That’s it? Nothing else for the “water and spirit” in God’s plan? Come on, my Catholic brother, you can do better than that! What about the following:
Genesis 1:2 -
Creation - Spirit and Water
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the **waters.
**
Genesis 8:11 -
Noah and the New Creation - Spirit and Water
And the
dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the
waters were abated from off the earth.
What’s the Dove a symbol of? That’s right, the Holy
Spirit.
Exodus 13:18 -
Exodus into the Promised land - Spirit and Water
But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the
Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt…21And Jehovah went before their face by day in a
pillar of a cloud, to lead them [in] the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; so that they could go day and night.
What’s the cloud a symbol of? That’s right, the Shekinah Glory Cloud of God, a.k.a., the Holy
Spirit. And the Red Sea? I think I remember a certain people having to “pass through” it…almost like a…what’s the word when a religious people are sent through water in order to get to the Promised Land…
Luke 3:21-22
21Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being
baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 And the **Holy Ghost **descended in a bodily shape like a
dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
That’s right…the word was BAPTISM!
Maybe this whole water-and-spirit thing is why St. Peter could say the following:
1 Peter 3:21
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of
Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were
saved by water.
21The like figure whereunto even
baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Ahh…so Baptism isn’t some weird ritual that has only symbolic significance, but rather it is an actualization (read: fulfillment) of the way in which God has
always done things. He told us time and time again how it would work - if we had only read the Scriptures, we would have seen it! Perhaps that’s why Jesus says the following:
John 3: 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except any one be born of
water and of Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
And when Nicodemus says, “Huh?” Christ would respond with the following:
John 3:10 Jesus answered and said to him,
Thou art the teacher of Israel and knowest not these things?
Why should Nicodemus have known? Because God has been telling us the same thing, over and over, and we just never got it!
Eze 36: 25 **And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your uncleannesses
**Wow…the Bible tells us that we are born again of WATER AND SPRIT! Who knew?
God Bless,
RyanL