I was delighted by Jim Gordon’s New Year reflections, reproduced here in slightly abridged form.

New Creation

2 Corinthians 5.17 ‘If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away—look, what is new has come!’

‘To be in Christ and know Christ in us, is the core experience of Christian faith. Paul calls it new creation; Jesus calls it being born again. It’s what God does.’

New Teaching

Acts 17:19 ‘They took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming?”‘

‘Jesus was God’s Son come amongst us as a man. On the cross Jesus bore and carried away the weight of the world’s sin. Jesus confronted hate with love, violence with peace, guilt with forgiveness. The resurrection was both God’s No! to sin and death, and God’s Yes! to new life in Christ. Strange ideas indeed, for a world like ours. Christ is risen!’

New Command

John 13:34 “I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

‘The new command isn’t new at all. What’s new is how Jesus demonstrated what it means to love one another. “As I have loved you.”…Jesus commands us to be like him in the way we love others – self-giving, generous, forgiving, faithful, persistent – “Having loved his own, he loved them to the very end…As I have loved you so you must love…”

New Covenant

1 Corinthians 11.25 “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”

‘The new relationship between God and the believer in Jesus, reconciliation through the blood of Jesus, God’s ancient promise to put a new heart into his people – all of this proclaimed, prayed and received in faith as the gracious gift, and forever faithful promise of God.’

New Treasures

Matthew 13.52 “Every expert in the law who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and old.”

‘In the world of work it’s expected that we will extend our skill set, improve our professional performance, and hold on to and learn from important experiences. Jesus is saying that discipleship is no different in its demands that we be the best disciple of the kingdom we can be.’

New wine

Mk 2:21f “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse. 2:22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be destroyed. Instead new wine is poured into new wineskins.”

‘The new life in Christ isn’t a patchwork of the old and the new. When we are clothed with Christ we put on a new garment. You can’t mix them. A Christian can’t love and hate, bear a grudge and forgive, be selfish and generous, claim to be truthful while lying, ignore suffering and show the love and compassion of God.’

All Things New

Revelation 21:5 21:5 ‘And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new!”’

‘God’s promise is to renew the creation that “groans, awaiting its redemption.” To reverse the ravages of sin, restore the brokenness of relationships, to dry the tears of the heartbroken, to end suffering and make possible again the joy and fulfilment of a creation dancing once more to the Creator’s music of love, life and fellowship.’