"New" Stuff

With the dropping of the ball, another year is upon us.  Off the top of my head I can think about several new things that await me in this new year- a new worship service, a new baby on the way, all the new people that I'll have the privilege of meeting.  As human beings, we like new stuff and I have to wonder if it's because we are image-bearers of God who is all about new stuff.  In I Cor. 5:17, the Apostle Paul writes "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW creation.  The old has passed away, behold, the NEW has come."  Jesus is a master at taking that which is old and making it new.  For those who are His followers, He takes our old corrupt lives and transforms them into new lives.  This means that we no longer have to be slaves to sin, but we can now be slaves to Christ- which is the pathway to true freedom! 

Finally, in the book of Revelation, John gives us a glimpse into the heavenly kingdom.  He writes: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more."  There is coming a day when God will create a new heaven and a new earth and all of creation will be as it was originally intended to be.  There will be no more weeping, there will be no more pain.  There will be no more sickness or disease.  There will be no more poverty or injustice.  Everything will be perfect and the cancer of sin will no longer infect the world. 

As we come into this new year and look forward to all the new experiences and opportunities that this year holds for us, might we remember our God who is all about new things and might our hearts be stirred in worship because we are His image-bearers called to put His grace on display.