As we approach the end of the year, we often think about the past year and look to the new year with anticipation. Many times, these two years are pictured as an old man or father time as the old year and a baby representing the new year. A saying that often goes with the image is “Goodbye old faults, old complaints, old grievances. Goodbye grouches, goodbye bad habits, goodbye pessimism, goodbye hard times. Welcome fresh start.” We look forward to the new year as an opportunity to change things we don’t like or to begin anew. It’s a time of resolutions, a commitment to do better or to take a different direction or to stop an old habit. What we often find out is that it doesn’t take very long to realize that nothing has changed and more often than not, we are continuing on in our old ways. The New Year isn’t really that new after all, it’s more of the same. But what if that could be different, what if the new year truly could be “new”?
We love new things, like a new car, a new house or a fresh experience. We are always seeking something more and have an almost insatiable appetite. We are just wired that way and I would say created by God with those desires. The problem is, we are looking for satisfaction in places that are finite and broken. The world we live in and our own fallen nature quickly spoil that which was fresh and new. But God has done something wondrous, He is the God of the fresh and new and what He offers never gets stale. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Whenever God speaks of something new, He is not referencing to time or something that is recent but “new as to form or quality, of a different nature from what is contrasted as old” (Vines Expository Dictionary). It is fresh, unused, unworn, of a new kind or unprecedented. This is the new God is speaking of. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you are not the same old “you” – you are brand new and unprecedented! Your relationship with God is new, it has changed from one of enmity to one of sonship. You are now indwelt with the Spirit of God and thus have a completely new nature, one that desires and has the ability, by the power of Christ, to live a life pleasing to God. In the verse just before vs 17, Paul speaks of knowing Christ by means of the flesh, that is a view that based purely on human considerations. Now as a new creation he is seeing things differently and in a fresh new way. So it is with us who know Christ as Savior. We no longer look at our world or our circumstances though solely human eyes, but through the lens of God’s word as it is revealed in Christ.
I find in the definition of “new” an aspect that is encouraging and that is of being “fresh”. We like new things because they are fresh. They are not worn or used. All the potential is still available and hasn’t been used up. The new car has many miles of trouble-free driving before it. The new house is just waiting for the creation of memories as it becomes a home. A newborn child has its whole life ahead of it with all its dreams and aspirations. In the same way, as believers we too have so much potential! You will never exhaust the potential that God has for you; you will never wear out His grace, mercy and love. Your relationship with God will never get stale. You are now able to discern circumstances and the world around you according to reality that is based on what God says – not by man’s failed, old, frustrating and pessimistic ways. In Scripture, God describes many things that are “new”, things like:
New Wineskins
New Name
New Covenant
New Jerusalem
New Commandment
New Song
New Creation
New Earth
New Man
New Heavens
New Self
So as we start this new year, keep in mind your newness. You are not what you once were but something new and fresh. As God says, “Behold I am making all things new!” (Revelation 21:5)
Cornerstone Community Church 