New

Thursday January 1, 2015

Happy New Year! It´s time again to ring in another fresh set of 365 days.

Most of us like new things, and new years and seasons are generally welcomed. I´d definitely take a new car to replace my old one. A new house would be nice. A new fishing boat would be even sweeter (Oh, how I wish!). Then there are new shoes, new books, new music, new friendships, new opportunities to serve and grow and more!

New is good. But there´s a kind of "new" that the Bible introduces which takes new to a whole new level (no pun intended).

The New Testament uses two different Greek words for the English word new. Neos refers to something that has recently come into existence, such as a new year. It hadn´t existed before and is brand new. Kainos speaks of something being renewed rather than brand new. It contains the idea that there was something "before" that is now coming into the fullness of its true reality.

It is kainos that raises the concept of "new" to a different level. The apostle John used this word to describe the future new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1). It´s the same word he said Jesus will use to proclaim from His throne, "Look, I am making everything new!" (v.5). It´s also the word the apostle Paul used when he wrote about anyone in Christ becoming a "new person" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

In each case the idea of "new" is that it´s something that previously existed and is now being recreated and restored so that it can be all it was meant to be.

As we enter another year, let´s live out our new creation that has already begun. And let´s remember that it will one day be fully revealed. - Jeff Olson

Read
Revelation 21:1-5
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

Jeremiah 31:31-34
"The time is coming," declares the Lord,
"when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant 
I made with their forefathers
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

"This is the covenant I will make with the house if 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. No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord.
"For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

Question to Ponder
Where do you see new creation both emerging and struggling to emerge in your life?
What does the new life in Jesus mean to you?

**Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) Dec 2014 - Feb 2015 issue.