We must never put the cart before the horse theologically (i.e. we must not put the biblical imperatives before the biblical indicatives). If we get the order wrong we will either land ourselves in a works-righteousness or we will end up spiritually frustrated. We might even end up living a life of complete hypocrisy. This is totally unnecessary as God has accomplished redemption for us in his Son, applies it to us by his Holy Spirit and we are called to respond to the message of what He has done in faith and obedience by His grace.

 

Many of us see the New Year as an opportunity to do better. We long for a fresh start. Often, this results in wishful or sentimental “New Year’s resolutions.” At the core of our being, we do not need New Year’sresolutions—we need a “New Year’s Theology;” we need a theology of new creation. We need to know that we have been made new creatures if we are to live in newness of life for Christ. More than anything else in this year ahead, we continually need to hear the voice of the One who cried out, “Behold, I make all things new.” May God grant us the grace to live as those who have been made new creatures and have had our calendars redeemed by the One who lived and died and rose again for us.

 

Jesus as truly God and truly man is also truly dignified and truly frail. He is both God and the imago God. In tasting death for those who would place their faith in Him, He makes a way for sinners to enter into God’s original intention for humanity expressed in Psalm 8. If the fall of Adam is the great dehumanizing event in human history then the incarnation of the Second Adam, and His subsequent death and resurrection, is the re-humanizing of those who find salvation in him.

 

One benefit of the religious calendar is that we give a whole month to celebrate the wonder of the incarnation. One disadvantage of the religious calendar is that we give only a month to celebrate the wonder of the incarnation. That the Word took flesh ought to move our hearts and fill our minds with an overwhelming sense of wonder each day. The incarnation of the Son of God is the climactic event in redemptive history when God broke into space and time and dwelt among us in the flesh. In a time when it seemed as though God was silent and all hope was gone, God was actively preparing the world for the coming of His Son in the fullness of times. After sin entered this world mankind experienced shame and hopelessness. Yet, God revealed the promise of a Redeemer who would come and reverse the curse and restore hope to a fallen humanity.

 

Prayer is a gift from a heavenly Father, who loves to hear from His children. There are countless reasons to pray. Let's be a people of prayer. Never will one minute in prayer closets be a minute wasted or later regretted.