Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God. John 3:5
When a person desires to follow
Christ and to be reconciled to God, we know and understand that they must be
baptized, they must be "born of water and the Spirit". Water baptism,
for God's own purpose and pleasure, is how one comes into contact with the
blood of Jesus and that blood is what cleanses us from all our sins (Acts
20:28; Ephesians 1:7). But many don't realize that God has used water and the
Spirit throughout the Old Testament to bring about life, renewal, and
salvation. Many Old Testament events are types or shadows of what was to come
in Jesus Christ.
The Old Testament is full of types
and shadows that find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ and his church. Consider
what Paul says about those who ate the manna and drank the water that came from
the rock: "...and did all eat the same spiritual food; and did all
drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of a spiritual rock that
followed them: and the rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:3–4). Paul is
commenting on events found in Exodus 16:15 and Exodus 17:6 in which he states
that those events, in a real way, point us to Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said that
he was the bread (manna) from heaven (John 6:31–35). Again, the Old testament
is full of types and shadows and one
of those types has to do with water baptism. In Genesis one we see God creating the heavens and the earth. In verse two the Spirit is found hovering or brooding over the waters of the deep like a bird over its nest. On day three God brings dry land out of the water and only then is life created. Life begins on earth when dry land is created and so out of water God brings life. In the creation account we have water and the Spirit.
In Genesis chapters six through nine
we have the account of Noah's flood. The world at that time had become so
wicked that the earth was overflowing with sin. It was so bad that God was grieved
that he had created man and planned to wipe out every living thing off the face
of the earth. The only bright spot was Noah, a righteous man. God told Noah to build
an ark. Once the Ark was built he and his family, enter it and then God brought
a huge, worldwide flood upon the earth. The Earth was one again "without
form and void", it was back to the way it was in Genesis one, a watery
mass of chaos. We should be seeing the echoes of Genesis one in this text. God in
a very real way "uncreates" the world and prepares to recreate it.
After the rains cease Noah finally sends out a dove and the dove hovers over
the surface of the deep, finding no place to rest (Genesis 8:8–9). In a
symbolic way this event pictures the Holy Spirit who was hovering over the
waters in Genesis one. God, once again, is about to bring dry land out of the
water and life will again be possible. God has cleansed the earth of wickedness
and sin through water. God brings about a renewed creation by water and the
Spirit.
After the flood we are told about a
man named Abraham, who has a son named Isaac. Isaac in turn has a son named
Jacob and he has twelve sons. From these twelve sons, God creates the nation of
Israel. The Israelites eventually find themselves in Egyptian slavery where they
work in bitterness and heartache for years. After a long period of time God
leads them out of that slavery. He uses ten plagues to force Pharaoh to let his
people go, but once they leave, Pharaoh has a change of heart. He goes out with
his army in order to kill the Israelites, but God through Moses opens the Red
Sea and the Israelites walk through on dry ground. The Egyptian army that
follows them are, in the end, drowned in the sea (Exodus 14:15–31). The
Israelites are finally free/ saved from Egyptian slavery when they reach the
other side of the Red Sea. God baptized the Israelites in the sea and in the
cloud. They were saved through water and guided by God (Exodus 13:21–22).[1] 
Let us now connect the Old Testament
with the New and consider two of those New Testament texts that speak about the
Spirit and water. In Matthew three Jesus goes out to John and is baptized by
him in the Jordan River. As he comes out of the water, the Spirit descends in
the form of a dove (Matthew 3:16–17). Do you hear the echoes in this text? Genesis
one should come to mind where the Spirit was hovering over the waters as well
as the symbolic image of the Spirit seen in the dove after Noah's flood? Genesis
one describes the creation. Genesis six through nine describes the renewed
creation and here, Jesus represents the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17–18). In the book of Acts we hear a message preached by Peter that ends with him saying "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."[2] Again we find water and the Spirit. Of course, there are plenty of other New Testament texts that discuss water baptism, but my main focus in this article was to present some of those Old Testament texts that prefigure New Testament baptism.
It is clear when we examine the scriptures that the Old Testament pictures and points us to many things that find their ultimate fulfillment in the New Testament, and one of those things is water baptism. Water and the Spirit have had a long and rich history that began back in Genesis and continues to this day. Through water God brought about life, cleansing from sin, and renewal - from creation to new creation.
