Tonight’s Call – The Vine, The Wine, and The Vinedresser! Rosemarie and Lana
Just as God is the “I Am” (Exodus 3:14), so is Christ. This means primarily that Christ exists, and in existing, has the qualities of his Father. He is the vine from which all power flows for the life of His people, the branches. On the final evening of His mortal ministry, after the Last Supper, the Savior taught His apostles that He is the True Vine and that His disciples are the branches. He commanded His disciples to love one another and warned them of the persecution they were to experience because of their association with Him.
In the book of John, Jesus used the grapevine as a metaphor to explain the nature of His relationship with those would be his disciples. Prior to leaving for Gethsemane, Jesus taught the apostles how they must live if they were to continue to be His disciples. Grapes are among the strongest Christian symbols, as they represent the blood of Jesus; moreover, vineyards come to represent the mission field. What is your mission field today? In that sense, grapes come to also represent good works, well vines reflect the words of Jesus “I am the vine, you are the branches,” (John 15:5). God the Father is the vinedresser: The vinedresser is the keeper of the vineyard. His task is to cultivate each branch so that it will bear as much fruit as possible. God will do this with love, for ultimate good.
Abiding in the vine means receiving and believing and trusting in the words of Jesus. It means receiving the love of Jesus for the Father and for his people and the joy that Jesus has in the Father and in us. The vine is a source of life for the branches. It provides water and nutrients to produce grapes. Without the vine, no fruit could ever result. Branches are utterly dependent upon the vine, just as we are dependent upon Jesus if we are to bear fruit. The creation that is around us has so many times been used in Scripture. They are physical manifestations of the spiritual. Regarding Israel, the vine is using a symbol for the religious life of that nation. It can be applied to any nation. We must take whatever steps are necessary to keep the living voice of Jesus Christ speaking in and through us that are spoken in Scripture.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that I may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me and I in you.” (John 15:1-4)
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FEATURED ARTICLE… MARTIN LUTHER KING
NAMES OF GOD SERIES – CHRISTOPHER HUDSON…GEORGOS IS GOD THE GARDENER!
“Gardener” is not a title we typically use to refer to God (even though there is a lot of agricultural imagery in the Bible). But that’s how the Scriptures portray Him, and that’s what Jesus called Him. And with good reason. Human history began in a garden (Genesis 1-3). Is there in a lush place called Eden that God met with His human creatures and instructed them to cultivate and care for His creation. When sin entered the world, God’s garden was ruined and access to Eden was lost. What did God do? He instituted an epic plan to restore His garden paradise. Throughout the events described in the rest of the Bible, God farmed. He carefully and patiently grew a nation; in much the same way one would grow crops. God, in a sense, sowed seed. He planted and watered. He mended and attended. He replanted and transplanted. He pruned and fertilized. He drove away pasts. He uprooted and shored up.
When God sent His son into the world to defeat Satan, sin, and death, is in a garden– Gethsemane– that Jesus overcame the evil one. And it’s from a garden tomb that Jesus emerges victorious over death. In the final three chapters of the Bible, we read about a new creation– new heavens and a new earth. It is a place that restores the perfection once found in the Garden of Eden. Meanwhile, in a world still feeling the effects of sin, the Divine gardener works. By His grace, and through our faith, He graphs us into Christ, the true vine, the source of life. We’re just branches. But as we stay firmly attached to Him, we grow and bear life-giving fruit. At times God prompts us up who trims us back so that will be even more fruitful. Our job is not to worry about the dirt or fertilizer, or where other plants are located, or what fruit their producing. Our job is to simply respond to the gardener’s care–and grow!
QUESTION: Describe some of the ways God has tended your life as the Master Gardener?
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” (John 15:1)
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SPECIAL PRESENTATION – The Vine, The Wine, and The Vinedresser!
Rosemarie and Lana
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