Dear one,
“What’s new?” was a common greeting of my childhood—but is that no longer, at least in my little world. Of course “newness” still holds a very powerful position within our collective heart: “brand new,” “all new,” and “just like new” still resonate deeply within us. Likewise, for decades if not centuries, we have religiously followed “newspapers,” believing that they, or now, “news outlets,” accurately reflected “what’s new.”
Without question, my thoughts here regarding “new” stem from our most recent celebration: New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day—neither of which, for us, differed significantly from the preceding two or three days. And yet, that this was so begs these questions: Is anything new? Or, is our “new year” simply a means of marking the passage of time?
Now I do not intend to be cynical, but what’s new? For instance: In the past seven days, has the circus in Washington D.C. become new? Has North Korea set upon a new trajectory? Have we Americans willingly established new environmental and/or consumer patterns? Or more personally, are my relational and emotional behaviors new—or is it the same old same old?
With these thoughts and questions, my mind turned to Paul’s words in 2Corinthians 5:17:
“[If] someone is in Christ, a new creation; old things passed away, behold new things have come.”
This verse is neither easily translated nor understood, and yet in context Paul had just argued that Christ died on behalf of all, in order that we the living might live for Him and not for ourselves. Thus, our living and dying for Him— given that He lived, died, and reigns for us—is, I think, truly “new.” And this truly “new” is predicated upon a “new covenant,” which is fulfilled, not by what we achieve through sacrifice, but by what God has accomplished through the sacrifice of His Son.
In my mind, this new covenant, still exhibiting marks of the old (Mosaic) covenant, establishes a direction, which posits a decidedly new orientation: from God to us, not from us to God. If I am in Christ, and I believe I am, then the new year before me will be new, as He works within me, so that I will live and die for Him and therefore will live and die for those He loves. With love, to live and die for others ... in our world, this is new.
May you and I become new creations doing what’s new: living and dying for Him; loving as He loves.
Stan
What's new ...?