- John 2:1-11 (The Wedding in Cana) 1 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.
I asked God a question while praying at the predawn. “God, You surely grant [what people ask for] when ‘the condition is met by them working hard, struggling, and praying for something. However, you grant ‘the best thing among them’ at the very end and grant ‘average things’ in the beginning and in the middle. Since You are going to grant them a good thing anyway – why do You give it at the very end? That is why there are many people who, even after setting conditions and receiving things in the beginning and in the middle, say ‘this is nothing special,’ get disappointed, and end it there. And those who go all the way to the end in order to gain good things collapse from fatigue after working hard and struggling. So why do You give ‘the best thing’ and ‘the core’ at the end regardless of that?”
The same thing happened when Jesus went to a wedding banquet in Cana of Galilee. They ran out of wine when the party was in full swing. At that time Jesus’ mother was there too. She told Jesus that the banquet was running out of wine. At that moment Jesus said that his time had not yet come. By this time the party was losing steam and people were leaving one by one. Toward the end of the party Jesus turned water into wine and let everyone drink that wine. At that moment, the master of the banquet said to the bridegroom, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” In this way, Jesus did not show a miracle from the beginning but showed the miracle toward the end.
When you look at salvation history, He did this thousands of times and tens of thousands of times. I will tell you about only one thing among them that is a core in the history of Christianity. Before Jesus died, he said “The Son of Man will come riding on the clouds. (Matthew 24:30).” He said “I will come again (John 14:2-3)” after going and preparing a place for us. The Word of the greatest hope from the gospel of Matthew to Revelation in the New Testament scriptures and from that generation to the future generation is ‘the message that the Messiah will come again, rule over and teach all mankind, save them, rapture them, and take them to Heaven.’ Since Jesus said that he would come again, even those who believed in Jesus in his lifetime made ‘the words that he was coming again’ their greatest hope and faith, and waited desperately for a year, two years, ten years, thirty years, fifty years with anxiety and died [while waiting for him].
That faith and waiting were passed down to the descendants who believed in Jesus, and for 100 years, 200 years, 300 years, 400 years, 700 years, 1000 years, and 2000 years people died waiting over those long periods of history. Because he did not come even though he said that he would come back soon and they waited for such a long period of time, some believers of Jesus were disappointed thinking he was not coming and some looked up every time a cloud passed by because he said he would come riding on a cloud. They did that for 2000 years. Since it is said that the Son of Man was promised to come riding on a cloud, people looked up at the clouds in the sky and waited while imagining ‘a great man in a white robe standing on a white cloud and that cloud will come down to the earth.’ Even though he wasn’t actually coming in that way, people thought that way and lived waiting for that to happen.
The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would come, right? The Messiah prophesied about in the Old Testament did not come from the Old Testament domain. The Messiah that the Old Testament prophesied about came at the New Testament time. The New Testament was the time when the Old Testament prophesies are fulfilled. God sent ‘Jesus’ at the new time period, the New Testament time and fulfilled the Will that was prophesied about in the Old Testament. In this way, ‘the Lord who is coming again,’ that the New Testament prophesied about, also does not come from ‘the New Testament domain’ either. He comes according to God’s time at the new time period, the Complete Testament time. This is God’s absolute law. The Jewish religious people who believed in God considered God’s Word about how the Messiah would come and save their nation, their nation’s great hope, and waited for the Messiah.
They waited expecting the Messiah to come from their domain of the time period. However, the Messiah came from ‘the new time period, the New Testament domain.’ Yet, since they disbelieved this and rejected it, they ultimately failed to receive what God promised them and their great hope was also shattered. The same is true with this time period.
The believers of Jesus are waiting with faith that the Messiah whom they are waiting for will come from their own domain. However, he will not come [that way] even if they wait a hundred million years. What is prophesied by the parents is fulfilled at ‘the domain of their children’s time period.’ In this way, the things prophesied in the Old Testament are fulfilled not in ‘the Old Testament’ but in ‘the New Testament.’ Also, the things prophesied in the New Testament are fulfilled not in ‘the New Testament,’ but in ‘the new history.’
I will giving you the Word about why [God] shows and carries out the core at ‘the very end.’ I will speak using a parable. There are hundreds of natural caves in Jeju island of Korea. Among them, there are the best four natural caves. They are Manjang cave, Socheon cave, Hwanggeum cave, and Hyeopjae cave. When you go to Jeju island to see and learn about the caves and see ‘the best four caves’ on the first day, you don’t try to see ‘the remaining hundreds of other caves.’ It is because they are no comparison and you don’t have the hope to see the rest since you’ve seen the best [caves]. If He gives us ‘the core thing, which is the very best,’ in the beginning or in the middle, we won’t have further hope, we won’t have curiosity, and the desire to take action will disappear. Therefore, [God] carries out history by first, showing us ‘something growing like new sprouts,’ then next, [He] letting us see and experience ’it growing,’ and then at the very end, showing us ‘it bearing fruit.’ Only then do we see ‘what God has done.’
God shows ‘the core’ at ‘the very end.’ You have to do it till the end. Then you will see ‘the core history that God comes upon and carries out.’ For things of each individual too – first, you receive a ‘small thing’ next, you receive a ‘big and good thing,’ and finally, at the Omega, the very end, you receive ‘the best thing.’ This was true in the past, it is the same now, and it will be the same in the future. This is absolutely ‘God’s progressive history.’ I bless that after listening to today’s message, each of you absolutely believe that ’the core is at the very end,’ and go all~ the way to the end.