What’s New?

By Kathi Woodall –

My daughters awoke Christmas morning and ran down the stairs to the living room. Wrapped in shiny paper with ribbons and bows, a new box awaited them that hadn’t been there the night before. Instead of lots of little presents, my husband and I bought one large gift for all four girls. They tore open the paper and found a new flat-screen television for their upstairs viewing pleasure. Their current television had been new once upon a time. Twenty-five years later though, that TV had grown unusable for modern day games and media equipment.

On New Year’s Eve night, friends and family gathered in our kitchen, their eyes fixed on the large clock hanging high on the wall. We waited anxiously as seconds ticked by. The hand reached the ten and we all began counting aloud; 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…Happy New Year! Oddly enough, many of the same family and friends had stood in the same spot the year before, watching the same clock, and yelling the same phrase as we rang in 2011. Now 2011 was gone, 2012 had come, and if the Lord tarries, we will cheer in 2013 in twelve more months.

That’s the way life is; things wear out, times change, and new things are always coming. The new and exciting of today will be the garbage of tomorrow.

However, this isn’t the case for one part of our life. A relationship with our Savior Jesus is full of many new things that will never wear out and never need to be replaced. They are just as sufficient fifty years from now, or a thousand years into eternity, as they are the moment they are first received.

We are given new life when we enter into a relationship with Jesus. Because Jesus rose from the dead, “we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4 NIV). Not only does our new birth give us hope of our own resurrection, but it also gives the promise of an imperishable inheritance awaiting us in heaven (1 Peter 1:3-4).

We are made into a new creation. Our old sinful nature and poor moral character are thrown away and we are created anew in Him. Becoming a new creation is more important than adherence to the law (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15). Our new self is “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” and is “being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10 NIV, respectively).

We live our lives under a new command. The 613 commands of the Old Testament have been simplified down into loving God and others with your whole being (John 13:34, Matthew 22:36-40).

We await a resurrected life in a new heaven and new earth. This future “home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13) is described; “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4 NIV).

All of this is made possible by a new covenant. We are no longer regulated by the sacrifices and requirements of the Old Testament. Jesus mediated a new covenant through His death that we might be eternally forgiven for our sins (Hebrews 8-10).

What better time than a new year to accept His eternal forgiveness for sins and walk in the newness of life with Him?