Becoming the Wine of the Kingdom

John 2:1-11 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
2 And both Jesus was called, and His disciples, to the marriage.
3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine.
4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.
5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.
6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And He saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory; and His disciples believed on Him.

We are going to come back to this, but for now turn to the first two chapters of Genesis. In these first chapters, there are three Hebrew words that are good to know. The first one is bara. It is used in the very first verse: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Bara means created, more specifically it means to create something out of nothing. The Lord has a way that He can just say it. He doesn’t even have to say it; He can just think it. He can just want it and it comes into existence. That word means to create something out of nothing. That is what God is doing with us. He is changing us. We who are nothing are becoming something.

Another Hebrew word is asah. It is also used in these beginning verses. Asah means "to make": And God made .... In other words, it is making something out of existing materials.

The third Hebrew word is found in verse 7 of the second chapter. This word is yatzar. Yatzar means “to form,” like a potter would form a vessel of pottery from clay. That is what this word means. The potter takes the clay, spins it around, shapes it, and forms what he wants. This word is used in Genesis 2:7: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

It helps to understand those three words. We want to talk about the forming (yatzar), and then we will work our way back to John 2 and those big pots that held 20 or 30 gallons of water apiece. How many pots were there? Six. Six is the number of man. Now let’s go to Isaiah.

Isaiah 64:8 But now, O Lord, Thou art our father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand.

We are the clay. We are that clump of dirt, the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). God takes that and molds us into what He wants us to be. It is important to remember, “Lord, I’m the clay; You are the potter. You are the one that can mold me into what I must become.” The Lord alone is able to do this miracle-forming thing. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. Jeremiah 13:23. It is impossible for us to change our nature; only God can do that.

Jeremiah 18:1-2 The Word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 Arise ...

When God begins by saying “arise,” it is because He wants us to be ready to respond to His Word. He wants us to be predetermined to walk in it before we know what He is going to say.

Jeremiah 18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear My words.

O, Lord, do that for us. Enable us to hear Your word.

Jeremiah 18:3-4 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel ...

Thank God he didn’t just toss it away, but he said, “Hmm. I’ll remold it and I will make it into a different vessel.” God knows what He is doing. He can make and remake.

Jeremiah 18:4 ...so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Now, the clay does not tell the potter what he wants to be. God decides what He wants you to be. Paul talks about that in the 12th chapter of I Corinthians. God puts every member of the Body of Christ in the kind of ministry He wants for them. So don’t preset yourself to say, “Well, I want a ministry like Jeremiah, Isaiah, or Daniel.” God predetermines what He wants you to be and He molds you.

Jeremiah 18:5-6 Then the Word of the Lord came to me, saying,
6 O house of Israel ... or O house of the Body of Christ ... cannot I not do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so you are in Mine hand, O house of Israel.

Now go to Lamentations. Jeremiah also wrote Lamentations. He is lamenting over the house of Israel.

Lamentations 4:2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

You are an earthen vessel made from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). But God is making you a new vessel, a vessel He can pour Himself in. That, though, is not the end of what He is going to do. You are probably beginning to see where we are going with this. Many times we have used the second chapter of John, Jesus turning the water into wine, as an example of an instant work. However, there were some steps in the process of the miracle wine. So let’s go back to John 2.

There was no more wine. It was normal for the best wine to be served first and when the people were getting a little inebriated they would bring out the inferior wine. But the wine Jesus had presented to the governor was the very best of all. Such is what the Lord is making us, the wine of the Kingdom.

Now, the first thing needed is the water pots. We need six of them; six is the number of man. Each of the water pots could hold twenty to thirty gallons of water. They were not one of those little basins you see around the house. The Lord says, “I’m going to make you a vessel, and I’m going to make you a vessel that holds a whole lot of Me. I am going to pour Myself into you.” So there has to be the clay. The Lord forms you and makes you a pot.

Then He tells the servants to fill the pots with water. There has to be those who can minister the water of Life, because once you become a vessel you must be filled. There will be no empty vessels in the Kingdom of God. So the servants who fill the pots with water are those who minister the spiritual water of Life. Various ministries are needed in the Body of Christ like in Matthew 25 where there are five foolish virgins and five wise virgins. That makes ten, but twelve is the number of divine government. There is also the one who shouts, “Behold, the Bridegroom comes.” That makes eleven so we need one more. Then there are the dealers who are able to minister the oil of the Kingdom. That makes twelve. So, you see, all ministries of the Body of Christ do not do the same thing.

There are various pots. Here we have six pots that will hold 20-30 gallons. Then we must have the ministries who can fill these vessels with living water. Once you become a vessel and full of the water of life, the process is not yet completed. Now you must be taken to the head man. Somebody had the job of carrying those pots full of water. At the command of the Lord, the water is presented to the head of the feast. Lo and behold, when he drinks it he says, “This is the best wine of all.” Yes, there was some process wiped out by the miracle of water to wine, but there was still much to be done. There had to be ministries involved with the Lord in the miracle.

Then after you become the wine the work is done, right? No, not yet! Now the wine must flow through you. Just having a vessel full of living water is not enough.

John 7:37-38 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.
38 He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

God wants to fill you with the wine of the Kingdom and then He wants it to flow right on through you.

You have a purpose. You are not here just by chance. God has you here for a purpose and He is molding you and making you what He wants you to be. If you mess up and become a broken vessel, He will not throw you away. He will reshape you and remold you. “Get to work, guys. We have to make this vessel the way God wants it to be.” It is hard to get in the will of God but when you get there, it is hard to get out. When God sets His mind on what He wants you to be, He will not stop until you’re there. Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6. So you are becoming something, vessels of the Lord. You are becoming the wine of the Kingdom.