| For many, a new year can bring new hope. Turning the calendar to the next year can be a therapeutic way of putting a tough year behind you and reminding you that it’s time to start anew. Some start the new year with the mantra “new year, new me,” and make New Year’s resolutions to help them to start new habits and behaviors. Setting those resolutions to cultivate good habits and curb bad habits is certainly a good practice, but what if I told you that you have already been made new, regardless of how faithfully you’ll stick to your New Year’s resolutions?
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, and behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” God, in Christ, has reconciled you to Himself and made you new! Before, you were dead in your trespasses and sins, as Ephesians 2:1 tells us. But now, by grace through faith in Christ, you have been made new! You are no longer dead in your sin! You are now alive to Christ, a new creation, all through the gracious working of God. Praise the Lord for this wonderful gift!
How is that gift delivered to you? When are you “in Christ”? You become one with Christ by faith, and most especially by faith received in Baptism. In Romans 6, Paul lays out beautifully this new life that the Christian has in Baptism. He begins by saying that all who have been baptized into Jesus are baptized into his death (6:3). So in Baptism, you are joined with Christ’s death. Your old self was crucified and buried with Christ in death so that you would no longer be enslaved to sin (6:6). Which means that your old self is dead and buried in the ground. It went with Christ into the grave. But that’s not all! Paul also says that Baptism has joined you to Christ’s resurrection (6:5). So just as Christ was raised from the dead, you too will be raised from the dead, along with all who believe and are baptized. In fact, by faith, you have that death and resurrection today! You are a new creation in Christ Jesus right now if you believe in Jesus and His promises given to you in Baptism! You have been given a new life right here, right now, empowered by the Holy Spirit, who is also given to you in Baptism (Acts 2:39)!
This new life is lived by the power of the Holy Spirit working repentance of sin, faith, and love of neighbor in you day after day. You do not finish most of your New Year’s resolutions on January 2nd, after all! No, those resolutions to lose weight, or reduce screen time, or read more books, take time. You need to work at them day after day. In a similar way, God’s work in Baptism continues in you after He has made you new. You aren’t made new by sight all at once, as great as that would be! Day by day, God works to drive you to repentance and death of your old sinful self, and He works to raise up your new self by faith in Christ that is lived out in service to your neighbors. You are certainly made new by faith, but you are also in the process of being made new by sight, which will happen on the day of Jesus’ return if you do not reject this wonderful gift and work of God started in you by faith delivered in Baptism!
So as we begin a new year, I encourage you to remember that Jesus Christ has made you new, and is working to make you new, too. Remember that, whether you stick to those New Year’s resolutions or not, you have been made new in Him! If 2025 was a time of struggle and ugliness for you, remember that Christ has assuredly put the ugliness of your sin away, and raised you to new life in Him. Remember that this promise stands true now in 2026, and will continue to stand true, and be worked out in you, until it is completely finished when Jesus returns. What a wonderful hope to start off the new year with!
Have a blessed and merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!
In Christ, Pastor Michael Onstad
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Link to the January 2026 Newsletter |
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