the Israelites needed when they forsook

God.

Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 13 says for my people have committed two evils.

Jeremiah 2:13

They have forsaken me, the source of living water, to hew out for themselves cisterns,

cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

And later in Jeremiah's book he's shown something interesting.

In chapter 10 verse 13 he says that when God utters his voice there's a noise of water

in the heavens.

God and water.

To another prophet named Ezekiel he saw in a vision the following in chapter 43 verse

2 of Ezekiel.

And look the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east and its sound was

like what?

The sound of many waters and the land radiated due to his glory.

God showcased what his most stubborn prophet happened over water.

Jonah flees from God and water becomes the testing ground upon which will be discovered

how far he's willing to run from God.

God uses water to trap Jonah and uses the fish to save Jonah.

God and water.

Water and God working together.

If we fast forward to the New Testament we find God and water again.

Jesus' first miracle was with water at Cana.

The wine ran out and Jesus the creator of the world says grab me some water.

The creator who used the same water in creation that was formless in Genesis to create life

out of nothing.

That same creator says grab me some water and I will create again.

Jesus begins his ministry in the water.

Matthew chapter 3 as John the Baptist baptizes him Jesus' struggles, hardships, tests, ministry

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

all of that starts the moment he gets out of the water.

Our very own baptism happens in the water.

There is no reason behind why it's water.

It comes from nowhere other than God chose it.

God could have chosen for us to sit in the dirt and count to ten and we'd be baptized

but God chose water.

Jesus calls most of his disciples while they were near or in water.

In Matthew chapter 8 verse 32 Jesus cast demons out of a man and those demons go into pigs.

Matthew 8:32

Those pigs could have been choked to death.

Those pigs could have run off.

Wolves could have come after those pigs and eaten them but those pigs were driven out

into the water and they died in the water.

They met their fate in the water.

In Matthew chapter 14 the storm is raging.

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

The wind is blowing.

The rain is hammering the boat.

The waves are crashing against it.

But Jesus is there.

Jesus knows the water.

The sea is raging yet Jesus is calm because he knows the sea.

He placed it there.

Peter sees Jesus and asks to go out on the water and Jesus calls out to him.

With eyes locked on Jesus Peter steps out onto the water and walks in faith.

Mark writes down another account in Mark chapter 4 verse 37 where Jesus is sleeping in the

Mark 4:37

storm.

On the water on a boat that seemed to be seconds away from destruction.

The disciples are just looking all around them and all they see is potential tragedy.

That's all they see.

They see mystery and tragedy.

The sea was about to swallow them up.

At least it seemed like that to them but what they fail to realize is that the creator of

the water was in the boat.

The sea was never going to destroy them.

Jesus sleeps in the midst of turbulent water.

God and water.

Water and God.

Jesus tells the woman at the well if you drink of the waters that I have for you you will

not thirst again.

There's just something about it.

Something beautiful.

Something intriguing.

Something powerful.

Something mind boggling.

The theme is evident throughout all of scripture.

Then we make it to the cross and on the cross the creator of the universe hangs there dying.

He gives up his spirit and listen to what happens next in John chapter 19 verse 34.

John 19:34

But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and blood and water came out immediately.

A soldier pierces his side and blood isn't the only thing that comes out.

Water comes out as well.

Living water comes out.

This creator of the universe bleeds blood and water.

God created water.

God commanded water.

But now water comes out of the creator.

Finally we got to Revelation.

The culmination of the entire narrative of scripture.

And to no one's surprise there's water in Revelation.

The decisions have been made, the wars have been won, everyone and everything has been

settled and what is flowing from God?

Water.

Revelation chapter 21 verse 1 says, and he showed me the river of the water of life clear

Revelation 21:1

as crystal coming out from the throne of God and of the lamb.

Water flows from the throne of God and it's not a stream, it's not a trickle, it's a river.

And it's not just coming from God.

It also symbolizes God.

Jesus says this, Revelation chapter 21 verse 6, and he said to me, it is done.

Revelation 21:6

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, to the one who is thirsty I will

give water from the spring of the water of life freely.

People will finally be able to drink living water for the rest of eternity.

But there's something deeper here.

Jesus himself calls himself the living water in scripture.

And so what God is saying here is that now to the one who's thirsty for Jesus, you can

have all the Jesus you want for the rest of eternity.

Jesus will supply your thirst for all of eternity.

And it continues in Revelation chapter 22 verse 17 when he says, and the spirit and

Revelation 22:17

the bride say, come.

And the one who hears, let him say, come.

The one who is thirsty, let him say, come.

To the one who wants, let him take the water of life freely.

Water and God, God and water.

What is it about that?

The Bible is clear about the connection.

There's this constant theme of God and water throughout scripture.

God calls himself the living water.

God creates with water, through water and in water.

God cleanses with water.

God restores with water.

God heals with water.

