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Do you make resolutions for the New Year? In the US, New Year’s resolutions are very common. People often resolve to eat more healthful foods, to lose weight, or to exercise more. In the beginning of January, gyms are often full of people. But by the end of January, they are often almost empty. We start the new year with good intentions, but we often fall short of our goals.
It seems that New Year’s resolutions often involve our health, at least in the US. It is good to take care of the bodies that God has given us. God tells us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. But we can put too much emphasis on the physical. Paul told Timothy to train himself for godliness, “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Tim 4:7-8).
Have you made any spiritual resolutions for the New Year? I often try to read through the Bible each year. Sometimes I fall behind and don’t make it. But reading or hearing more of God’s word is a good resolution for this New Year. In fact, it is what Paul told Timothy to do. He told Timothy to be “trained in the words of faith” (1 Timothy 4:6).
We do not know what this new year with hold. We can make plans and pray, “but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (Proverbs 19:21). As we face the new year, it is God’s word that reminds us that God is faithful. The Bible reminds of all that God has done for you and me. While we may give up on our resolutions, God never does. He fulfills all His promises. The history we read in the Bible shows us God’s faithfulness. And it reminds us that God will be with you and me throughout this new year, no matter what we may face.
In our Old Testament reading for this Sunday (January 1, 2023), we read of God’s faithfulness:
I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely.” And he became their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.
Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people.
Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit, who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name. – Isaiah 63:7-14
In these verses, Isaiah recounts the blessings that Lord had given the house of Israel. God chose them to be His people. He was with them in their affliction. And He redeemed them and saved them from their enemies. The most notable deliverance was when God lead His people from slavery in Egypt. God delivered them through the Red Sea. He “divided the water before them” and “led them through the depths.” He became their Savior and lead them through the desert without them stumbling. He led them to the promised land where “the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.”
This miraculous deliverance was a source of comfort and encouragement for the Israelites. It reminded them that God was with them, and that God was there to save them whenever they were threatened.
God delivering the Israelites from Egypt was just a physical redemption. It is a picture of the far greater deliverance that God has given each of us through Jesus Christ. God sent His Son to live a perfect life to fulfill the law for us, and to suffer and die in our place to pay for our sins. Through Jesus’ perfect life, death and resurrection, God has delivered you and me from slavery to sin and death.
This Sunday is the 8th day after Christmas. Do you remember what happened on the 8th day after Jesus’ birth? Luke 2:21 tells us:
And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
Every Jewish male was to be circumcised on the 8th day. It was the sign of the covenant God had established with Abraham. It was God’s promise to be God to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 17:7). Abraham, for his part, was to walk before God and be blameless (Genesis 17:1). The problem is, the Israelites broke their covenant with God. “They rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them” (Isaiah 63:10).
We all by nature rebel against God. Countless times we have done things God does not want us to do, and we have failed to do all that God wants us to do. We have not walked before Him and been blameless. But God promised in the very beginning to send a Savior (see Genesis 3:15). He told Abraham that in his seed “all the nations shall be blessed” (Genesis 22:18). This promised seed – this promised Savior – is Jesus, whose birth we celebrated a week ago.
On this day we remember the day of Jesus’ circumcision. Jesus’ circumcision is important because it showed that Jesus was born under the law, as we read in Galatians 4:4-7:
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
On the day of His circumcision, He was given the name Jesus, “for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). “Jesus” means “Jehovah saves.” Jesus saved us from being a slave to sin and death, and He has made us children of God and heirs of an eternal inheritance.
As God, Jesus was by nature above the law because God gave the law and is not subject to it. Jesus had to be born of a woman to be born under the law so that He could fulfill it perfectly for us. Even at 8 days old, Jesus fulfilled the law by being circumcised.
Jesus also had to be born of a woman so that He could suffer and die in our place to pay for our sins. Jesus took your sins and my sins upon Himself when He suffered and died on the cross. In exchange for our sin, Jesus gives us His perfect obedience – His perfect righteousness. Jesus’ fulfillment of the law is counted as your own.
And Jesus rose again from the dead to show that His sacrifice was accepted by God as payment for your sin. Jesus’ resurrection also shows that He has conquered death for you and me, so that we can live eternally with Him even if we die (John 11:25).
God did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all. Because God gave up His own Son, we can be sure that He will be with us in this new year. He will lead us and protect us.
This does not mean that we will not have any problems during this new year. Even though God had miraculously delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians, they still found themselves in a desert. They sometimes lacked food and water. But God was with them and led them so that “they did not stumble.”
When you and I face problems, we can wonder where God is. Where is God who brought the Israelites out of the sea? Where is God who divided the water before them? Where is He who put His Holy spirit within us?
But remember all that God has done for you. He delivered up His own Son for you. He will never leave you or forsake you. When you are afflicted, He is still will you, and He is afflicted too. He will keep you from stumbling and cause you rest through His Spirit.
Throughout this new year, look to God and His Word to find this rest through His Spirit. Let God’s word remind you of all that God has done for you through Jesus. Jesus was born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem you who were under the law.
We may give up and abandon our resolutions, but God never will. He will fulfill all His promises. You are now His beloved child and heir. He will be with you throughout this new year, and He will give you the eternal inheritance His Son Jesus has earned for you by His suffering, death, and resurrection.