From Chaos to Living Water

Water is a big deal in San Antonio. The local news focuses on our rain chances and the water level in the Edwards Aquifer. It’s a big deal in the Bible, too. From Genesis to Revelation, water flows both as a physical necessity and a theological thread—an image of creation, judgment, deliverance, renewal, and life itself.

The Bible begins with water. In Genesis 1:2, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Before land was formed, before vegetation or living creatures appeared, there was water—formless, deep, and mysterious. God brought order to these waters. It is both life-giving and, when unrestrained, capable of overwhelming destruction, as later seen in the flood narrative of Genesis 6–9.

Water’s dual nature—life-giving and destructive—sets the stage for its role in redemption. We see it displayed in the parting of the Red Sea. The Hebrews are trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the sea. What appears as certain death becomes the means of salvation. God parts the waters, creating a path of deliverance for His people while the same waters collapse upon the pursuing Egyptians. Water becomes both judgment and salvation. For Israel, it is a passage into freedom; for Egypt, it is an instrument of destruction. 

The New Testament deepens this imagery. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul describes Israel’s passage through the sea as being “baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” A transition into a new identity. This concept finds fuller expression in baptism, as described in Romans 6:4, believers are “buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that…we too might walk in newness of life.” Through water, the believer symbolically dies to the old life and rises to new life in Christ. Baptism is a reenactment of deliverance, a visible sign of an inward transformation.

The birth of Jesus involved the breaking of water—the amniotic fluid that signals the arrival of new life. The One who created the waters of Genesis was Himself born through the waters of childbirth. Creation and incarnation meet. The Creator steps into creation, embracing its physical realities to redeem them. 

In John 4, Jesus offers a Samaritan woman water that will become “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Unlike physical water, which temporarily satisfies thirst, this living water represents the enduring, life-giving presence of God through the Holy Spirit. Later, in John 7:37–38, Jesus proclaims, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Water becomes a source of continual spiritual vitality.

The theme reaches its climax in Revelation 22:1: “the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” This final image brings the biblical narrative full circle. The waters that once covered the formless earth now flow in perfect clarity and purpose, nourishing the tree of life and sustaining the renewed creation. The invitation that follows— “Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Revelation 22:17)—echoes the offer of living water made by Jesus.

What the Bible presents theologically, San Antonio experiences physically: a world where water is both a gift of God and a reminder of human dependence. The city was founded where water could be found. Yet, as in Genesis, the waters must be managed and respected. When rainfall declines, the illusion of abundance disappears. Water is not guaranteed—it is given.

In our drought-prone region, this symbolism carries added weight. “Living water” speaks directly into lived experience. Physical water can fail, systems falter, and supplies diminish, but the water Christ offers is not subject to drought. It is not dependent on rainfall or geography. It flows from a different source. The dryness of the land is a reminder that human life is dependent, not self-sustaining. Just as the body thirsts for water, the soul thirsts for something more enduring.

The same God who brought order to the waters, parted the sea, and offered living water remains the source of life today. Life is sustained not by what we control, but by what we receive. The deeper promise remains unchanged: the source of life does not run dry and satisfies the deepest thirst of the human soul. 

I am thankful for water

I have lived near water for most of my life but I rarely had to think about it. That was until I moved to San Antonio. While not a desert, it is a place where people text each other when it rains on their block. We watch the evening news to learn how high water is in the Edward’s Aquifer and our current water use restriction.

The Bible has a lot to say about water. There are 500 references to water not including rivers, rains, wells, floods, seas and storms. Mary’s water broke and Jesus was born. Water came out of Jesus’ pierced side and he was dead. The Hebrews crossed the Red Sea into a new life. We are baptized as a symbol of our new life. God destroyed the world with a flood. Jesus told the woman at the well that he gives us Living Water.

Water is a big deal. Our bodies are 70% water. The surface of our planet is 71% water. However, 97% is in the oceans. Only 3% of earth’s water is fresh (not salty) but only 0.5% of it is accessible. So, 2.5% of the earth's fresh water is unavailable: locked up in glaciers, polar ice caps, atmosphere, and soil. Some is highly polluted or lies too far under the earth's surface to be extracted at an affordable cost.

One out three people in the world do not have access to clean water. On the other hand, the average American family uses 300 gallons of water per day. FEMA recommends that, in an emergency, each person will need one gallon of water per day. We use 3 gallons of water when we brush our teeth with the water running. That’s three days of water by FEMA’s calculation.

Water is essential for all life and is one of God’s gifts to all humanity. We ought to consume it with thanksgiving and be mindful of those who lack it. The simple act of not letting the water run while we brush our teeth can be one small way we can show our gratitude for this precious resource.

Water Holds Life and Death

We prayed for rain at my first prayer meeting in San Antonio. I soon learned that water is serious business in South Texas. Drought magnifies the knowledge of our reliance on God for all things. Even for water, a substance so abundant that it covers 71% of the earth's surface. However, like most things, water is not evenly distributed. In San Antonio rain generates as many tweets and texts as a Spurs win.

Conservationist, Andrew Sansom, Executive Director of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, reminds us that, while most of us get clean water from a tap, it is not so easy for others. On a global scale, a woman will walk an average of nine miles daily to get water for her family. The water itself can be of questionable quality. Every 20 seconds someone in the world will die from a waterborne illness.

Sanson says that, in Texas, there is a tension between environmental protection and economic development related to urban growth. Part of the problem is that the majority of the population lives in urban areas and lacks a spiritual connection to water. They have rarely seen it in the “wild” nor have suffered from it's scarcity.

Water is essential to life. It composes 57% of the human body. We could not live more than five days without. We seek it in space as a sign of extra-terrestrial life. Yet, we fail to show it appropriate honor.

Professor David Jensen (Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary), provides a theological perspective on water. He points out that water is present at creation. God's activity made it useful.

In the Genesis flood we see the destructive power of water. We see it again in the parting of the Red Sea. In both cases one's relationship to God made the difference between life and death.

Through the act of baptism, Christians use water to symbolize the death of the old self and rebirth.

Water has some awesome qualities that point to God. These include the vastness of the oceans, the pristine stillness of a mountain lake and power of a white water river. At the micro level, water is found in every living cell.

Jesus identified himself with life giving water. He said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:37-38)

Water is a source of blessing. Jesus said that giving water to the thirsty was ministry to Himself and that a cup of cold water given to a disciple shall be rewarded.

It is difficult to be thankful for something that seems as abundant as air but, if we are mindful of the scarcity of clean water for some people and the power of life and death that water caries, we can drink to our health with gratitude.