From the Pulpit: A new life

We are at that time of year. Many of us make resolutions to better our lives, to form new habits, perhaps to create a better “version” of ourselves than how we finished out the previous year. A new year opens the door to new beginnings and the possibility of a new life.

New Life. The life of a Christian is all about new life. 

God-given Life.

Every life is a gift of God. Every life is created by God. Because of that, every life is loved, cherished, and redeemed by God. God doesn’t just create life. He saves it. The Holy Spirit gives new birth. Baptism gives new life. Life as a child of God with the promise of heaven.

Every Day Life.

You don’t just become a Christian and then leave it at the doorstep every day you go about your life. Your baptism matters. Every day. In Luther’s Catechism, Part IV of Baptism reminds us, “[Baptism] indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” In other words, every day in your baptism, you live—a new person in Christ, forgiven in Christ.

A Life of Worship.

Most often our worship services begin with these words, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” God calls us to worship reminding us He has given us new life, and that life is renewed each and every time around Word and Sacrament.                   

Eternal Life.

The ultimate end of our faith isn’t something temporary on this earth. It’s eternal in heaven. That’s the new life Christ has won on the cross and Easter morning. That’s the new life promised in baptism. That’s the new life you will receive as a believer in Christ. 

People around you will be experimenting with New Year’s resolutions. You might even make your own list! But you also have something new that supersedes all those attempts at a new beginning. These are God-given. They’re certain. They’re continual. They’re eternal. This is new life, the life God gives in Jesus.