Why do people around the world celebrate the new year? What’s the big difference between December 31st and January 1st? They are just dates on a calendar. Why do people get so excited and place such great hope in the flipping over to a new year? Why on New Year’s Eve do people in all the great cities around the world party like there’s no tomorrow? I think it has to do with a deep desire for a New Beginning, a deep longing for things to be made right, for past mistakes to be forgotten, for things to be different in the future. The resolutions we make to lose weight, quit smoking, save more, exercise more and all the rest are attempts to start over and to get it right this time.

Experience tells us this is often a false hope. The fitness clubs that in January are crowded with earnest new members will be back to normal by Valentine’s Day or sooner. It is a false hope to think that by sheer determination we can make ourselves new, when in fact we are still the same weak and flawed individuals we were before. It takes more than a calendar flip and a list of resolutions to produce a New Beginning.

Today, we Christians need to hear what scripture says about New Beginnings. Today I want us to celebrate what God has done in the past. I want us to be grateful for all that God is doing, right here, right now. I want us to anticipate all that God is about to do in the days ahead.

The prophet Jeremiah says in chapter 31:10 “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’” Please note that this is something God initiates. As Jeremiah prophesied, Israel was captive, in exile in Babylon. The people did not resolve to free themselves from captivity, it was the LORD himself who would act to gather his people and bring them home like a shepherd. It was not the sheep that chose the the shepherd; it was the shepherd who chose the sheep.

Moving forward to the gospel of John, in the first chapter he writes: “In the beginning was the Word… He was in the beginning with God.” And in verses 12 & 13 John says: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Jesus now becomes the shepherd in the flesh, and by the will of God he makes new children for God. Not because they are good, or because they made a terrific list of resolutions for the new year, but because they believed. It was the Shepherd who chose the sheep.

Finally we come to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. In the first chapter, verses 3-14, two words appear three times each: Purpose and Praise. All the spiritual blessings in these eleven verses are according to God’s purposes and to the praise of God’s glory.

As we go through this passage, this great list of spiritual blessings that God bestows on us in Christ, see if there is even a hint that these are ours because we resolved to do better.

First, Paul pronounces a blessing to God for what He has done on our behalf. In Christ we receive every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Not just a few blessings, not just some blessings, but EVERY spiritual blessing that we have is a gift from God. And why do we get these blessings?  Because God chose us in Christ from before the foundation of the world. Paul writes; “In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ,…” Certainly for our benefit, but according to his purpose, for the praise of his glory. In Christ he has adopted us – as his children! – and made us his own for all eternity. If you ever wonder why on earth God would choose you, here’s the answer: His purpose; His glory. When I often wonder, “Why me Lord?” it is for His purpose; His glory. We need never doubt the reality of our salvation when we stumble along in this life. None of it depends on us; it’s all God’s doing. We are his sheep, chosen by the Shepherd.

Here’s how God decided to accomplish his purpose. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,  which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” Ephesians 1:7-10 (ESV) Before we could be adopted, we had to be made clean and pure so that God could bear to look at us. Since we are incapable of making ourselves clean and pure, God washed us, cleansed us, with the blood of His precious Son. 

Now here’s a new beginning you can count on; we were dead in our sins and trespasses, but in Christ we are made alive and adopted by the King of the universe to enjoy every spiritual blessing with him for all of eternity. According to his purpose; for the praise of his glory.

Not only did we get adopted by this gracious God, he also chose to grant us an inheritance, something much more than a pile of cash from an old uncle which we might squander. This inheritance from God is indestructible and eternal. “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:11-14 (ESV) Now the Holy Sprit comes and lives in us to guarantee this eternal blessing until the day we receive it in full in heaven, in the new heaven and new earth to come, when Jesus returns in glory.  And once again the reason is that it is according to His purpose, for the praise of His glory.

Let’s review for a moment: In Jeremiah God declares, “…(I) will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.” In the Gospel of John it is written, “…(we are) children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” And in Ephesians it says, “…he chose us in him before the foundation of the world…” Not one word about the strength of our resolve being the the means to obtain salvation or blessing for ourselves. Nothing is mentioned about a really good list of New Year resolutions.

In all of scripture, it is always God who acts to save his people. All that’s required of us is to believe. We are God’s people here on this earth, His sheep, chosen by the Good Shepherd. God has a purpose for us; a plan for us that will be for our benefit and for His glory. So now, more than ever, we need to engage in grateful and joyful worship, always listening for the voice of God and heeding his guiding Spirit. Now, more than ever, we need to be in prayer, every day, to ask God to reveal to us his will for our life together as his church. Trust in the truth that God loves you. He loves us, and as His adopted children we can be certain that His purpose for us is for our good and for His glory.

So if it is God’s purpose to save us, and if it has been His purpose since the very beginning, why should there be any doubt that His purposes are, at this very moment, being fulfilled? And since God has done all this for His glory and our benefit, how can we not praise Him for all HE has done, and for all that He will do in the days ahead? How can we not trust him to do what he has always done? For God’s purpose is always to save his people and in this He is to be praised and glorified forever!

I pray the the year 2021 will be a year of blessed New Beginnings for each of you.