New Wine
Written by:
Sis Victoria Unah
Date: 22nd of June, 2025
Read time: 8 mins
Anchor Scripture:
“Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish. But they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”
Matthew 9:17 (KJV)
New wine signifies fresh, revitalizing, and transformative aspects of God’s grace and the Holy Spirit. It represents the freedom enjoyed by accepting Jesus and the ‘New Covenant’. The imagery of a new wine in a new bottle emphasizes the need for a renewed heart and spirit to receive the transformative work.
With what we have heard from the scripture, Mathew 9:17, do you think new wine can be preserved in a soul drowned in sin? Or can someone in sin, preserve the new wine? Do you think new wine can be preserved in a life that is disobedient? And do you think, new wine can last in the life of someone still comfortable in his/her old ways? I believe our answer is “NO!”. To experience the “new”, it is important that you are living a life of obedience to Christ. Even 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV says, [17] Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Hallelujah! Now, an example of how obedience caused Jesus to bring new wine, can be seen in John 2:5-8, Jesus’ mother said to the servants, whatsoever he says to you, do it. Jesus then commanded them to put water into pots and serve it. That command may have seemed ridiculous, but it attracted the miraculous.
I am sure some of us may have desired spiritual growth, a shift or transformation in our lives, ministry, and families, but it seems nothing is happening, no power, less fire, no manifestations, delays, stagnation and so on. We want to enjoy all the benefits of having Jesus in our lives, but are not willing to pay the price of wholeheartedly living like Christ, a Holy life, a life of obedience, and a life of prayer and fasting.
As a choir member, you may have always desired for lives to be blessed, the blind to see, deaf to hear and the power of the Holy Ghost to manifest when you minister. But for this to happen, or continue happening, your heart ought to be saturated, mind renewed, so your thoughts can be aligned with the thoughts of God. But how can the blind see if you continue in sin? How can the deaf hear, if His presence is not near. Getting to that level of consecration requires a lot of spiritual sacrifices and for new wine to flow from you anytime you stand on the altar, you must be willing to be God’s vessel.
Most of us assume that once the wine is available, the vessel will be new. But the vessel must also go through some changes. It must be remolded to become new. And the process of remolding involves firstly a break of the vessel. Your quest to become a vessel that can host God will pass you through a lot of tears. A lot of pain. A lot of discomfort. It requires a gradual killing of the flesh of every man. It breaks the pride of a man. It is never a pleasant thing. It is one that a lot of people opt out off. But those that go through this process come out with a raw vessel that God can use.
Then comes the stretching. The stretching represents capacity building. A vessel might have been broken and remolded with the ability to carry new wine, but it may be too small to hold the amount of wine (measure of the Spirit) that God wants to pour in it. God will need to build you with a strict spiritual regimen, prayer, fasting and bible study.
Finally, comes the fire. It tests the truth about what a man believes, if they love God or simply what He can give. It burns away any impurities that may have survived the breaking process. But the true purpose of fire is to solidify. The clay hardens when it is put through fire. A man who has gone through the fires of affliction will be unable to deny God when all the fame and money the applause of men comes his way. The fire of affliction comes to solidify the convictions of every man.
When the Apostles of old were persecuted, and even Peter and John were flogged, the bible records that they went back singing and dancing, so happy that they were partakers of the sufferings of Jesus. A man that went through lack and had to depend on God will find it hard to deny God when there is now plenty. This is what the fire is for. It is in those kinds of vessels that have gone through these 3 phases that the Spirit of God rests on. These are the kind of vessels that God displays in heaven as His perfect works.
Grandma Achodo came to testify that she was named imbecile at birth. Now, when you look at her life, does she look or sound like that name? No! When she knew the Lord in her lowest, she remained faithful, now her children are benefiting from that decision. When I visited them, she told me how her family for 4 consecutive years, during Christmas, had no food to eat, but God in His mercy, provided and few years later turned their lives around. When you know Jesus, and willing to let Him lead, your life transforms. Men of God like Daddy G.O, Bishop David Oyedepo and the rest, they had to go through these 3 stages to be who and where they are today, and despite the riches, they remain faithful to God.
Dear youths, teenagers, and children, when our parents tell us not to have boyfriends/girlfriends, follow certain friends or do certain things at a particular age or time, please listen, if you don’t want years of your lives wasted in regrets, when you could have long become a powerful instrument of God. It does not matter what your past looks like (sometimes the devil can tell us that we are not good enough, which can cause us to remain in our vomit), if you really desire the “new” or a turn around, then you need to make up your mind, to follow Jesus, for He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). He is the one able to cause that new wine to flow endlessly in your life, as He did at the wedding in Cana of Galilee.
I pray that God will bless us with a hunger to be willing vessels of Christ, in Jesus’ Name, Amen!