Life With Jesus Gets Sweeter and Sweeter
Life with Jesus gets sweeter and sweeter as He brings fullness, joy, and sweetness to our lives, making them better and better with each passing day.
Erlo Stegen emphasizes that life with Jesus becomes increasingly sweeter, using the wedding at Cana to illustrate how Jesus transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. He warns against the dangers of alcohol, which leads to unwise decisions and chaos, contrasting it with the divine joy and fullness that Jesus brings into our lives. The significance of the number three and the six pots symbolizes God's divine intervention and the completeness He offers. Stegen encourages parents to examine their lives, as their actions can impact their children, and stresses that a true relationship with Jesus results in continuous improvement and joy. Ultimately, if life isn't getting sweeter with Jesus, it indicates a spiritual issue that needs addressing.
Text
John 2:1-11
Many people know this passage and those with a defiled heart will use it as a reason to drink wine. Even Christians do this. The Bible warns that wine bites like a snake inside a person, deceives a person and makes them unwise. Wine causes a person to see two roads in front of him. A drunk accepts anything, he'll sleep anywhere etc. Alcohol brings many problems to the home and many wives can testify to the treatment their drunkard spouses give them. Alcohol makes a person act like an animal, such as a cow which defecates anywhere.
This wedding at Cana was the wedding of an upright couple, probably poor, but respectable. We know this because Jesus and his disciples would not have gone to it or been part of it if there was something immoral or evil about it (such are many weddings today). Marriage was created by God (He brought Adam and Eve together), it should be honoured as holy.
Verse 1 says "on the third day there was a wedding...". This number three is significant as it is symbolic of divinity, a godly matter. Mary was there and we don't know why - maybe to help with the cooking. She was concerned that the wine had run out. She was diligent and hardworking. Mary talked hastily but Jesus asked God first about His plan. She didn't get angry about Jesus' answer to her; she trusted him.
There were 6 pots - this symbolises man, made on the 6th day. Jesus said fill them to the brim. That is what Jesus does when he comes into a life, that's his measure - he makes it full not half full. If your spiritual life isn't sweet and full and getting better and better with Jesus in it then there is something really wrong with you spiritually. The Bible says not to put new wine into old wine skins - Jesus makes all things new.
The wine that Jesus made was not wine that makes people drunk or irresponsible or to do evil things. He produced the best. The world brings out the best wine then the worst but Jesus makes life full and joyous - he does things the other way around.
Parents should search their lives because often the children have problems because of things in the parents' lives, or with things they used to do. You need to put things right and this will bring blessing to the children.
When Jesus comes things just get sweeter and sweeter and better and better in a person's life. If it isn't like this then the devil has come in.
Sermon Outline
- I. Introduction to the passage and its misuse
- II. The significance of the wedding at Cana
- III. Mary's diligence and Jesus' divine plan
- IV. The symbolism of the 6 pots and Jesus' measure
- V. The contrast between the world's wine and Jesus' wine
- VI. The importance of putting things right in our lives
- VII. The promise of a sweeter and sweeter life with Jesus
Key Quotes
“If your spiritual life isn't sweet and full and getting better and better with Jesus in it then there is something really wrong with you spiritually.” — Erlo Stegen
“The Bible says not to put new wine into old wine skins - Jesus makes all things new.” — Erlo Stegen
“When Jesus comes things just get sweeter and sweeter and better and better in a person's life.” — Erlo Stegen
Application Points
- As parents, we need to search our lives and put things right to bring blessing to our children.
- We should trust in God's plan and timing, even when we don't understand it.
- Jesus brings fullness and joy to our lives, making them sweeter and sweeter with each passing day.