And when the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and knew not whence it was (but the servants that had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast calleth the bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man setteth on first the good wine; and when men have drunk freely, then that which is worse: thou hast kept the good wine until now.
John 2:9-10 ASV
In God’s great act of creation, the best wine came last.
First, the earth was without form and void, and darkness moved upon the face of the deep.
Afterward came light, vegetation, lower forms of animal life, and finally man created in the image of God!
In the dispensations of God’s grace, the same progressive betterment is observed.
The patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian dispensations of God’s mercy appeared in ascending order of benefit and glow.
In Scriptural revelation, the same progression to that which is better appears.
As the writer of Hebrews expressed it:
God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2).
In the earthly life of our Lord, the wonder of Bethlehem and the angelic announcement of a Saviour born culminated in the far more wonderful event of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the salvation of mankind.
The best wine came last.
The progression of the Christian life follows the same pattern. The enthusiasm and joy of the novice convert to Christ resolve into a far more wonderful experience of the mature Christian.
The difference in Christ and the devil is just this, that the devil’s tomorrow is worse than his today; but the morrow of Christ, for every man who trusts him, is always brighter and better than his yesterday.
Every act of obedience on our part gives us a new vision of his love.
One of the hymns of the pioneers was “Brighter the Way Groweth Each Day”; and all who have ever followed the Lord have found it so.
In time and eternity, we may be certain that God has kept the best until last. Joyful and fulfilling as the Christian life assuredly is, the full glory of it will not be realized until “that day” when the Lord shall provide the crown of life to all them that have loved his appearing.
No description of heaven is possible. Language itself, as a means of communicating thought, breaks down under the weight of superlative metaphor employed by the inspired writers who received from God visions of the Eternal City.
The throne of God is there, the river of life, the tree of life, the gates of pearl, the streets of gold, the protective wall, and the Saviour’s own face as the light – who can fully understand such things as these?
But of one thing we may be certain: when the trials, sorrows, tribulations, heartaches, and sufferings of our earthly pilgrimage have ended, and when we awaken to behold the Saviour’s face in the eternal world, we shall cry adoringly:
“Lord, thou hast reserved the best until now.”
Note: A somewhat fuller treatment of the spiritual import that may be found in John’s great signs is entered here, with reference to the first of them, than will be undertaken with regard to the others, as an example of the kind of interpretation possible in all of them.
That such implications are indeed to be found in these mighty signs is perfectly evident; but the critical device of making the spiritual import of these wonders the basis of denying that they actually occurred is satanic.
A lie has no spiritual import of the kind evident in John’s signs; and therefore the very quality of their spiritual application is a proof that the events themselves happened, that they are historical facts.
Luke 13:28-30 ASV
