A new creation: New Life with Jesus

“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.””

(Mark 1:9–11 ESV)

As the people who believe in Jesus, we are not condemned to ’hope for the best’.

‘Hoping for the best’, and ’do the best you can’, ‘having faith in ourselves’ are all nice and encouraging phrases for people who do not know the God and Father of Jesus of Nazareth. But as people who believe in Jesus, and know Him by His Spirit - our lives are not ships in the sea, condemned to be tossed by every wind and wave that comes around. Nor are we the empowered and independent “captain of our ships“, or even a people dependent on a good and wise government to help us navigate through each year.

No. As the people who believe in Jesus, we know Him to be the firstborn of the New Creation that God is making in and for our world. The God and Father of Jesus did not just create the Heavens and the Earth (Gen 1:1-5), and left it to its own devices. He is not just the Creator, but the Father who watches over His Creation and is actively involved in ‘making all things news’ (Rev 21:5). And in 2021, as in 2020, He is continuing His Work, through the Leadership of Jesus, by His Spirit. 

As the people who believe in Jesus, we are not condemned to just depend on ‘horoscopes’ and ‘prophets’ and ‘signs and wonders’ to guess what will happen in 2021.  Nor are we condemned to the big date of the experts and philosophers of this Age, who can only ‘predict’ and ‘analyse’,  ‘forecast’ and ultimately ‘hope for the best’. Instead, year on year, we are invited as believers of Jesus, to grow as the children of God (Romans 12:1-2, cf. 2 Peter 1:3-15). We are invited to ‘understand the times’, to ‘know the will of the Creator’, through the intimate knowledge we have with His Son Jesus. This is our blessed joy AND incredible privilege of all of us in relationship with Immanuel - God with Us.

Immanuel is not just Christmas celebration or some religious truth to believe in. Immanuel is the name of a Person to know. Someone who desires for us to be with Him, to walk with Him and follow Him, as He develops the Will of the Creator, our Father in 2021.

We had the joy of witnessing the baptism of three persons at the first Sunday of 2021. If ever there was a good time to mark a new beginning, it is with a baptismal service. God is making all things new. As He was in 2020, so He continues to do so in 2021. Let us follow Jesus - the New Creation Person, who will lead us into the New Creation work of the Creator God, who is making all things new.