The Waters From the Waters (Gen. 1:6-8)

On the first day, God spoken light into the dark watery void of what became

the universe in which we exist.  He made a distinction between the darkness

and the light, calling the light day and the darkness night to, thereby

marking the evening and the morning as the beginning and the end of that first day,

and thus beginning our history.  Light, was the beginning of life, then, as the text states:

"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters

from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament: and it was so.  And God called the firmament Heaven.  And the evening and the morning were the second day." (Gen. 1:6-8)

As mentioned in the last study of the scriptures, hydrogen, a foundational component to the formation of water molecules, is present everywhere in the universe.  The stars burn with it, it is in the form of ice on distant planets in our solar system, and even further out, is present even as some form of liquid on certain planets outside of our solar system.  It is the foundational not only to the formation of water, but of all forms of liquid of which water is the base ingredient.  That water would be present in other parts of the universe should not be a challenge to us, for our sun and moon, the planets, their moons, all the stars and distant galaxies reside in what the scripture calls "the firmament" of which our sky and atmosphere are also part. 

It was out of water from which that firmament was created and out of the water that our earth was formed, and from which our atmosphere was birthed in which clouds are formed which bring the rain to nourish the trees and shrubs of the forests and grass of the fields, and the vegetation upon which the herbivorous creatures of the animal kingdom depend on for sustenance, and to water the plants that are used to spin the cloth that clothes us, the dyes that we use to decorate the interiors of our homes and places of business, that we apply to give color to our artwork and fashionware, from which we create various forms of incense that we use to create  pleasant soothing atmospheres within our homes, businesses, and meeting places.  It disinfects our injuries, brings relief to our ailments, and cools us in the sweltering heat of the hot summer days,  and it also aids us in putting out fires that bring destruction to our property and consume almost everything their path.  It is also used to wash our clothes and bodies from the dirt and grime we acquire daily and which we use to groom our pets.  It is a need upon which we daily depend without which all life would perish quickly.

But there is a cleansing that we need daily that water cannot cleanse away; a filth within us that blackens our souls and brings a stench in the nostrils of our God, compelling Him to separate Himself from us which can only mean one thing without a cleansing of this filth:  Eternal damnation in a place of darkness where there is only torment and agony and from which even the smallest of joys are absent, for the pure and holy God cannot allow Himself or His Kingdom to be soiled by the stain of sin which runs through our blood stream starting with the first man who transgressed the commandment of God and brought upon us and upon all creation the curse of death and decay from which the entire universe suffers. (Rom. 8:19-23)  No amount of virtuous deeds can cleanse us from this stain, because we are defiled daily by our sinful nature which resides in us continuously.  Its presence within us causes us to fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) and fail to attain to His standard of moral purity and perfection.  

It is the nature that causes us to be selfish, to ill-treat our fellowman, to betray our friends, and break the hearts of those we love, to demand our own way and our own terms rather than that of our Maker.  It defiles our thoughts, and makes us lust after that which is not ours rather than be content with what God gives us, it is why our governments are corrupt, why employers may not render to the employee the reward their services deserve, and why employees do not always render to the employer the services for which they are being paid, it is why the lazy demand that which they are required to work for, it is why we give ourselves over to all sorts of perversion and things unnatural, and for all this we must face justice, for the Holiness and Righteousness of God requires Him to punish sin and the sinful. 

If the Lord did not punish sin, then He could neither be Holy or pure, for by not bringing judgment, He would be giving His approval to sin, which would in itself would be an evil, because then His Kingdom would be defiled by the filth of our sin, and the pure Heaven would become a filthy Hell, but yet He withholds judgment, because He is also a God of love and mercy, and so in His mercy, He has made a provision on our behalf which satisfies both the demand for justice and the need for mercy in that which He sent is one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to take the penalty upon Himself for our sins so that we would not have to.  It is His blood to which He applied to the mercy seat in Heaven by which we are washed from the filth that the most purest of waters could not.  It is through Him, that we escape the penalty of eternal death that we so rightly deserve, and just as our present universe was born out of water, so the new nature that we receive in ourselves is born by the blood of Christ which He shed on our behalf, and by which we are washed from the stains of our sins.  It is through Christ that we have become a sweet aroma to God our Father rather than a stench thereby having our fellowship with God restored, and our salvation entry into Heaven assured.

