Into the bliss of heavenly grace we rise / Compare with two previous articles on grace
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It is the Waters of God’s Spirit that brings Grace of Eternal Life
Through the trickle of water we find peace for life and within the flow of a rushing torrent our sins have been absorbed. Jesus told the Woman at Jacob’s Well that he was the living water. “Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (Jn 4: 14).
How powerful is the ocean that can absorb the sin of man; standing before the depth of forgiveness which is the soul of God’s Mercy and we in our sin is like a drop of water that leaps into the vastness of God’s mercy and is never seen again.
From Ezekiel we read how the angel of God has him walking through the water flowing from the southern side of the temple and as he measured the depth of the water’s flow until I saw the trees of life bearing fruit for everlasting life. (Ez 47: 1 - 12). From the Spirit of Christ we find that it is through water that refreshes, heals, and gives us life that is eternal and we become the life that lives within each soul that receives the grace of forgiveness. (cf the Office of Readings for Saturday of the 25th week in Ordinary Time).
What is so impressive about water are the different periods in Sacred Scripture that it becomes the essential premise of spiritual growth for God’s people. Look at some of the pertinent events that water is the prime element of grace that we read about;
Noah and the order that God calls him to prepare for since his people have rejected the blessings he wants for them. (Gn 6: 6 - 8).
The crossing of the Red Sea and how the Israelites found their freedom from slavery becomes the sign of finding the land promised to the people of God through the Passover. (Ex 12 1 - ff).
Jesus being Baptized in the Jordan and a whole new way of understanding God’s promise of redemption through the Crucifixion/Resurrection of Christ through Blood and Water; (Jn 19: 31 - 37).
The New Heaven and the New Earth as viewed by John as the land promised by God and procured through the Passion and Perousia of Christ; (Rv 21: 1 - 27; 22: 1 - 4).
The very words found in Ezekiel of the water refreshing the trees and plants along the river from God to the river found in Revelation at the final Jerusalem.
Ralph B. Hathaway
I am an ordained deacon with the Diocese of Pittsburgh, since June 8, 1974. My current ministry is concentrated on writing spiritual reflections and poetry. I am married, with one grown daughter, and 4 grandchildren. I retired from the electrical industry after 58 years as an electrician, contractor, teacher in trade schools, and electrical inspector with a PA State license
