By Russ Atmore
This expression is fitting for the start of the New Year. It is
illustrative of what we all desire every New Year. It is almost
impossible to divorce our minds from the common expression, “a new
year’s resolution”. I think this is because we all recognize
instinctively that the new year always brings with it the possibility of
fresh opportunities, a fresh start, a desire to not make the same
mistakes from the previous year, etc. The phrase, “all things new” is
taken from Revelation 21:5, where it refers to the Lord Jesus Christ, as
the One who is making all things new. In a future day, our Lord will
wipe every tear from our eyes, there will be no more death, no more
mourning, no more crying, and no more pain, because all the old things
will be done away with. What a day that will be when our gracious Lord
will do this for us.
The
New Year affords each one of us the providential opportunity to
surrender ourselves afresh to the Lord. We can by God’s grace seek to
live a more holy life, a more pure life, and thus be like our Lord. God
has provided each of us under grace some will power in order to live
this kind of life. If it were impossible, God would not ask these things
of us. The Apostle Paul often makes statements that indicate how
necessary it is for us to do certain things in order to live a life that
pleases the Lord. Listen to these words.
Romans 6:11 - “even so, consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive
to God in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 6:12 - “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body….”
Romans 6:13 - “Do not go on presenting the members of your body to
sin…..”
Romans 12:1 - “I urge you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of
God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to
God, which is your spiritual act of worship.”
1 Corinthians 10:14 - “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”
Colossians 3:2 - “Set your mind on things above, not on things that
are on the earth.”
Paul is not extending an invitation to do these things, rather, he is
giving us commands (imperatives). It is precisely in appreciating the
force of the imperative that we understand truly what the Apostle is
saying to us. These things are all possible because they are
imperatives. The New Year affords us the privilege of getting stuck into
our spiritual lives with fresh vigor and zest.
It
is important for us to realize that we live and move under the
providence of God. Most of us see the hand of God in good times, in
blessings received, or in deliverance from trouble, but very few
recognize the hand of God in difficulties, and when things are going
from bad to worse. David understood the providence of God in Psalm 57,
when he exclaimed, “be merciful to me. O God, be merciful to me”. David
and his men were hiding from King Saul, in the crevices of the cave in
Engedi (1 Samuel 24). Saul would have slain David on the spot if he had
known that Israel’s future king was within touching distance. The fact
that David uses the expression, “be merciful to me” twice indicates the
extremity of the danger, and the ardency of the supplicant. David
understood, that though death was but moments away, yet his life was in
the providential care of his wise and loving God, and therefore, king
Saul could not touch him unless God permitted it.
This is the lesson that God would have us learn. In order to enjoy this
New Year, we must recognize that every day belongs to God – the good
days and the terrible days. Our God is always making things new for us –
we need to take these good gifts from His hand, and then live under His
hand.
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