Bill and John live in a retirement home. One day, as they are sitting on a bench under a tree, Bill turns to John and says, “John, I’m 85 years old and I’m full of aches and pains. You’re about my age. How do you feel?” John replies, “I feel just like a new-born baby.” “Really? Like a baby?” “Yes,” replies John, “no hair, no teeth and I think I just wet myself!”
In life we can’t go back. BUT, what we can do is to start anew! Today as we celebrate a fresh start, a New Year, we celebrate the reality that we can have a new beginning….2013. Interestingly enough, God is all about fresh starts, indeed He is all about “newness”. The Hebrew word translated as “new” is “hadas” and the Greek word here translated as “new” is “Kainos“…..both meaning “of a new kind”. Do you want a shot at “newness”…..Jesus is the answer!
Below is a short journey of “Newness” through Scripture.
It begins with Psalm 40: God, hearing our cry….lifting us up out of the pit of our old life…..and putting a new song in our mouth of which to sing.
Then there is the promise in Isaiah of a new heaven and a new earth. Note that the old (think of those things in our life that we are not so proud of or happy about) will not be remembered by God….they are in the past. God is all about new beginnings!
In Jeremiah God tells of a new covenant (a new deal), that will be written on our heart. I like to say, it will be tattooed on our heart!
And in Ezekiel…..we are promised a new heart and a new spirit.
The time is now….just as in Luke….Jesus is here! His blood was poured out so that we might have this new life. He died for OUR sins!
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that as we follow Jesus, that a new creation emerges and the old is gone.
And in Ephesians, Paul tells us that we can put on a new self to be made new in the attitude of your minds…created in the likeness of God!
TODAY IS THE DAY ……A NEW BEGINNING IS AVAILABLE……start in Matthew 5 with the NEW ATTITUDES (the Be-attitudes) of those who are residents of the new kingdom…the kingdom of God…indeed the kingdom of heaven.
BLESSING TO ALL as we shed the old and put on the new! As move into this new year……be reminded that God is a God of new beginnings!
Psalm 40:1-3 (TNIV, David speaking)
1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Isaiah 65:17 (TNIV, God speaking)
See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.Jeremiah 31:31-33 (TNIV, God speaking)
31 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.Ezekiel 36:26 (TNIV, God speaking)
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.Luke 22:20 (TNIV, Jesus speaking)
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”2 Corinthians 5:17 (TNIV, The apostle Paul speaking)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Ephesians 4:22-24 (TNIV, The apostle Paul speaking)
22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
