Water is the first substance mentioned in the book of Genesis. What is fascinating is that if there were a candidate for a substance that came from a different universe, it would be water. Nothing else would even come close. It is unique in every way. Scientists have studied it for years and are still befuddled. It simply does not play by the rules. We know almost nothing about it.
Like “Why does it exist at all?” You can’t combine gases and get a liquid under normal conditions. It is simply not possible without extreme pressure or temperature. This would be an immutable law of the universe if it were not for water.
It is the only substance in nature that exists as a gas, liquid, and solid. It is the only universal solvent. It has a tremendous heat capacity compared to other substances and is the only substance that has a lower density in its solid form than in its liquid form.
Everything in the universe expands when heated and shrinks when cooled. Everything, that is, but water. This expansion forms ice, which is lighter than liquid water. This is why water freezes from the top down, allowing life to exist underwater. This should not be. But perhaps the most bizarre behavior of all… Warm water freezes faster than cold water. Is your brain exploding yet?
But there’s more. Scientists think water may actually be composed of two liquids. There appears to be high-density water and low-density water. Temperature changes the ratio of the two liquids, which results in water’s expansion or contraction.
In 2020, the Royal Society of Chemistry featured Rachel Brazil’s article, titled The Weirdness of Water. It states that:
Water, the most commonplace of liquids, is also the strangest. It has at least 66 properties that differ from most liquids – high surface tension, high heat capacity, high melting and boiling points and low compressibility. One school of thought is that water is not a complicated liquid but ‘two simple liquids with a complicated relationship’. For some, this statement contradicts the basic principles of physical chemistry; for others it explains just why water behaves in such an anomalous way.
Water is essential to all life on Earth, and is often called the liquid of life. Wherever we find water on Earth, we find life. It is part of every organism known to man.
Water is life-giving, not only physically but spiritually. Water baptism is a sacrament accepted by all Christian churches as a sign of the New Covenant. Peter says this water saves us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“…and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” (1 Peter 3:21-22)
The Bible also says that life is in the blood, which is mostly water.
“‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, ‘None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.’” (Leviticus 17:10-12)
This prohibition against eating blood is still in effect today.
“You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.” (Acts 15:29)
Logically, one would think that life would be in the brain, or in the heart, or maybe in our eyes, the window to the soul. But no, life is in the blood, and it is by the blood of Jesus that we can have eternal life.
You will have to forgive me. I am not only a scientific novice, but also an amateur theologian. It is hard for me to separate the two. Let’s get back to the topic at hand.
If you are willing to accept the biblical narrative that water was there from the beginning, before the creation of the stars and planets, then it really is out of this universe. With 66 properties that are different from virtually all other liquids, it certainly checks all the boxes. This is why I love combining science and the Bible. At least in my little world, they coexist perfectly.