It Is He Who Makes Things New

The year 2020 died, and 2021 has been born. The earth is on its annual circuit around the sun once again. With the death of one came the birth of another. Presumably, never before was there such a celebration worldwide in the passing of a year – one plagued by the pandemic and its resulting instabilities in socio-economic facets of life. A new year is a second chance given to all to not merely go through the four seasons of the year but to stay faithful to God even through the various seasons of life we will have to face. We can look forward in hope since the Creator of the revolving earth promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us. His abiding presence can correct our orbits and is the reason why we can face the new unknowns of this new year.

When Israel was to come out of Egypt, God designated a month as the beginning of months, which is intrinsically connected to the Israelites’ sanctification and deliverance from Egypt. The year(s) past may have had its stranglehold on us due to the power of slavery wielded over us by the forces to which we once failed. But with Christ, anyone can have a new beginning in freedom – even those steeped in slavery in its various forms! The marred vessel can be made anew for the master’s purposes provided the lump of clay is pliable in the Potter’s hands. Liberty to live for Christ outside our fears and failures is made possible by our submission to the sanctifying power of the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

 The transition from ’20 to ’21 is possible by God’s created and established order for the sun and earth. An even more significant transition is the one from eternal death to eternal life, set once and for all by the atoning death and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. The newness of life provided by Christ includes not only forgetting the past but also forsaking the carnality in our lives to live as He instructs in His Word.

Therefore, in this New Year, let us carefully continue to walk in obedience to the Word which renews us, since this may be the year when the most significant transition ever, which is from earth to heaven, takes place through Christ’s return!