Bible Question: IN CHAPTER 3 JESUS SAID THAT EXCEPT YOU BE BORN OF WATER AND SPIRIT, YOU MAY NOT ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. JESUS SAID THIS, SO THE CONTENT SHOWED THAT HE IS NOT TALKING ABOUT WATER BAPTISM, BECAUSE WATER BAPTISM IS A SYMBOL CREATED BY MAN(PHYSICAL REALM). |
Bible Answer: We know that God knows everything from the beginning. (DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isa. 46:10 emp. added). The first book of the Bible is called Genesis. Genesis means beginning so I think you can know the end of the beginning and everything in between in the Book of Genesis through the literal, types and shadows. For example in Gen 2:21-22 we read, (And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.) Adam's bride came out of his side. Just like Jesus' bride (The church) came out of His side. In Genesis 3:16 we read, (Unto the woman he said, I WILL GREATLY MULTIPLY THY SORROW AND THY CONCEPTION; IN SORROW THOU SHALT BRING FORTH CHILDREN; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. (emp. added). The question we must ask is why did God curse Eve the way He did? We know God is just and the punishment always fits the crime. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. (Exo. 21:24-25) God's judgment to Adam was cursing the ground Gen. 3:17, one of the reasons for this was because Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil Gen. 3:1-6 the tree came forth from the ground, hence the cursing of the ground. Another example is Cain being cursed from the earth (AND NOW ART THOU CURSED FROM THE EARTH, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; (Gen. 4:11 emp. added). A reason fro Cain's cursing was because he was a tiller of the land Gen. 4:2. Now to know why Eve was cursed the way she was, we must first look at the prior verse (AND I WILL PUT ENMITY BETWEEN THEE AND THE WOMAN, AND BETWEEN THY SEED AND HER SEED; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Gen 3:15 emp. added). Here we see the first messianic prophecy in the Bible. Here we see that the messiah will come from the offspring of Eve. Now lets look at Isaiah 53:11, it reads, (He shall see of the TRAVAIL of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (emp. added). In this verse we see the word 'travai'l travail in the bible usally has something to do with giving birth. In the prior verse Isaiah 53:10, we read, (Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see HIS SEED, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (emp. added). Who is the LORD's seed? It is the church. So we know from these verses that Jesus Himself had to go through great travail to give birth to the church. (Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be BORN OF WATER and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (Joh 3:5 emp. added) What did Jesus mean born of water here? To know this look at John 19:34 (But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out BLOOD AND WATER. (emp. added) In this verse we see that the Church which according to Isa. 53:10 is the seed of our Savior Jesus Christ. This is the water I believe is what Jesus was talking about in Joh. 3:5. Another verse that support this (And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the WATER, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (1Jo 5:8 emp. added). Note how it comes from the very same author, John. In conclusion, Eve was cursed the way she was because her sin against God caused God to bring a savior to this world to save it. God could not just let our sin go unpunished because He is Holy and just. So He sent His only Son to save the world and to have God's wrath for sin poured out on Jesus His Son. So Jesus had to go through the pain and travail to give birth to His church. That is why Eve was cursed the way she was. We can also be born again as Jesus states in John 3:5. In Romans 10 we learn how to become part of the church unto salvation (That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Rom 10:9-10). The water is symbolic of Jesus giving birth to the church. |