The Names of Christ
"NAMES OF CHRIST"© -is a book written by Dr. James Modlish
-reprinted here with the author's permission-

Lesson Twenty Two

Christ - The Living Water
(John 4:5-15)

Introduction: There are many kinds of water; soft, hard, heavy, and polluted. Jesus compared himself with "living water" which must be unique in several ways. It is noteworthy that water assumes three different forms - liquid, solid and gas. This is obviously a picture of the Trinity as water is the only substance on earth that is naturally present in three different forms.

Water has some unusual properties. Consider for example:

"Water is the only common liquid that is most dense at a temperature above its freezing point. This, coupled with the fact that it expands on freezing, is of great importance to all forms of life that live underwater.

Consider, for example, what happens when a lake freezes in winter. ALL the water in it must cool down to 39 degrees before the surface waters cool to the point where they freeze. Even when the surface has frozen, at a temperature of 32 degrees, the bottom of the lake stays at 39 degrees. Plant and animal life can continue to live there.

If water were an ordinary substance, the coldest water would be the most dense and the solid form (the ice) would be more dense than the liquid. The cold water would always sink to the bottom, and the lake would start to freeze from the bottom. Once ice had formed, it could not easily be melted because the warmer water would stay at the surface.

During the summer the surface would get quite warm, but ice would get thicker and thicker from winter to winter. In the end, much of the water in the lake would be changed to ice. Life underwater would become impossible.

Water plays a very important role in regulating the earth's temperature.

The water vapor in the atmosphere helps to shield the surface from the great amount of heat radiated by the sun in the daytime. By night it acts as a blanket and keeps the surface from losing heat by radiating it into space.

The oceans are equally important. The land surface of the earth is of low specific heat. That is, it readily heats up or cools off. But the oceans which cover nearly three quarters of the surface stay about the same temperature. Winds blowing off the oceans temper the climate on land.

The difference that water makes becomes very clear when you compare the earth with the moon. ON the average, the earth and moon are the same distance from the sun. The same amount of heat falls on I square mile of earth or moon. At the moon's equator the temperature falls to about - 250 degrees at night and rises by day to at least 212 degrees. Over the whole surface the earth (except for certain parts of Antarctica) the range of air temperatures is from about -80 degrees to 130 degrees." - New World Book of Knowledge

These two examples well illustrate how hopelessly lost we would be without water and its unique characteristics. In order to be "living water," what characteristics would water have to have? 

I. LIVING WATER IS PURE WATER

A. God has always been concerned about purity -

[1]. The word pure is found more than 30 times in Exodus in connection with the construction of the Tabernacle, i.e. - pure gold, pure incense of spices, pure myrrh, pure candlesticks, etc.

[2]. "Thy word is very pure" - (Ps. 119:140). "Every word of God is pure" - (Pro. 30:5).

[3]. "Blessed are the pure in heart" - (Matt. 5:8). "See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." (1 Pet. 1:22)

[4]. "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." (Ja. 1:27)

[5]. "And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass." (Rev 21:18)

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass." (Rev. 21:21)

"And he shew me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." (Rev. 22:1)

The purity of Christ is well illustrated in Scripture, (see: 1 Pet. 1:19; Heb. 9:14; Jn. 8:46; Jn. 18:38; 1 Pet. 1:15; Heb. 4:15)

B. Pure water is strong and supportive - (Ja. 4:10; Isa. 40:10,11; Rev. 5:12) An experiment to illustrate this is to float a razor blade in a bowl of water, add a detergent and watch it sink. Many pollutants have been added to Israel's religion - (Jer. 34:16; Eze. 20:13; 44:7)

They had sunk so deep they had great difficulty in even recognizing pure water when it showed. The water supported Peter until he allowed his faith to be polluted by doubt. (Matt. 14:22-23)

C. Pure water is reflective - (Pro. 27:19). Jesus Christ is a true reflection of God for He is "God made manifest in the flesh." (Heb. 1:3; 1 Cor. 3:18; 4:4) 

II. LIVING WATER IS CLEANSING

Of all known liquids, water is by far the best solvent. That is more substances can be dissolved in water than in anything else. Thousands of different chemicals are dissolved in the oceans of the world.

A. God has always been concerned about cleansing -
[1]. The Altar - (Ex. 29:36; Lev. 16:19)
[2]. The Temple - (2 Chron. 29:15,16)
[3]. The Priest - (Neh. 13:22)
[4]. Plagued house - (Lev. 14:49)
[5]. His People - (Lev 16:30; Jer 33:8)

B. Without cleansing, grave consequences results -
[1]. Clean the inside - (Matt. 23:25-28,33)
[2]. The Lord's Supper - (1 Cor. 11:29,30)
[3]. Clean your mind - (Rom. 12:1,2; Ja. 1:13-15)

C. Jesus Christ is the great cleanser -
[1]. He cleanses as a high priest - (Heb. 10:19-22)
[2]. He cleanses through His word - (Eph. 5:26; Jn. 15:3) 

III. WATER IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TO THE COMFORT AND LIFE OF MAN

On the average, a person takes in about 16,000 gallons of water during, his lifetime. The human body is about 70% water by weight. When the human body loses approximately 20% of its water it dies of thirst. The horrible process is described below: (Isa. 5:13,14)

A. Pulse increased
B. Great perspiration
C. Dizziness
D. Dry and enlarged tongue - (Lk. 16:24; 1 Jn. 19:28; Ps. 22:15)
E. Blue skin
F. Glassy eyes - (Ps. 38:10)
G. Deafness - (Mic. 7:16,17)
H. Delirium - (Isa. 44:25)
I. Down for the count

Conclusion: As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? (Ps. 42:1,2)

 

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