This morning’s sermon looked at Ezekiel 47:1-12, the famous passage where Ezekiel sees – and experiences – the river of God. As we pray this month for the Holy Spirit to work in and through us, we saw how the river symbolised the different stages of progression in the Christian life and how God wants us to go ever further and deeper into the heart of God.
Water is a frequent symbol in the Bible. Jesus is the One who gives us living water (John 4:10) and 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 essential to growth, and we need both the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-24) and the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:7-11) in our lives for us to grow in a balanced way.
Ezekiel, like many prophets, saw visions (Ezek 1:1, Is 6:1, Amos 1:1, Rev 1:13-16). A vision of God is necessary for us all. As we gaze on God, as we set our hearts and minds on Christ above (Col 3:1-2), as we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:2), as we see God as all-powerful, as all loving, as all-wise, we will inevitably be changed. We cannot remain in God’s presence and gaze on His beauty, holiness and splendour and remain the same.
Ezekiel sees water flowing from the temple and the vision then goes on to show him ever-deepening water. First of all it is ankle-deep (Ezek 47:3), then it is knee-deep (Ezek 47:4), then it is ‘up to the waist’ (Ezek 47:4) and then it is ‘so deep that I could not cross… deep enough to swim in.’ (Ezek 47:5) The challenge comes for us to progress to water that is too deep for us to wade through so that swimming becomes a requirement. Swimming involves surrender: we have to learn to trust the water and work with it, rather than fighting against it. In the same way, we have to learn to surrender to God, but that brings with it feelings of helplessness and loss of control which go against our natural tendencies. Unless we learn to die to self, however, we will never learn how to grow in God: ‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.’ (Gal 2:20)
Ezek 47:6-12 shows us the fruitfulness that comes from the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In the natural world, this meant trees, fruit, leaves of healing: ‘Where the river flows everything will live.’ (Ezek 47:9), looking ahead to that perfect world being prepared by God. (Rev 22:1-2) Without the living water God brings to our lives, there is only barrenness and desert (see Ps 63:1-2), but as we are filled with His Spirit, we will overflow with the life God brings and others will be blessed. (‘Overflow’, Chris Tomlin)