All Things Are New

Revelation 21:5 - Then He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, Write, for these words are true.

There's always a sense of encouragement, excitement and hope when a new year begins. As I awoke this morning to a chorus of "happy new year" by the nearby roosters in Puerto Rico, I thanked God for a new year. I thanked Him for an encouraging word for our church and for those who call our church their home. 

Christmas celebrations are over and in the wake of those festivities we have new things to put on or put away. I was told that at the candlelight service an offer to receive Christ touched the hearts of about ten people. Their lives were made new as well. Hopefully this new year they will choose to put on and not put away their new life in Christ.

There have been claims that December 21, 2012 could be the end of the world if the Mayan calendar is correct. There is an eerie similarity between the meaning of the word apocalypse and something we read when Jesus dies on the cross. An apocalypse is a lifting of the veil or revelation! When Jesus died the curtain in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The veil had been lifted giving man access once again to God, through the death of His Son, Jesus. 

It sounds more like a beginning to me. Some scientists believe the world won't end but instead it will take a different course...a new one, a new course filled with peace, wisdom, love and understanding. Isn't that what Jesus has been trying to say for more than 2,000 years? 

Put on the new man and a new life, in Him. Don't put it away. It would be the greatest and most satisfying new life one could ever hope for. And each new day is filled with the same hope. A hope that never changes because if our hope is in Jesus, we have hope in One who never changes!

We will go through some difficult days ahead. Jesus will return. Those who are in Christ know this. We have peace already in a world of turmoil. We have our hope too, that He will return for those whom He calls His own. The world will not end but it will change in a twinkling of an eye and the loud sound of a trumpet.

For those who cling to Him now, who have found their new life, this will be a glorious day. We understand what today's life events are leading up to. We already have the peace, wisdom, understanding and love. 

Jesus does make all things new. It's a new year. Start the new year out with a new life in Christ. Receive Him and have the hope, the revelation, of this life in Him. Let this truly be a Happy New Year!

2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!