Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
The River of Life

The River of Life

Last updated on: August 9, 2022 at 8:14 pm by Duncan Edward Pile

The River of Life 2022-08-09T20:14:06+01:00 Duncan Edward Pile

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Heaven and Earth are connected, and that connection is the Holy Spirit flowing from paradise into us and out to the world. The Book of Revelation pictures the origins of the river like this, Rev 22:1-2,

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Jesus described its entry into our lives, and our continual access to its life giving waters, John 4: 10-14b,

Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.…whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’

This promise used to confuse me, because I was parched by a seemingly unslakable thirst for the presence and love of God, and yet Jesus seemed to be promising that through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, I would never thirst again. I am no longer confused; instead, utterly satisfied by the unending deluge of God’s presence.

Have you ever noticed the proliferation of water imagery in the Bible? Here are a handful of well-known examples:

Isaiah 12:3,

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

Isaiah 44:3,

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

Isaiah 58:11,

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Revelation 21:6,

He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.”

John 7:37-39,

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “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.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

You will notice, whether from the Old Testament or the New, these scriptures refer explicitly to the Spirit of God, or to a work of the Spirit of God such as salvation.

We have access to the resources of Heaven, and are called to live remarkable lives, but how deeply do we draw on the water of the Spirit?

Seek God While He May Be Found

One of the common themes of my writing is an exhortation to seek God and deepen our connection with him through intimacy with the Holy Spirit. This is a lifelong quest, and the very core of what it means to walk in faith and follow Jesus, and yet so many believers reject the things of the Spirit.

I was told as a young man (by reformist teachers who were dry as dust) that it is wrong to directly pray to the Holy Spirit, as his role is to point to Jesus rather than to himself. In essence, I was told to stop God the Holy Spirit getting any glory, as if he might lose sight of his place in the scheme of things. Let’s be clear, this is blasphemy. God is God and we are not.

Similarly, I was told by the same group of believers that the ‘charismatic’ (manifestations of grace) gifts of the Spirit such as tongues and prophecy were no longer dispensed by the Spirit because the Bible had taken their place. This cessationist thinking is just another way to avoid the kind of discomfort walking with God brings to the carnal, controlling believer. Yielding and surrender terrify such people, whose lives and practice of faith could not be further from Jesus’ description of the Spirit-filled believer. John 3:8,

‘The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’

Again, I wish to be clear. There is no proper reason to think the gifts of the Spirit are no longer part of God’s will for the church. The Bible is clear that these charismatic gifts will cease to be useful when we ‘know fully’, and ‘see face to face’. I don’t know about you, but I’m not there yet. This is clearly a depiction of Heaven, not of the canonisation of scripture. 1 Cor 13: 8-12,

‘Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.’

Arguments against a Spirit-filled day to day experience are in my view just excuses and apologetics for empty spirituality. I can testify from personal experience that when we seek a closer walk with God, we get it. God loves us all, wants us to be far closer to him, desires that we hear his voice, feel his feelings, show his compassion, and use his power. Make no mistake – the life of the follower of Jesus is a miraculous one. Anything else is a facsimile.

The Feminine Energy of the Divine

There is perhaps, one more element to this that bears consideration. I have read in recent months and years that many believers are starting to see the Holy Spirit as the feminine expression of God, and that resonates with me. We often state that God is neither male or female, and perhaps even go on to insist ‘he’ is the entirety and essence of both masculine and feminine energy, as expressed in the creation narrative. Genesis 1: 27,

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

We correctly proclaim this balance of energies as the image of God, but where in Christendom is there any acknowledgement of feminine energy in the divine, or in our connection with the divine? Within Evangelicalism, there are many men bound to unhelpful and rigid ideas of masculinity, who naturally struggle with feminine energy. The Catholic church tries to fill this void with Mary, but Mary is not God, any more than you or I are God. To me, this is idolatry. And yet we have this feminine energy in the Holy Spirit, which every true follower of Jesus yields to and is filled by every day.

Answering the Call

What about you? Are the connections all intact? There is a River of Life that flows from the throne of the Father and Son. That river is the Holy Spirit, who flows from Heaven to Earth through a singular route – into our renewed spirits and out to the world. Every aspect of the life of faith is empowered and made possible by the Spirit, who calls to each of us to draw near. Are you yielded to God, the Holy Spirit? What hardness exists in your heart, and will you repent of it?

Lord of all, lead us into deeper submission to you, and into true union with your son Jesus through your gift, the indwelling Holy Spirit. Amen.

If you want to support me in this ministry, please make a pledge to my Patreon page.

General Christian

Discipleship

Loving God

Seeking God

Spiritual effectiveness

Understanding the Bible

be filled with the Holy Spirit

Previous Post

July 25, 2022

Rethinking Glory

Next Post

August 19, 2022 The Basis of Respect

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A time for war and Sheol Authentic Faith Being in Christ Christian marriage Christian Mysticism Christian Nationalism Christian Parenting Christianity and politics Church and State De/reconstruction Discipleship Divine Healing Divine judgement Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater Effective Prayer Embracing the LGBTQ+ Community Embracing the LGBTQIA+ community End-Times Fellowship with his sufferings Gehenna Glorifying God Hades Healthy Debate Heaven and Earth Hell Honouring Christian Women I still believe inter-faith dialogue Interpreting Scripture Keep the faith Knowing the peace of God Living in Abundance Loving Each Other Loving God Loving Ourselves Mental Health Mental Health and Faith Old and New Covenants Practice Peace Prophecy Prophesy Re-thinking Christian Concepts Resist the Devil Revival Salvation Seeking God Sex and love sin and sinfulness Sound theology Spiritual Authority Spiritual discipline Spiritual effectiveness Spiritual Gifts Spiritual growth Spiritual Mentorship The Christmas story The Cross of Christ The divine feminine The Fear of the Lord The Holy Spirit The importance of kindness The importance of theology The MAGA Cult The Ministry of Jesus The risen Christ The service of Jesus the sin of judgement The spirit-filled life The Virgin Birth True worship Uncategorized Understanding God Understanding Old Testament prophecy Understanding Self-Worth Understanding the Bible Union with God War and Peace

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 September 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

The night of the Passover what did Israel have to do so their firstborn wouldn't die?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Take a Bath Go to Sleep Put blood around the door of their homes Change Clothes