God blesses with water.

God revives with water.

God ends droughts with water.

God marks seasons with water.

God creates boundaries with water.

God destroys with water.

God saves with water. God and water. Water and God.

I've been asking myself this question for the past few weeks, trying to find the answer

until God revealed to me some diamonds of truth that lay hidden in this. There is a

theology to be extrapolated from water. Water sheds light into who God is. You see, it's

not until you take all the accounts of water in scripture until you see that there is a

bigger picture than just one verse. This means everything. This meaning is everything. It

means that every time water shows up, it reveals something about who God is, and that is what

I want you to take away from this today. In fact, there are a few things as properly capable

of displaying the magnificent character of God and the way God behaves than water.

Water is so diverse in what it does and how it acts and so unique that it sheds light

into how God acts and what he does. Water gives us insights into God that we need to

see. In Genesis, water shows that God creates life out of something lifeless. It seemed

like a mess. It was chaos, but God created out of nothing. God is the creator and has

authority over everything. He uses everything and chooses what to make his power made known

through. When God creates man, God infuses him with water to show him that in the same

way that we need water to live, we need God to live. God is our spiritual water, and we

need God as much as we need water to live, if not more. Your thirst is made out of what

you're made of. You want what you are. God satisfies the needs of your body and of your

mind, of your heart. He revives our body. He fills us. We desire what we are. We are

water and we need water. Spirit needs spirit. Water needs water. When God uses water as

a means of destruction, God shows us that he is God. That God has the final word. That

God is omnipotent. That God is powerful. That God makes use of the simplest substance, two

molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen to do incredible things. How much more

can he use the simplest things in your life to make miracles happen? With Moses and the

Egyptians, we see that God fights battles differently than how we do. We see the visible.

We see the sea. We see the army. We see the chariots. We see the swords drawn. We see

the numbers. But God sees water and says, they're nothing for me. God fights battles

differently than how we could ever fight them. He fights them over our head. Pharaoh may

come at God's people with everything he built up for the past century in Egypt with military

strength. And the Pharaoh in your life may come at you with guns, bombs, with jobs not

working out, with money running out, with payments pressing you, with health decline,

with sickness, with pestilence, with natural disaster. But God fights differently. God

fights with water. With the simple things. God uses water. God uses the simple things

and eradicates the enemy's fiercest attacks with the simplest things. God is like water

in that he is a neutral force. He doesn't work for anyone. God fights in the name of

justice. He fights battles at his level. God isn't content with just fighting the battles

that we can see. God fights those and the battles we can't see. God fights in the name

of love. Love has a way of fighting for two sides at the same time. When we fight, we

take sides. When God fights wars, it's a win-win situation always. God fights above our head.

This is why Joshua asked the commander that appears to him out of nowhere in Joshua 5

Joshua 5:13

verse 13 and 15. He said, whose side are you on? And the commander responds, no. But I

am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come. The question doesn't apply.

God doesn't fight like we do. God doesn't take sides. When Joshua asks him which side

he is on, God doesn't even answer the question. As if to say, my response to your situation

transcends your questions. Love takes no sides. Love fights for love. Love always wins. God's

ways are higher than our ways. God can use water to destroy an Egypt that was posed against

God's people. And God can use water to save the persecuted, the oppressed. God brings justice for everyone.

Water cleanses and just as it did for the Israelites through the sanctuary system in

Leviticus and Numbers, just like water cleanses us and makes us clean through God's working

through it, he purifies us. God purifies us. God has the ability like water to seep into

all the cracks in our heart and clean us. God cleans all the places that only water

could reach. A continuous drop of water over time erodes anything. And in the same way,

a continuous drip of God, a continuous knock on the door from God, a continuous drip of

the love of God on a hard heart can crack the shell and make way for the Savior. With

Elijah, we see that God alone decides when the drought is over. You may be in a drought

in your life spiritually, emotionally, or whatever type of drought it may be, but God

alone determines the time. And when God says it's over, it's over. The rains come. The

land is healed. When God brings the rains of blessing in your life, it is over. That

land will be healed. The dry areas in your life will be revived. Life will flourish again.

You will be able to live and breathe again. God will restore. The rainwater means God

is your provider. God is in charge of watering. God brings water at the right time. You know

how they say that if you get lost, just stay there. Stay put because you'll make yourself

even more lost if you try wandering around and trying to find your way back to safety.

So don't do it. That's what you would here. To stay put in your last location so that

people can find you. Well, guess what? If you're in a desert and you're trying to find

water and you're trying to go and go and go, but all there is is desert, you're going to

burn yourself out. You're going to dry out faster. Let the God of scripture bring the

rain to you. When you're in a desert, stop trying to find the water because you'll burn

yourself out. The rescuers will tell you to wait, but God has a better one. God says,

be still and know that I am God. I will bring water at the right time. I will revive at

the right time. I restore at the right time. I vindicate at the right time. I come through

on my promise at the right time. I will bring healing at the right time. I will bring answers

at the right time. I will make new at the right time. I will pick you up at the right

time. If you're in a desert, if you are in a desert, you just wait on God because the

rain is coming. God's people don't need to fear because our provider provides the rain.

