Sharing Living Water

MEMORY SELECTION: “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” —John 4:14

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: John 4:7-11, 25-30, 39

WATER in the Bible is a symbol of truth. The metaphor was used by Jesus in this instance to convey the thought that truth is a means to everlasting life and that it is only through Jesus that this life-generating “drink” can be obtained. In John 4:10 Jesus said, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”

The gift of God was Jesus. The divine plan for the redemption of the world required that Jesus give his life as a ransom for Adam. And since all the human race were condemned in Adam, all could in due time be released from adamic condemnation and be given an opportunity for life because Jesus, as a man, took Adam’s place in death. This is a gift, because God was not obligated to provide it. The scripture states, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) The great truth of God’s word is to know and understand and appreciate this beneficent act and to know and appreciate the One whom he sent.

Jesus is the center of God’s plan for giving eternal life. God’s arrangement during this age is that salvation must be preceded by the sinner’s acknowledging his undone condition and accepting Jesus as his personal Redeemer. Jesus likens himself, in this regard, to bread. In John 6:51 he says: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” When the Jews heard this they strove among themselves, thinking that Jesus spoke of his actual flesh. But in verse 63 Jesus explained the metaphor as follows: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

And so Jesus, in John 4:13,14, speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, said: “Whosoever drinketh of this water [the water of the well] shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water [truth] that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” During this Gospel Age the acceptance of Jesus by one with a good and honest heart opens the way for a complete and unreserved consecration to the Heavenly Father and a determination to take up one’s cross and follow in the footsteps of Jesus. When this is done the consecrated one receives the Holy Spirit as an earnest of the promised inheritance.—Eph. 1:13,14

The water of truth supplied by Jesus, then, becomes living water and a well of truth, which springs up into eternal life. The Apostle Peter expresses the matter thus: “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”—II Pet. 1:3,4

One of the great and precious promises held out to the footstep followers of Jesus during this Gospel Age is that they are promised a share in the great work of bringing about restitution in the kingdom. They, together with their Lord, will be the instruments God will use to bring the world of mankind back from the grave and up the highway of holiness to the condition of perfection that was enjoyed by Adam in the Garden of Eden before he sinned. This great work will result in eternal life for all the willing and obedient. Jesus said, “He that believeth on me [the footstep followers of Jesus], as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38) The picture is that the church, with its Head, Jesus, will be the source of life, or will provide the means of attaining life, in the kingdom.—Rev. 22:17

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