The excitement to welcome in the New Year ahead is something that is seen all around us. To name a few, many events are hosted, families and friends make plans to gather, and there’s also the long-standing tradition of the dropping of the ball at Time Square as it ticks 12:00 AM on January 1st.
The New Year marks a significant time where the last calendar year has concluded and the new year ahead is welcomed. It marks a moment of transition with new expectations and hopes. A moment to pause and reflect. The weight and significance that has been given to the celebration of New Year reveals something very insightful about mankind – we desire newness!
Continuously, since the creation of the Earth, seasons have come and gone and so have the years. But it’s worth asking if the changes of the seasons and progression of the calendar years has brought true newness and change in our lives. The truth is that our longing for newness and change cannot be met by the seasons that change and the new years that come. The years of this age will go on until the Lord has destined it, but it will not renew our lives or fulfill our longing for newness! But Glory to God, our good news is found in Christ Jesus!
As humans, our desire for newness can only be fully and truthfully met by becoming new ourselves. New things, new years and new seasons won’t come close to fulfilling our desire for newness! Amazingly, even the change of years as the old one passes and new is welcomed, points us to the SPIRITUAL REALITY of being made NEW in Christ Jesus! The change of seasons and years is a testimony to the need for mankind to die to the old nature that has been born of the first fallen Adam and to rise from the death in resurrection with Christ in the newness of Life! It’s an urge to leave that old nature of the flesh behind and be born of the imperishable seed of Christ that we may be called Children of God!
Romans 6
- We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
- If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
The mystery of being made new is amazing! It’s a reality that can only come true and be embodied in and through Christ! The Living Word of God boldly states that WHOEVER IS IN CHRIST IS A NEW CREATION!! Newness, therefore, comes from partaking in the One who is new, Christ Jesus, the Son of God! He is the one who makes us new and renews and refreshes our lives! He is the one who satisfies our inner emptiness and need by becoming everything for us. He gives all who come to Him Life that re-creates, re-births and makes new. The solution is found in becoming a NEW CREATION IN CHRIST – this is eternal rest.
2Co 5:17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
In a world that has been destined to come to an end on the appointed date, being amongst those who are in Christ and have been made NEW in Him, is a true blessing. Instead of only celebrating the change of calendar years and expecting newness, step into the reality of newness that exists only in Christ.
For all of us who have welcomed Him into our life, He took our burdens, weariness, and old nature and in exchange gave us New Life in Christ Jesus. This Life is filled with abundant joy, true hope, unshakable peace, and has brought us into fellowship with the Father and the Son Jesus Christ! By Giving us His abundant Life, He birthed us into the family of God with all the believers, as beloved children of God. There is abundant Life in Christ that has come from above and this is the only Life that we need. As a Christian and beloved child of God, I too, along with my brothers and sisters in Christ, can testify to the newness that is found in Christ Jesus that restores and heals all brokenness. This Life binds up and raises in new life and makes everything new.
Only the Lord knows how to make beauty from the ashes, so allow Him and welcome Him, the life giving one, into your home and He will fill all that you are with the aroma of Life.
Matthew 11
- Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
- For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
This year, step into 2025 in true newness, fulfilled in Christ Jesus! Step into the new year as a new creation in Christ Jesus. He will start and finish His good work in you, multiply His Life abundantly in you, bless you, love you deeply and sincerely, be your guard and protector, a dear friend, and all that you desire. If you have expected this new year to bring something new and a new hope to your life, it’s with a kind and loving heart I say that there is nothing new that will come of this world. Don’t cast your hope in the changing of the calendar year. Instead this year, cast it on the Lord and allow Him to renew you and refresh you and give you Life that will quench and satisfy your thirst and fulfill you in Christ Jesus.
John 7
- On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
- Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
- By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
With much love,
Sister Selam in Christ