But though our salvation be assured in Christ, we nonetheless continue to battle with that old filthy nature while we still remain in a corruptible body.  Our new nature may make us desire to do that which is right and pleasing in the sight of God, but our old nature continues to cause us to fall short, even in ways to which we are oblivious.  It is a struggle to which Paul, an Apostle and disciple of Christ described so eloquently:

For that which I do, I allow not:

for what I would that do I not;

but what I hate, that do I...

Now then it is no more I that do it,

but sin that dwelleth in me.

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,)

dwelleth no good thing: for to will

is present with me; but how to perform

that which is good I find not.

For the good I would I do not:

but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Now if I do that I would not,

it is no more I that do it,

but sin that dwelleth in me.

I then find a law, that when I would do good,

evil is present with me.

For I delight in the law of God

after the inward man:

But I see another law in my members,

warring against the law of my mind,

and bringing me into captivity

to the law of sin which is in my members.

O wretched man that I am!

Who shall deliver me from the body of death?

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So then with the mind I myself serve

the law of God; but with  the flesh

the law of sin. (Rom. 7:15-25)

Just because the battle for our redemption is won, and just because we may not be in danger condemnation, that does not mean that the war between the light and the darkness and the pure and the corrupt is over.  For upon aligning ourselves with Christ our Lord and making Him our King, we have now become at enmity with the forces that defile and corrupt and which will constantly attempt to deceive and ensnare us through the corruptible flesh against which our spiritual nature, awakened by Christ, is at war with daily.

Therefore, just as our bodies are in need of a frequently cleansing with clean water so that

the stench of filthiness does not make us repulsive to our fellow man, so we are in need of a daily cleansing of sin, for though we be free from the condemnation of sin, yet sin still causes us to fall short of that which is perfect, but by a sincere surrendering to our Lord, we die to ourselves, but

because of sin constantly present, it is not just a one time surrendering, for though with our mind and hearts we may be determined to serve the law of Christ, our sinful flesh is ever present with us preventing us from doing so perfectly.  There is a common saying amongst the body of Christ that states:

"God does not expect us to be sinless, but He expects us to sin less."

Once having come to Christ, we have died to our sin and therefore must not continue living as though we are still servants of sin, but rather we should want to live as servants of Christ and to desire that He be vindicated and glorified in us and that our lives might serve as a testimony to the change that He has wrought in us and still continues to work in us.  Therefore the scripture commands that we are to "mortify"(put to death) those members of the flesh, being those desires of sin which run contrary to the spirit, (Rom. 8:13, Col. 3:5) not just once, but daily, because we are to grow in the Lord daily and for us to grow in the Lord daily, we must die to our sinful selves daily, (1 Cor. 15:31) no longer sowing to the flesh, but to the Spirit, for it is written that "he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (Gal. 6:8)

For in a daily dying to ourselves, we receive a daily cleansing of our hearts and minds before the Lord so that no harbored sin may hinder our prayers to Him nor cloud our ability to discern His guiding hand upon our lives.  One day the entire earth shall undergo a cleansing not one of water, but one by fire out of which a new earth shall be made and a new heavens (Rev. 21:1) in which there will be no more evil, sin, death, curse nor anything to bring pain or suffering of any sort (Rev. 21:4, 22:3).

Only holiness, goodness, purity, light, and life will dwell there for that which is now present will then be past (Rev. 21:4) and the present which will then be the former will not be longed for nor come to mind (Is. 65:17), but today in Christ can we now begin our journey towards that perfect state and be a part of that place of light and life of which we will all become part.

Scripture references:

1.  Genesis 1:6-8

2.  Romans 8:19-23

3.  Romans 3:23

4.  Romans 7:15-25

5.  Romans 8:13

6.  Colossians 3:5

7.  1 Corinthians 15:31

8.  Galatians 6:8

9.  Revelation 21:4

10.  Revelation 22:3 

11.  Isaiah 65:17