Be still and know that I am God, says Yahweh. When the Bible characters crossed over rivers,

it shows us that God leaves the past behind. God is the God of new chapters. When you cross

a river, you can leave it all behind. When you cross the Red Sea, you can leave the slavery

behind. When you cross a river, you can leave it all behind. When you cross the Jordan,

you can leave the desert, the wandering, the rebellion, the impatience, the immaturity,

the complaining, the thirsting behind and welcome to the plenty. When God brings you

to a river in life, it's to show you that he is the God of new beginnings, of tomorrows,

of new seasons, of promises fulfilled, of futures made reality, of blessing. God fulfills

his plans in our life and we can count on him to do so. God makes his word come to pass.

When the psalmist talks about God and water, it shows us that God's ways are beyond our

wildest thoughts, that we wish to comprehend God, but we just cannot. The day you finally

think you have God figured out in your life is the day you stop believing. God is beyond

comprehension. The mystery that deep waters bring is the mystery of God's character. God

is beyond what you can understand or think. God's goodness is deeper than the deepest

ocean. His wisdom is hard to understand. God is just above it all, but the good thing is

that God is not just any mystery. God is a mystery of love. When Jesus offers a drink

to the woman at the well, it's because his character, he himself pours into us in our

lives. God is our living water. He is the source for everything we need. He is the source

we need to cling to in order to live. He is the substance our bodies crave for. It is

living because something living adapts to whatever life throws at it. In the same way,

Jesus being living water means he works differently, in different ways all the time, depending

on what you need. When you find yourself faced with lack, Jesus is Jaira, my provider. When

you get hurt, Jesus is Yahweh Rafa, my healer. When your foundation seems to be sliding from

under you, Jesus is your Yahweh Tsuri, my rock. When you find yourself in trouble and

need refuge and safety, Jesus is El Shaddai, God Almighty, God of the mountain. When you

feel like there are dead things in your life or a family is dead, your marriage is dead,

your relationships are dead, Jesus is Elohim, mighty creator. When you feel like no one

sees you, like you go unnoticed, like you are struggling alone, Jesus is El Roy, the

one who sees me. When you are going into a battle and you need a name to proclaim in

faith, Jesus is Yahweh Nisi, my banner. When you feel like a failure because you're no

good, you're a sinner, you've messed up and keep messing up, Jesus is Yahweh Tzitkenu,

the Lord is our righteousness. When you have entered into turbulent waters in your life,

stormy waters, raging seas, where you can't rest, can't sleep, can't eat, can't think,

can't breathe, Jesus is Yahweh Shalom, the Lord is peace. Jesus is the living water because

he supplies exactly what you need from him in every one of your life circumstances. When

blood and water spurt out of Jesus on the cross, it's a reminder of union of spirit

and flesh. God forever became a man and will forever be a man as a testament to all the

worlds and universes for all of eternity, of the extents to which he went to save specks

who lived on a speck. That God was willing to put on human flesh to save. That when blood

came out, Jesus himself was reliant on God, on the living water throughout his life here

on earth in the same way that we need to be. When Jesus died on the cross, the living water

and blood flowed out of him to show us that Jesus' blood was now accessible to all as

it ran down the rocks on that mountain called Golgotha. And the water symbolized that along

with water, along with blood ran the living water. The sustenance for all believers to

live on for the rest of eternity. And Revelation seals this truth by saying that the living

water flowed from the throne of God and that God himself will offer living water for all,

accessible always and for the rest of eternity. God and water, water and God. There's a theology

to be extracted from this dual. Water, raging water, peaceful waters, persistent waters,

powerful waters, rainwater, sea water, parting water, flood water, raging water, rivers,

stream, mysterious water, still water, steady water, cleansing water, reviving water, drought

ending water, purifying water, clear water, hydrating water, saving water, life giving

water, living water. That is our God.

God, you are so great. Your ways are above our ways. We can't understand you. We can't

fit you into a box no matter how hard we may try sometimes. You are so good to us. You're

full of so much love. You're full of so much goodness. And Lord, you convey this theme

of water through scripture to remind us of just how diverse your character is in goodness,

in power, in omnipotence. And just everything that you can do, Lord, the ways you show off,

the ways you're just God. So God, we just ask that you remind us of that this morning.

That we may go from here believing in that. That we may be reassured in who you are. That

we may hang on to the truth of who you are. That you're great. We have nothing to fear

because our God is like mighty waters, Lord. That we may be reassured of that truth this

morning. Fill us with your love and with your goodness. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.