Pastor Clayton ~ January
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
When the clock strikes midnight, the old passes away and the new comes. Last year is left behind and a new year begins! With the new year comes all other kinds of new things. New resolutions. New plans. New habits. All things seem to be new when January comes around.
Yet the old still seems to hold on. Our progress on projects does not suddenly stop. Our memories of the last year don’t fade away. And of course, we all keep writing the wrong year on everything for at least two months. Yes the new has come, but the old still seems to cling on.
In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul speaks about how we are made a new creation in Christ; not by our own doing, but by what Christ has done, reconciling us to Himself. In Christ, the new has come! Yet the old doesn’t seem to have gone away. Plans get ruined. Painful memories still linger. Sinful habits seem to continue to grab hold. So what’s going on? Isn’t the old supposed to have passed away?
In a different letter, his one to the Romans, Paul writes, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Paul knows what it’s like to be a new creation with the old one still holding on. While Christ has made you a new creation, that sinful flesh holds tight, leading you into sin. From sin comes trouble, worry, even despair when you, like Paul, see how you go against God over and over in what you do.
When worry about your standing before God creeps in, that’s when you need to hear, “The old has passed away, the new has come!” Yes, in this life our sinful flesh clings close. Yet in Christ, God does not see you based on that. Instead He sees you the same way He sees His Son. In Him the old has passed away and He sees you as a new creation. And at the return of Jesus, the old will truly, fully pass away for you to see too.
In this life though, as we look forward to that day, we live together growing in our faith. We live, putting away sin and living as that new creation, looking to Christ and living as His people. As we come into this new year, there are a couple of new activities that will help our youth grow together for this purpose. First, during Eph4, a portion of our time will be spent in small groups to allow the kids to grow together as a community with other adults from the congregation. Second, on every other Sunday evening, the high school youth are invited to join together to rest and recharge for the week during the Sunday Reset. Both of these activities aim to help us live as God’s new creation, even while the old clings on, looking together for the return of Jesus. I hope you can join!
Blessings,
Pastor Bryce
To keep up to date with Youth Group activities, go to
immanuelrapids.com/youth-ministry/