John 4:10, "Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water."
I have been considering this verse for the last few days. In fact, my heart has been fixed upon a small portion of this verse. Consider this statement made by Jesus Himself to this woman, "If thou knewest the gift of God" Now I am aware that so much more is said here and we will consider some of those things, but take a moment and concentrate upon that short and grand statement, "If thou knewest the gift of God" As I gazed at these words, I realized that my heart was being spoken to. I was made aware that these words are not exclusive to this setting or the woman being primarily addressed. They were the Lord speaking to our hearts with regard to spiritual reality and the necessity that such reality presents.
First, we must notice that Jesus presents Himself to her as the Gift of God. Those of us who are born from above, have been given this "unspeakable Gift" through the indwelling of Christ. We have been given "all things which pertain unto Life and Godliness" through the union of our souls with the Eternal Spirit of The Son of God. We have been "blessed with all spiritual blessings" through His abiding presence. In this Gift given of God, in whom resides all of the fullness of God, we are made complete and full, by being partakers of his own completeness. In view of the fact that the indwelling Christ is the Gift of God given unto us, why is it that so many are still vainly expecting what we assume to be something "more" than Him? It is because many do not and are not knowing the Gift of God who has been given.
It is my conviction that if our hearts were truly laying hold of Christ and apprehending Him as He is, then our souls would become constrained within the confines of His Person; knowing that there is nothing more for us to get nor for God to give than the One Unsearchable Gift of God who has already been given unto us. As I consider all of our pursuits for what we believe to be spiritual things, I am brought back to this admonition, "If only you knew the gift of God." He is saying if you knew who I AM, then you would realize that I alone can bring satisfaction to your soul. We look for something more and something better because we have no idea who it is that abides within.
With regard to this, the Samaritan woman said something that caught my attention. She said, "Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?" That struck me because it speaks to a natural mind attempting to understand spiritual reality and the impossibility of it ever happening. She was equating the water with which she was "familiar" and the Water of which Jesus was speaking. In other words, her understanding of water and His understanding of water were diametrically opposed. So, in that misunderstanding she asks this question.
She is telling Jesus that he is insufficiently equipped to draw water from the well because of the depth of the well. But Jacob's well was not the well of which he spoke, nor did he speak of the water that was in that well. He was speaking of Himself and in that context, she was the one ill-equipped to draw. It could be stated this way, the thing that you are truly in need of and which will satisfy your soul cannot be drawn by the means with which you may be familiar; for you are correct, this well is DEEP indeed.
Romans 11:33
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
1 Corinthians 2:9-12
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Spiritual reality cannot be discovered or apprehended by natural or religious means, not even what we would consider to be enhanced means. It is known only by the Spirit of God revealing the Gift of God in our souls.
Notice this, "we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." Why does Paul say that we have the Spirit, which is of God? It is so that we might know what has been freely given to us of God. The Greek word for "freely given unto us" is not the same word as Gift in John 4, but it means the same thing. In fact, it is the word that we often times see translated as Grace in the New Testament. Therefore, Paul is saying that the Spirit is given unto us, so that we may know, comprehend, and become cognizant of, the Gift of Grace that has been given unto us. This Gift of Grace is Christ Himself in all of His eternal fullness. However, such fullness and depth cannot be known or draw out by the natural mind, for no man can know the things of God, but the Spirit of God knows and will reveal them, for "the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God".
The well of Salvation is deep and the mind of man can never plumb or measure the depths of such a Great Salvation. The unsearchable and immeasurable depth of Salvation is embodied in the Person of the indwelling Son of God and is only known when that Son is revealed in us.
Just like this woman, so many of us have our concepts of a certain spiritual aspect, but our concept is always in opposition to the Gift of God who has been given. We may have our concept of righteousness, love, peace, or joy, but they will always be natural in their scope and measurement. However, the reality is that they do not have different measurements, but they are only found and partaken of in the Person of the One Gift given of God. Paul says it this way, "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." (1 Corinthians 1:30) The problem is not that we have not been given this glorious Gift, but that we do not know the Gift of God that has been given.
Recently, I was reading someone's comment about this encounter between Jesus and this Samaritan woman. The author stated how great of a tragedy it would have been for this woman to be sitting beside the Messiah and never to have been made aware of who He was. That is true, but how much more tragic would it be for those of us who have the Messiah dwelling in our souls, to never come to the God given awareness of who He is within. The Spirit of God is at work in us to bring us to such an awareness, to bring our souls to the acknowledgment of the Gift of God who has been given unto us, in whom resides all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. May we submit our hearts to Him and by His work begin to, with joy, draw from this deep Well of Salvation.
Rabon Byrd is a Bible Teacher, writer, and editor at the C.M.I. Bible Research Center in Leslie, Arkansas. For more Christ-centered writings, audio and video teachings from Rabon and fellow laborers in Christ, visit cmintl.org or rabonbyrd.blogspot.com. Feel free to email him at rabonbyrd@ymail.com
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