Happy New Year
Or
Let’s Begin Again
• Almost forgotten that it’s a new year.
o Still appropriate to wish you a Happy New Year?
o Has the New Year been happy for you?
o Have you kept/broken your New Year’s resolutions?
• Why did we look forward to the end of the year – apart from Christmas holidays, bonuses, time with the family, break from work?
• The opportunity for a new beginning
o Reflection on the past
Recession
Relationships
o Time for renewal – for NEW BEGINNINGS
Lewis Carroll – Alice in Wonderland 1832 – 1898
• “Begin at the beginning . . . and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
Robert Browning – Life in a Love 1855:
• “To dry one’s eyes and laugh at a fall,
And baffled, get up and begin again.”
Lao-tzu – The Way of Lao-tzu c. 604 –c. 531 B.C.
• “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
Beginnings: God knew that we needed new beginnings. The human spirit was created with the capacity for renewal – the need for renewal. Thus in creation, while Adam and Eve would not need rest, God still created the cycle of an evening and a morning – a new day every 24 hours; an opportunity for new beginnings – to start over again; to improve on what had been done before; to forget the past and move on.
And then He created the cycle of 7 days in which we would cease from work; from self-effort; from focusing on our accomplishments; from chasing after the wind – to rest and recognize that we owe our existence to Someone outside of ourselves.
The Sabbath – the weekly cycle in which we acknowledge our creatureliness; that we owe our existence to God; that He is the potter and we are the clay; that all we have and all that we do are nothing without God; that we refocus and recognize that all we have accomplished is straw – like a candle in the wind. It is a time that we come and acknowledge God as the Creator of this universe – but more importantly – that He is the Lord of our lives.
And so we have the circles and cycles of life – the ever-recurring cycle of new days; new weeks; new years; birthdays and anniversaries – the opportunities for new beginnings.
A. The Ultimate “Beginning”
The Bible talks about a beginning – a beginning that was not part of a cycle and that would never become part of a cycle. A beginning that can be described as The Ultimate Beginning.
Robert Browning, in the earlier quotation, talks about getting up and beginning again. And this “new beginning”, as with all our new years, implies that there was something that preceded the new beginning. So, in fact, the new beginning is not a beginning after all – simply a continuation in a different manner – or sometimes even in the same manner.
But scripture talks of an ultimate beginning – a beginning with nothing preceding it. Our human minds find it difficult to comprehend this. Everything new that we are engaged in is not really new:
o A new car – made of previously manufactured articles and material. So it’s not really new?
o New shoes, new hairstyle, new house – a case of different, changed, modified – but not really new.
o New Baby? – Dependent on a mother and a father. A new life but a beginning dependent on that which existed before.
o New husband? New wife? . . .
o Even a new day – one before that. A new year – one before this one; and before that one, etc., etc.
But Scripture talks of an Ultimate Beginning: John 1:1 ff.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. He was in the beginning with God. 3. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. . .14. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
A reminder of Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The Ultimate Beginning.
Even the theory of evolution is dependent on a beginning
– the Big Bang theory – something had to be present to cause the Big Bang;
– the origin of the species – each species had to evolve from a previously existing form of life;
– the geological column – each layer is built on a previous layer till you get to the original layer – which had to have a source; a beginning.
All these theories depends on an origin. The same with all other religions and ideologies: Before Buddah – there was; Before Confucius – there was; before Mohammed – there was; before Rev Moon – there was. But it is only Scripture that is able to pinpoint the Ultimate Beginning – and the Ultimate Beginning begins with God – in the beginning God. All of human wisdom, knowledge and philosophies can’t provide a logical explanation or alternative to this simple statement of Scripture: IN THE BEGINNING GOD . . .
John 1 takes this statement further by declaring:
• In the beginning was the Word
• And the Word was with God
• And the Word was God
• All things came into being by Him
• He became flesh.
So Scripture does not only tell us of the Ultimate Beginning, but gives us the insight that the God of Ultimate Beginnings is also the God who died for us – who dwelt amongst us in the flesh – Jesus Christ.
Col 1:16 says: “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all these things have been created by Him and for Him.”
And Who is the “Him” referred to? Vs 15 says: “And He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation.” – Jesus Christ, our Brother, Saviour, High Priest, Intercessor and Advocate. Isn’t this awesome?
B. Implications for us
Living in fear?
• Recession
• Haiti
• Violence – Togo – Angola
• Unemployment
• Difficult relationships
Who is in control? Who is in charge? Who holds our ultimate destiny in His hands? The Ultimate Beginning:
– by Him all things were created
– visible and invisible
– thrones and dominions
– rulers and authorities
– all things created by Him and for Him
Therefore: -- we have no cause for worry, concern or fear for the future: It is all in God’s hands; it is under His control. So why do we worry and fret? Is it because we place our trust in ourselves and not in God? Is it that we depend on others and not on God? Do we seek to find happiness and security in things of our own devising and not in God?
C. Conclusion
Gen 1:1 and John 1:1 reminds us: In the beginning – God.
Each day we have the opportunity for a new start – with God. Each week we have the opportunity to recognize our dependence – upon God. And each year we have the opportunity of beginning a new year – with God. Because new beginnings are only new when they are centred in the Ultimate Beginning. David puts it this way: “Create in me a new heart, O God” – and it is only a Creator God that can give you a new beginning.
And it is this same Creator God – the Ultimate Beginning – that promises us an Ultimate Newness without an end – The same writer records for us in Revelation 21:1-5
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven the first earth passed away; and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
The Ultimate Beginning offers you an ultimate newness and a life without end.
Happy New Year – Let’s begin again with the Ultimate Beginning.
