The first and last miracle.

Jesus’ first and last miracle has to do with a wedding. His first miracle happened at the wedding feast in Cana. The last miracle will be at His own wedding feast of the Lamb when the saints will be raptured, taken up into the sky, to be with Him forever.

He turned water into wine at the first miracle at Cana. It was a double miracle because not only was water turned into wine but according to the Master of the Wedding Feast it was the best wine he ever tasted. Good wine take many years to ferment and mature. He compressed a process that takes several years into a few seconds!

I realised this fact about the double miracle at the world’s largest wine vat at Mendosa, Argentina when the tour guide explained to us how long it takes to make good wine. I was on a school rugby tour with my oldest son, Aje, in Argentina when we visited that wine estate. The Holy Spirit gave me that revelation as the tour guide spoke to us.

You and I may not have the privilege to be at the first miracle at Cana but we can choose to be part of the last miracle when Jesus returns to fetch His bride!

With a great shout of the Archangel and the trumpet of the Lord, the sky will open up and the Lord will appear, the Bridegroom, with ten thousands of saints and angels with Him, just like Henoch saw in His vision about Christ’s return, and then the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then those who are alive at His appearing will be caught up to meet Him in the air. So shall we be forever with the Lord.

The word Paul chose to describe the rapture actually explains how a high ranking government official pays a visit to a small town. The people of the town go out of the town to meet him and to usher him into the town where they hold a feast in his honour.

We will go out of this earth to meet Him in the air and usher Him back into the new earth.

Dr. Gray that taught me in Miracle Valley Bible College, in Arizona, said that the old earth and the old heaven will pass away in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, and the new earth and the new heaven will appear. We who are taken out of the world will return with the Lord to the new earth and reign with him forever.

During Noah’s time the earth was destroyed by a flood. The Lord made a covenant with Noah and gave a rainbow as a sign of that covenant, that the earth will never again be destroyed by water. But the earth will be destroyed with fire.

Yesterday, on the news, a meteor hit Russia and thousands of people were injured by the impact and the aftershock. An asteroid half the size of a football field just missed the earth by 28 000 feet.

If a nuclear war breaks out the earth will be destroyed in seconds.

Anything can happen.

That is why we who are alive should live as if the Lord can appear any moment now. We are living in the end times.

But today we are at a wedding and it is a joyous occasion for this couple. But even today we are reminded that Jesus was present at the wedding feast at Cana and He will be present at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb.

So although we are happy to share this moment of festivity with the couple we are conscious of the fact that we can choose to be part of the Marriage Feast of the Lamb.

John wrote in his Gospel: ‘to as many as received Him He gave the power to become sons of God, to as many as believed on His Name.’ (John 4:12)

Paul explained it as follows: ‘If you believe with the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved; for with your mouth confession is made unto salvation and with the heart you believe unto righteousness.’ (Romans 10:8-10)

Have you ever taken a moment to acknowledge the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead? Have you ever confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord? He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Today you can choose to be part of His Marriage Feast and the last miracle, by doing so.

Say this after me: ‘I believe God raised Jesus from the dead and I confess Jesus as my Lord!’ That is the invitation to the Great Wedding Supper of the Lamb!

He will take away your old tattered garment, spotted with sin and iniquity and give you a robe of pure white linen that speaks of righteousness.

‘God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.’ (II Corinthians 5:21)

‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.’ (John 3:16)

What a great opportunity: we are witnessing a marriage of two people today and we can make a decision to be at the last wedding feast that will ever take place when the Lord Jesus returns to fetch His own bride!

An interesting fact to point out at the marriage feast at Cana is that the Master of the Feast did not know where the wine came from, but the servants knew! It is like that today: those who serve the Lord Jesus Christ understand that He is still the Miracle working God of the Bible. He can do a miracle in your life today. He can save your eternal soul from hell and write your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life, to reserve your seat at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb.

Another interesting fact is shown when Jesus’ mother told Jesus that they had no more wine at the wedding feast and Jesus replied: ‘what does that have to do with Me? It is not My time yet!’ He knew that His time will come. He knew His Marriage Feast will come – one day!

Even by holding this wedding today we are preparing and rehearsing for the great Wedding Feast of the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

Today this wedding speaks prophetically of the final Wedding Feast! We see in all these activities a projection of what is to come.

The Holy Spirit leads and guides us into all truth and shows us things to come.

(John 16:13)

What a double privilege we have today: to be present at this joyous occasion and to have a chance to prepare for the Final Feast with Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

Amen.