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The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
During February we are going to work our way through the gospel of John our theme is Responding to the Living Word.
Today we are talking about The Giver of Abundant Life.
Prayer
Sometimes, Lord, our lives are dull and boring.
But we are convinced that is not what You want for us.
Help us to be open to the joy that You bring to our lives.
Help us not to be preoccupied with our own manufactured and counterfeit joy.
The offerings we cheerfully bring to You are the results of the joy we have come to know.
We will be able to give more when we learn the glory in Your joy.
You are the joy bringer.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
John 2:10 NKJV
10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
Scripture Reading
John 2:1-11 NKJV
Water Turned to Wine
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.
3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.
7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.
9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.
10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and [a]manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
Introduction
The key theme in the gospel of John is in John 10:10, The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Early in this gospel we are presented with a sign (2:11) that vividly illustrates the abundance Jesus brings to life.
Jesus, His mother, and His disciples were invited to a wedding feast.
It could very well have been the wedding of a relative, since Mary seemed to have some influence on the servants and took personal interest in the embarrassment to the family when the wine run out.
Every pastor who works with nervous families at weddings knows how uneasy they can become if everything doesn’t go well.
This wedding celebration was about to be a disaster.
It appeared that the groom’s family had not made adequate preparation, they had tried to skimp on the expenses.
Their social mistake would be remembered.
It would be a long time before they would be able to live down this embarrassment!
- In a world where things run out, Jesus is the abundance of life.
Joh recorded the great signs Jesus did to demonstrate His power over the world.
He brought joy to this party (2:1-11),
He brought judgement to the temple authorities (2:13-22),
He brought healing to the nobleman’s son (4:46-54),
And He gave a man sick for thirty eight years a new chance at life (5:2-18),
Then He fed the five thousand (6:16-21),
He walked on the water (6:16-21),
He gave sight to blind eye (9:1-17),
And He showed His power to give life by raising Lazarus from the dead (9:1-44)
The connecting theme of these signs is that when things run out, whether its wine or justice or health or hope or bread or life itself, Jesus is the true source of abundance of light.
In a world where there is never enough, Jesus is all sufficient.
2. In a world where people are satisfied just to get by, Jesus goes beyond simply providing, He improves on life.
The organiser of the feast was obviously surprised as he called to the bridegroom in John 2:10, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
When the most important celebration in the lives of these two families was about to disintegrate because there was not enough wine , Jesus not only rescued the party, He improved upon it!
If this is not an accurate picture of how Jesus deals with life, there isn’t one in all the Gospels.
Jesus comes to us when everything appears to be lost and turns what could have been a disaster into a miracle of abundance.
Has this ever happened in your life?
Perhaps it was the loss of a job, a failed test, a broken promise, a divorce, or a death that left you feeling that life had caved in on you.
At these kinds of moments, Jesus brings us finally to victory and joy again.
He does not simply help us get by, He improves our situation.
3. In a world living by ritual, Jesus becomes the source of true life and joy.
The six stone jars may represent the jewish ceremonial laws.
They were there for the cleansing rites.
The water from them was used to wash the feet and cleanse the hands of the guests.
The number six is an incomplete number, being one less than the sacred and complete number seven.
It is not a stretch to imagine Jesus as the One who completes what is lacking in the Jewish ritualistic ceremonies.
This is the sign of the gospel, the new wine, which will require new wine skins.
The Jewish legal system for righteousness was not able to hold the new wine of grace that was in Jesus Christ, the giver of abundant life.
Jesus said in John 15:1, I am the true vine.
The implication surely is that He was the vine from which the true vine would come.
Jesus does away with all the substitutes for the abundant life.
He is the true vine giving the new wine that frees people from the wine that runs out.
He is the water of life in the ceremonial jars that can cleanse but never satisfy by itself.
4. In a world where there is little real joy, Jesus brings true joy to the party of life.
Jesus is no killjoy.
He enjoys the celebration of life.
Wine is a symbol of joy and of the blessings of God.
Our awareness of the dangers of alcoholic drinks is also biblical.
God is in favour of joy, but He is opposed to everything that works against the people He loves.
God is for everything that is good, but He is against everything that harms life and tears people apart.
When God is against something, it is because He is for us.
As long as people become drunkards, as long as alcoholism is a threat to life, as long as drink drivers are a menace to safety, as long as families are frightened and torn apart by drinking parents, we should chose not to drink, or at least drink in moderation.
Christians instinctively know that the greatest joy at the party is the presence of Christ who is the new wine that satisfies our every craving for joy and laughter.
The disciples saw the glory of God in Jesus as He changed the water into wine.
They knew that in Jesus, God was acting to provide abundance for their scarcity, joy for their ordinary lives, “and His disciples believed in Him.” We read in John 2:11.
Conclusion.
In Jesus there is the abundance of life, a new way, a new hope, a new gospel, a new freedom for all of life.
You, too, may now believe and be invited to join in the joy of the party of life.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
2022 IS A YEAR OF REPENTANCE AND BLESSINGS
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