Happy New Year... Maybe?
To those who know Christ, it’s a time to thank Him for all that He has done in us, for us, and through us. It’s also a time when churches around the world seek His anointing for the year to come. For those who do not call Him Lord and Saviour, there is a misplaced hope and anticipation. They act as if “in the midnight hour,” something miraculous occurs making everything new.
What happens the next day? Would their financial problems mysteriously disappear? Would their debits miraculously turn into credits? Would marital struggles somehow get resolved at the stroke of midnight? The reality is that very little changes the next day. Sometimes, it becomes worse.
Yet for some of us, it indeed has become a reality. In one day, in one moment, in one second, the old passed away and everything becomes new. No I’m not talking about something that came about as the New Year’s countdown reached zero, or the New Year’s ball fell. I’m talking about a true miracle from heaven.
This miracle came the moment we placed our faith in the completed work of Calvary and accepted Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Paul tells us, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Cor. 5:17). If you are in Christ, and I pray that you are, then you are definitely a new creature—old things have passed away. All things are become new.
Many in the world make a New Year’s wish for reconciliation. It might be between husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend or between family members. Sometimes, it happens. Most of the time, it doesn’t happen. There is, however, a reconciliation that is greater than what can happen between any two individuals. I’m talking about the reconciliation that comes through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on an old rugged cross: “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ” (II Cor. 5:18).
There’s no other way to be reconciled to God but through Jesus Christ. Through one’s own efforts, religious fervor, and the labor of one’s own hands, mankind cannot obtain reconciliation with a holy God: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).
Everything Made New For A Purpose
Why did the Father reconcile us to Himself by Jesus Christ (II Cor. 5:18)? Of course it was because of His great love (Jn. 3:16). Yet there’s more. Paul speaks about this purpose: “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (II Cor. 5:18-19).
We have been reconciled in order to minister reconciliation—reconciled to reconcile. The true gospel of Jesus Christ always offers reconciliation to mankind.
Happy New Year—I hope so. There is, however, a way we can know with certainty that we will have a happy and blessed year. If we let Christ have the preeminence in every aspect of our lives, then it will be a happy new year.