New Year! New You!
Ephesians 3:20-21
January 1, 2023
One of my favorite Christians authors is C.S. Lewis. In part, because he wrote so many deep and profound books which are challenging, and also because he was able to write Christian fantasy books. One of them is a series of books, called The Chronicles of Narnia. There’s 7 books filled with Christian imagery that are amazing. They’re on my list to reread them this year.
In the first book in the series, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe the setting is England during World War II. The main characters are 4 siblings, children who have been sent from London to a house in the countryside to escape the Nazi bombings.
One of the children, Lucy is playing hide and seek in the new house, and she hides in an old wardrobe closet - - - but she discovers it opens – into the land of Narnia. While exploring the land, she meets Mr. Tumnus, a faun, who becomes a devoted friend.
Lucy discovers Narnia is a cold place, covered with snow. Lucy learns that the once-beautiful and green land of Narnia is frozen under its white blanket because an evil character, the White Witch, has cast a spell over it.
Mr. Tumnus tells Lucy - - - The White Witch always makes it winter. Always winter and never Christmas; think of that!”
Really, think about that . . . always winter and never Christmas. Isn’t Christmas one of the joys and hopes we have to make it through the cold winter months. Even last weekend, filled with freezing cold weather, we were still able to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We were able to forget about the coldness and snow.
If that’s all it were, it certainly would feel hopeless. No green. No laughter. No optimism. No dreams.
Maybe that’s how 2022 looked to you. Very much like Lucy’s cold and barren Narnia. To one degree or another, we have all felt the wintry blast of a depressing year.
I wonder how many people get stuck in that type of thinking - - - always winter, never Christmas. That could be a really sad mantra. It could be easy to become stuck there. To think and believe that’s there’s no way out.
But something happens! The scene begins to change when the children hear sleigh bells. Fearing it’s the White Witch coming for them, they hide. But it wasn’t the witch. It was Father Christmas. He cries out, “I have broken through at last, she has kept me out for a long time, but her magic is weakening. Aslan is on the move! A merry Christmas! Long live the true King!”
If you don’t know the story or haven’t gotten its point, Lewis is telling the Christian story of human life in a world cursed by sin. It is a world of cold and darkness. Held captive by the power of the evil one, there is hardship, suffering, and death all around.
But the White Witch is not entitled to rule Narnia. Aslan, a regal lion, is its true king. He’s the Christ figure. When he comes to Narnia, hope appears. The snow begins to melt. Patches of green become visible. There can be Christmas again.
All of this got me to thinking about a great scripture from Paul to the church in Ephesus. In Ephesians 3:20-21, Paul wrote - - -
20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. - Ephesians 3:20-21
I want to focus for the next few minutes on that first verse, verse 20.
Paul’s telling us that God can do more than we could ever imagine or even think. God’s can do more than our wildest and craziest dreams.
I guess the question as we start this year is a simple one . . . do you believe this? That’s it, that’s really the basis for the year. Do you believe that God can? Nothing more than that. It doesn’t mean there won’t be sickness and death. There will still be disappointment and sadness. There will still be struggles.
But in spite of them . . . do you believe God can do more than we could ever ask? I believe the answer is YES! It should be a resounding YES!! We should be shouting it from the rooftops, but I tend to think we have this rather benign view of God. We just want the basics, we don’t want to overburden God. We think if we keep our dreams and requests to a minimum, then maybe God will be more apt to give us what we want.
Yet, Paul is telling us that God can do far more abundantly than we ask or think. Do you think we don’t receive because we don’t really ask?
I mean, we give thanks for the day, we hope for a good day, we hope to make it home to go to sleep and do it again the next day. And I think when we get into this style of living and thinking and praying . . . we end up with always winter, never Christmas.
We seem to defeat ourselves, and not experience the power which is available to us in abundance. That’s God’s promise to us, but I’m not sure we’re experiencing a more than type of living.
So, this year, I want to encourage you to start praying with expectancy. It means that you believe you are going to receive what God is going to do in your life. It’s not wishful thinking. It’s not some sort of pollyanna thinking. It’s really believing God can do more than you ever imagined or thought.
And if you really believe that . . . then you’ll start to ask in newer and different ways. And I believe when we ask believing, we will also receive, and will be blessed more than we could ever imagine because God is doing more than we could ever imagine.
We talk about vicious cycles spiraling downwards, I believe this is one of those cycles that spins upwards and in a way which is positive and glorifying God.
One of the things I love about this passage is that when Paul tells us God IS ABLE - - -
20 Now to Him who IS ABLE to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the POWER at work within us,
the word Paul is using in both of these phrases God IS ABLE and POWER - - - - is the Greek word for dynamite power. It’s where we get the English word dynamite. Paul’s trying to tell us that God has this immense power, this dynamite power to help us experience greater grace, greater peace, greater mercy, greater love, greater power and abundant strength than we’ve ever imagined because God has the dynamite power to make it happen.
And as Paul tells us that power, the dynamite power is at work within us. And we give God the glory for all He’s doing, has done and will do.
We recognize that it’s not us, it’s God at work within us. And that’s the power which is available to us. But you have to say YES to Jesus. You have to say, Jesus, I believe. Jesus, I believe you have forgiven me. I believe you have released me and have given me salvation.
It’s having a hope that you never had before, because He’s come into your heart, spirit and mind. Jesus offers us this gift and we give back to Him in thanksgiving.
I believe the Lord wants us to focus upon, ''New Things.'' A new year / a new you. A new year / a renewed you. You see, I believe God is offering to anyone who dares to ask, to believe, to dream about an abundance of power to do more than ever imagined. ''New Things'' which can and will change our lives and ultimately the world.
One year ends and another begins. But I want the Lord to challenge us to go to the next level. He is the Beginning and the End. I want Jesus to be the beginning of the year for each of us.
In the world you and I live in, Christmas marks the coming of the True King. The Lion of Judah. The One who comes to rescue and heal. In His presence, a cold heart begins to melt and the possibility of new realities dawn. C.S. Lewis had a cold heart, a heart of stone towards God. He was an atheist. He didn’t believe in God, yet, his cold heart had turned warm by God’s powerful love. And he gave us the great story about Narnia and a lion named Aslan.
What we’re now experiencing is not the way things are supposed to be. Too much is cursed and cold because of evil. But Christmas says it will not always be winter.
If your situation right now appears to be “always winter, but never Christmas,” take heart. Aslan is on the move. The King is coming. The life of a New Heaven and a New Earth will break through. Christmas is the sure promise of it.
So, ask . . . ask and ask and ask. And believe God will do more than you could imagine. Just don’t sit there waiting on God, take action and move towards God and I believe each of us will experience the amazing this year.
