Happy New Year!

After a week of vacation, The Up Daily Devotional is back.

The start of a new year tends to make us reflect on our goals for the coming 12 months.

I’d like to put a bit of a different spin on this trend.

If you are in Christ, you are already new, and you already have a new set of goals which align with your new identity and purpose. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul writes: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” That wording could also be translated like this: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation.”

New creation.

Ontologically speaking, you are not the same person that you were before you became a believer. Sure, your name is probably the same, and your passport still has the same set of data. But in the spiritual realm, you are a new creation. 

Revelation 12 describes a colossal war. There is the dragon (Satan) and the Lamb (Jesus). Whose side are we on?

Think about the coming 12 months. Since you are a new creation in Christ, ask for God’s help and decide (a) what needs to stop happening because it is inconsistent with the will of God, and (b) what needs to start happening so that you are more aligned with God’s will.

Practically speaking, it’s not about the next 12 months. It’s one day at a time for the glory of God.

If you are in Christ, you are already new, and you already have a new set of goals which align with your new identity and purpose. 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation”—today. 

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Notes:

–“The Great Unknown.” Christmas Eve mini-message. 13 minutes. Click here. 

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.