How are you? How is your week going? Ready for 2020?
I can’t believe that we are about to go into 2020. It has been 20 years since Y2K, for those of you who know what I’m talking about. So much has changed since then, and yet, so little has changed since then.
The world is still broken. Our lives are still messy. Pain and hurt still exist in relationships. We are confronted with disease, sickness, and death. So much has changed since 2000, and at the same time, so little has changed.
I’ve met people who want to use new years as new chapters in their lives. They want to close the chapter on the previous. They didn’t do so well in school. They struggled with their employment. They got dumped, and their hearts were broken into pieces. They faced too much loss.
And with the close on the previous year, they want a new chapter, a fresh start. Maybe it’s a fresh start on a diet. Maybe it’s a fresh start on a fit lifestyle. Maybe it’s a fresh start on relationships. Maybe it’s a fresh start with a new career. And the list can go on and on.
However, just like the beginning of this encouragement, not much will change. Brokenness, sorrow, pain, death, sin, and shame will exist in 2020 just as much as 2019.
We all long for a new chapter. We all long for a fresh start. We all long for renewal and healing. And this ultimate new chapter will not happen on this side of eternity. It will happen when Jesus comes back and the new heavens and the earth will be established.
We looked at that this past Sunday in Revelation 21. On that day, we will experience a new chapter: glory. We will experience renewal. We will experience healing. We will experience ultimate restoration.
And this has been secured for us by the cross. The cross is where Jesus took on the ultimate judgment for our sins so that we can experience the ultimate renewal. He took on the ultimate death for us so that we can receive ultimate life. He took on all our brokenness and shame on Good Friday thousands of years ago so that we can receive ultimate healing on the Last Day.
As we embark on a new year, do not be deceived to think that a new year means a new you. Only Jesus can do that. And in Christ, we can look forward to the ultimate new us in a new world.
Happy New Year! May you be found in Christ, and may you be strengthened with the eternal hope you have in Him in 2020!
Come out to New Year’s Eve Communion Worship today @8pm in the Fellowship Hall! If not, see you on Sunday for Lord’s Day Worship!
In Christ,
Pastor Tim
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