Water to Wine

Have you ever noticed there is just something special about weddings? 

Even for the cynic about relationships, there is something in our hearts that is moved when two people decide to commit their lives together because of love.

And I don’t believe that’s an accident.

On the opening pages of the Bible, we find a story of the God who can’t keep His creative power and love to Himself.  With the power of His Word, He speaks creation into existence in beautiful, poetic harmony. 

After each day that He creates, He declares. “It is good.”

Except for when He creates human beings, male and female, in His image.  He then declares, “It is very good.”

In the second chapter of Genesis, we get a more intimate look into the creation of humankind. Out of Adam’s rib, Eve is created and they are free to serve God together without the dynamics that all too easily damage the beautiful love we were created for.  

The two were created to become one and inside the human soul- we know that is very good.

As the story of the Bible continues, we very quickly discover the love we were created for is damaged through deception. Instead of endless intimacy in the garden with God, human beings trade the truth for a lie and begin to experience the pain of sin and shame.

God loves His people so much that He allows them to choose to walk away, but He never gives up on them. The most often used image of God in the Old Testament is of a husband who continues to pursue His wayward bride.

Throughout the Old Testament, weddings and wine are symbol of salvation and renewal.

For instance, the prophet Amos tells us,

 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,“ when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills, and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.

“They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
    They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
    they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
I will plant Israel in their own land,
    never again to be uprooted
    from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God.”

Amos 9:11-15, NIV

And the prophet Isaiah declares,

“No longer will they call you Deserted,
    or name your land Desolate….
for the Lord will take delight in you,
    and your land will be married.
 As a young man marries a young woman,
    so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
    so will your God rejoice over you.” Isaiah 62:4-6, NIV

So, it is not accident that Jesus does His first miracle at a wedding party. Rather than being a cool magic trick to keep the good times rolling, this sign is very significant.

He is demonstrating God’s desire to save and restore what has been damaged by sin and shame.

Not only is Jesus celebrating this wedding and saving this family from shame, He is giving us a picture of what He wants to do in the life of anyone who believes in Him.

Jesus wants to restore each of us from sin and shame to an unending relationship of love with God.

He turns the water of our pain, shame, and embarrassment into the wine of salvation, healing, and joy as we listen to His Word and do what He says.

Even when things don’t make sense, we can trust His promise that God is working all things together for the good of those who love Him and He has prepared a place of unimaginable love for those who believe.

The promise of Jesus is that He always saves the best for last.

At the end of the Bible, we find that life beyond death is pictured as a…..

Wedding celebration. 

But this time, the celebration is not two people.  It’s Jesus and all who have devoted themselves to Him in faith and love.

And the reunion is epic.  Endless joy, peace, and love we only get a taste of now when the 2 become one.

No more sin, shame, guilt, and pain. Every tear wiped away. 

“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:1-5, NIV

And the invitation is given to you and me.  The only question is….

Will we believe? Will we believe that God loves us this much?

There is a seat at the table where the wine flows freely for all eternity.