Although this is a truth held theoretically by most believers, it is actually practised by very few. Under the new covenant however, all believers are priests ( 1Pet. Consider just three examples, although there are many others.įirst of all, the Jews had a special tribe (the Levites) who were priests who did all the religious work. But if you look carefully at what you call your Christian assembly, you may be surprised to find a number of old-covenant characteristics in it. We may think that, being Christians, we have got rid of the old Jewish wineskin and that we have a new wineskin in the Christian church.
Religious traditions cannot be removed apart from violent treatment. And it is far more difficult for many to break free from the traditions of men than it is for them to break free from sin! But, men of violence alone will possess the kingdom of God ( Matt. But in acquiring the new wineskin, our battle is against religious traditions that have annulled the word of God. In acquiring the new wine, our battle is against sin. But if we bear in our body " the dying of Jesus" (the taking up of the cross each day, the dying to our ego, our self-will and our rights and reputation), God promises to produce the new wine of the life of Jesus in us ( 2 Cor. We cannot produce the life of Jesus - even if we try for a lifetime. This will be as much His work as the new wine produced in Cana was His work. He will circumcise our hearts to love Him and cause us to walk in His commandments ( Deut. He will write His laws in our heart and mind, making us to will and to do His perfect will ( Heb. He alone can give us the new wine! The new wine in Cana was not produced by human effort. Has the wine run out in our personal life, our married life or our assembly life? Then it is about time that we sought the Lord's face and acknowledged our need honestly.
The old wine runs out and the Lord has to wait until it runs out before He can give us the new wine. This is a parable of life under the law - the old covenant. The old wine was made with human effort, over a period of many years - but it could not meet the need. At the marriage in Cana, where Jesus was present, the old wine ran out. The new wine is the life of Jesus and the new wineskin is the church that Jesus builds. Jesus spoke about new wine being put into new wineskins ( Luke 5:37).
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