Ezekiel 47 speaks of a river flowing from the house of God. Ezekiel was led through ankle-deep, knee-deep, and waist-deep water until he reached water too deep to cross. It was enough water to swim in. The river, of course, speaks of the Holy Spirit. In Christ, we already have been made to full. Colossians 2:10. Colossians 2:10 is in the “perfect tense” in the language the Bible was written in. The perfect tense means that there is an action that was completely accomplished in the past with a continual present tense result and experience. The moment you became a Christian, you became a possessor of the whole river because of your union with Christ, for “in him, all the fullness of deity is embodied.” It is one thing, though, to possess the fullness of the river and then to step out into a full experience of the river. Ankle-deep, knee-deep, and waist deep are all valid experiences of Christ, but Jesus wants us to have the largest experience possible, and the largest experience possible is to be in water you can swim in. The Father wants us to get in over our heads. Ankle-deep water is great, but you can still exercise a lot of control. Knee-deep water is better but being in control is still an issue. Waist deep water is even better because it is deeper, and we have less control, but God’s dream for us, the reason Christ came and died and rose again, was for us to swim in The fullness. Ephesians 1:23 describes the church as the “fullness of Him who fills all and all.”
In the vision of Ezekiel 47, the radiant man of Ezekiel 1:26 – 28 and 40:3 (which I believe is the Lord Jesus) led Ezekiel through the waters, from depth to depth. God is so full of grace that he understands our fear of losing the control of our lives over to the raging river of the fullness of Christ. Therefore Jesus lovingly takes us by the hand and leads us deeper and deeper. I believe every breakthrough that leads towards water to swim in is because Jesus, in His proven tenderness, comes to us and takes us by the hand (speaking metaphorically) and offers us the opportunity to get in over our head. There is a bulging grace that has been released to the church at this moment in history to offer believers the opportunity to enjoy the largest experience possible of the river of the Holy Spirit. Nothing could be more glorious than swimming in the fullness of Christ. Childlike wonder and daring surrender is all that it takes to plunge in. We are living in a moment of remarkable opportunity. Don’t settle for just enough for the Holy Spirit to feel really wet. Give all (surrender all); so you can take all.