WHAT'S NEW?

Standing on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the old city of Jerusalem on New Year's Day 2020, was quite a moment for me.  Having experienced the city several times before, I was prepared for the tension that hangs in the air caused by the crash of humanity and the clash of religions.  What surprised on this day was a resurging hope for the newness to come.   

In the Apostle John's vision of Heaven recorded in Revelation 21 he sees "the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband" (v. 2).  Then he hears the One seated on the throne say, "Behold, I am making everything new!" (v.5).

Gazing upon this place called the "City of God" on the dawn of a new decade gave me a refreshing vision of the God we serve.  He is a God who specializes in making all things new!  He can take ancient relics, even conflicts that span the eons, and from them bring something beautiful and new.  And one day, He will! 

We don't have to wait until Jesus returns to experience the newness of God.

A Pharisee named Saul knew what it was to hang on to the old with a passion.  But when he encountered Christ everything changed and he became a new man with a new name - the Apostle Paul!  Paul reminds us that newness of life is available to us all in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!"  Even in his weepy narrative called Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah finds peace in the assurance that God's mercies never fail, indeed "they are new every morning" (Lam. 3:23).     

As we embark on a New Year and a new decade, has it occurred to you what God may be making new in your life?