There is something about the start of a new year that motivates many of us to change. It fills us with newfound energy to make this the year we exercise more or read the whole Bible. Deep down we know that nothing really changes about us from December 31 to January 1. Yet, when the clock strikes midnight, the gleaming potential of a brand-new year bolsters our resolve – especially when 2020 is the year that is ending.
The Bible has a lot to say about new beginnings, too. Notice how God inspired the Apostle Paul to write about our salvation: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom.6:3-4). When we get baptized, we participate in how Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose on the third day full of new, eternal life.
It seems hard to believe getting dunked in water could be so significant. Doesn’t that physical action happen every time a person takes a bath or goes swimming? Yet, baptism means more to us, as much more as December 31 becoming January 1 means more than any Thursday becoming Friday. The Apostle Peter wrote that baptism “saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him” (I Pet. 3:21-22). Baptism is not significant because it gets us wet: baptism is significant because God’s grace, Christ’s resurrection, and our faith all meet in one powerful moment.
That is key. Nothing about a change of the calendar guarantees a change in ourselves. That is why so many of our resolutions fail. Yet, we know God’s grace: “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5). We know the power of Christ’s resurrection: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (II Cor. 5:17). So, we can change, if we will make a choice to “be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). The grace is God’s. The power is Christ’s. So, the choice is ours.
Join us on Sunday 12/27 as we seek to work with God who is “Making All Things New”.