Of Water

John 3:^3&5 “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God… Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.” (emphasis added)

There is a lot of teaching surrounding these two verses. Some say the first time Jesus says, “no one can see the kingdom except he is born again”. But the second time, Jesus says, “No one can enter the kingdom except he is born again”. They say what Jesus was saying is you have to see the kingdom before you can enter the kingdom. I have listened to a lot of teaching in this regard and my conclusion is, that is not what Jesus is saying. Jesus was just further expatiating on what He meant by, “…you have to be born again.” So, see and enter are pretty much the same.

Jesus is saying, for you to be born again you have to be born of the water and of the Spirit. Jesus was simply saying that the birth He is referring to happens through water and Spirit. Water is a spiritually charged term in the scriptures particularly in the Book of John. Water is so crucial to man, that Jesus Himself is described as the water of life. Let’s take a look at water; man is seventy-five percent water. So, without water, man is nothing. How many cups of water should we drink in a day? We should drink between eight to ten cups of water daily. What are the benefits of drinking water? That is your homework; find out the benefits of drinking water. Water is so useful to life, in fact, there is something called water therapy and it simply states that if you just drink a lot of water and rest, you will be fine. And the reason is that man is made of water.

Jesus is saying except you are born of water and the Spirit you will not enter the kingdom of God. But you are seventy-five percent (75%) born of water already, physically. So, what can that be? John uses the word water twenty times, more than all the other gospels combined. So, water is a big part of John’s message and we see it feature from John chapter one. Water is associated with healing (Jn.5:2-4; 9:7, please read). Sometimes, when God wants to heal, He can say pray over water. But that does not mean you should be praying over water every time. Holy water has become an idol today. Do you know that some people actually worship water? If they are setting up churches it must be near water otherwise there will not be action. So many crazy things going on. Jesus walked on water, water cooperated with Jesus (Jn.6:19, please read), Jesus’ first miracle involved water (Jn.2:7, please read).

From the very first chapter, we began to see water. John was talking about baptism and Jesus was baptized in water. Water flowed from the wounded side of Jesus at crucifixion (Jn.19:34, please read). Jesus makes the most striking pronouncement about water in Jn.7:³⁷ “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.” [NIV]. Jesus says, “I am the water of life”. Water is connected to the identity of Christ Jesus and the promise of a new life through the Spirit.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I come thirsty, fill me to the overflowing, in Jesus Name. Amen!