“What is a Miracle?”
John 2:1-11
INTRODUCTION: The story of Jesus turning water into wine is the first recorded miracle He ever performed.
QUOTE: Comedian Mark Lowry said, “I think that it is great that Jesus’ first miracle wasn’t raising the dead, or giving sight to the blind, but His first miracle was one ‘just to keep the party going!’”
SURVEY: Miracles are interesting subjects to most people, especially Americans. In fact according to a Newsweek Poll the:
Percentage of Americans who believe in divine miracles: 84
Percentage who believe in the reality of miracles described in the Bible: 79
Percentage who have personal experiences with miracles: 48
Percentage who know of people who have: 63
Percentage who have prayed for a miracle: 67
Percentage who believe God or the saints cure or heal sick people who have been given no chance of survival by medical doctors: 77
What is a miracle exactly? Let me give you my definition:
I believe that God, through infinite wisdom, created natural processes. A seed grows into a tree, which then bears fruit, which contains seeds, which can then produce another tree. This is considered a ‘natural’ process, and I believe it was instituted by God. By natural I mean that there are certain laws that govern nature that God has set in order. A tree doesn’t grow without a seed according to God’s natural law.
So what are miracles? I believe that a miracle is when God intervenes in the natural process He created and makes something supernatural.
That is what is so intriguing to many people about miracles – they cannot be studied because they break scientific ‘laws’.
ILLUSTRATION: “I can explain that” A young man in college was reading the bible when a liberal professor walked by. “Wow” said the young man. The professor, interested in what caused his excitement, asked the young man what he was reading. The young man said that God had parted the Red Sea to allow the Hebrew people to cross. The professor started to explain how at that period in history there was a drought and really the Sea was only about three inches deep, so it was not really a miracle. “Oh” said the disheartened young man as he went back to reading. “Wow!” the boy said again, even more excited. The professor said, “What is it now?” to which the young man replied, “God just drowned the whole Egyptian army in three inches of water!
The miracle at Cana is one of my favorite in scripture, not so much because it was Jesus’ first, or that He was ‘keeping the party going’, but because the miracle of turning ordinary water into perfectly fermented wine is a great picture of the many other miracles found within the scriptures.
The miracle first relates to the:
I. CREATION MIRACLE
a. Many scientists contest the story of creation because of the time factor
i. They argue that it would be impossible for the world to be created in six days because it takes time to form elements and cells and matter
ii. ILLUSTRATION: A good argument made by secular scientists is about the speed of light. They say that it takes many years for light to hit the earth once it has left the sun, and if the sun was created in the third day, the light would not have made it to the earth for many years.
b. I often use the miracle at Cana to rebut this argument
i. Does it not take wine time to age?
• In fact, the older the wine, the more valuable it is
ii. Jesus took ordinary well water and, in an instant, He produced perfectly aged wine
iii. Coincidentally He also used six clay pots, and there were six creation days
c. Jesus, who we know according to John’s gospel made all things, proves His power over the natural elements with a simple miracle – which had a profound meaning
i. Where scientists fail when looking at the creation story is that they forget that the God of this universe created natural laws, and is not bound by them
ii. Jesus, who is God the Son, proved time and time again throughout His ministry, that He was not bound by scientific laws
d. God did not have to take ‘time’ to create anything
i. He spoke all things into existence
• First light, then the firmament, then the land, then the herbs and trees, then the sun, moon and stars, fish and birds, then the cattle, creeping things and beasts
ii. In fact, the only thing God did not ‘speak’ into existence was man
• The Word of God declares that man was fashioned from the dust of the ground
• 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”
• The word ‘formed’ is the same word used in scripture to describe a potter shaping pots
iii. Though God spoke the worlds into existence in an instant – He took the time to fashion man according to His
The miracle at Cana not only represents creation miracle, but also…
II. CHRIST’S MIRACLE
a. Christ used six water pots, which not only stand for the days of creation, but also for the “number of man” according to revelation 13
i. We can take an allegorical look at the water pots and imagine ourselves as being them
ii. Man was created from the dust of the ground, much the same way as the clay pots came into being
iii. Romans 9:21 actually refers to us as ‘vessels of clay’: “Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?”
iv. Jesus didn’t change the pots on the outside; He changed what was inside
b. Jesus took that ordinary water and instantly changed it into the best wine
i. This is a picture of what Christ does in our lives
ii. He takes ordinary people and gives them a changed life
iii. II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
• Can I make a bold statement and say, “If a person has not had a heart change toward their sin, it could be a sign that the spirit has not come in and made any changes”
• Romans 8:9 “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His”
• The Holy Spirit gives us a new ‘wanna’. The old things we used to ‘wanna’ do, now we don’t ‘wanna’ do them.
c. We are made new on the inside when we accept Jesus’ sacrifice in faith
i. I believe there is an instant ‘miracle’ at salvation
ii. As fast as the water became wine, we all who have experienced salvation have had a heart changed
III. COMING MIRACLE
a. Where was Jesus when He changed water into wine?
i. At a marriage supper
b. Where will we who believe in Jesus be when we experience the epitome of His miracles for believers
i. At the marriage supper of the lamb
ii. Rev 19:7-9 “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”
c. Who is the bride or the betrothed of Christ in this passage? The Church
i. Hosea 2:19 “And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.”
ii. We, who believe in Jesus, will be ushered into Heaven as a bride prepared to meet her husband
d. Revelation describes our arrival into heaven as a great banquet
i. I wonder if they’ll have good fried chicken? (laugh)
ii. And like the water in Cana was changed instantly into perfect wine, we will also be changed into a new and perfect body
iii. I Corinthians 15:51-53 “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
e. This is the great and wonderful miracle Christ has in store for His people: “we will all be changed in the twinkling of an eye!”
CONCLUSION: What an exciting miracle every believer has to look forward to. Everyone, both dead and alive who has accepted Jesus and experienced the present miracle of the ‘new birth’ will see first hand His glorious banquet.
Sadly, there are many who will never experience this miracle, because they have refused to accept the new birth through repentance of sin and faith in Christ.
The new birth experience is required according to John 3:2 when Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
When the new birth is received, I believe Jesus works a miracle in your life by allowing the Holy Spirit to come and fill you up.
We may not all see burning bushes or parted seas, but everyone who is born of the Spirit can honestly say, “I have experienced a miracle from God”
