That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
And he who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true." (Revelation 21:5)
Resolved: In 1996, I will spend more time with my children. Resolved: In 1996, I will finish those odd jobs around the house. Resolved: In 1996, I will become more productive in my job. Resolved: In 1996, I will become more involved in my church. Resolved: In 1996, I will lose weight and exercise more. Resolved: In 1996, I will be more faithful in my daily devotional life. Resolutions — most of us make a few every new year. We make them even though most of them are broken almost before they are made. But I suppose New Year’s Resolutions are part of the rite of passage we engage in at the beginning of a new year.
Why do we make New Year’s Resolutions? I suppose we make them because we would like to see some changes in the coming year. We would like to learn from our past mistakes and grow from them. With the new year, we would like to have a certain amount of newness in our own lives. We make New Year’s Resolutions because we would like to keep hope alive that somehow the new year will be different.
Do you have hope in your life that 1996 will be different than 1995? Do you foresee the possibility of change in your life, change for the better, change for the good? Or do you feel trapped in a cycle that never seems to change? Is today the same as yesterday; this week the same as last week? Is one year like another? Do you feel trapped in the routine and the monotony of life?
The Bible has much to say about this subject. Solomon found that however things seemed to change, nothing much was different. He found that the search for new things in this life was fairly well a futile endeavor. He called it "vanity." Vanity could also be translated as "nothingness" or "emptiness." Sometimes our lives seem like that. Sometimes life seems to be going nowhere. Instead of our lives being like a cross-country race, in which we begin at one place and end up at another, we seem to be on a dirt track, running hard but ending up where we began.
But fortunately, that’s not the only picture the Bible gives us of life. As we shall see today, there is a possibility for true change for those who trust in God. That should be important to us. Most of us desire a true transformation in at least some areas of our lives. We have tried to change, and failed. We’ve failed so many times we are tempted to despair. But there is no need to despair. There is hope, for our hope is in God. And when you bring God into the picture, then anything is possible.
As we look backwards at the year past, and forward to the year ahead, let’s seek to put them in perspective. Let’s look, first of all, at what does not change; and then at what can change.
The saying is true that "time marches on." There is nothing we can do to alter that fact. However we choose to spend our time, time never stands still. We can choose to do nothing, but time moves on. One second, then another, then another. Seconds turn into minutes, minutes turn into hours, hours turn into days, days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, months turn into years, and so it goes. The march of time is relentless.
Time is also deceptive. We are always surprised at how quickly it passes. Think back over the past year. It hardly seems like a year. In fact, it seems as if only yesterday we began 1995. Yet today, it is gone. In fact, as we think back over our lifetime, how short it seems. When we were young, we thought we would live forever. I remember thinking when I was a boy, how wonderful it would be to become a teenager. It seemed as if I would never arrive at that magic age of thirteen. My next goal was to become sixteen, because in my home state, that was when you could get your driver’s license. I thought the day would never arrive, but it did. Then I wanted to be eighteen, for reasons not very spiritual. My next goal was twenty-one, because at twenty-one, you were a man. Then I wanted to be twenty-five because my car insurance rates would go down. Then I passed thirty, and became one of those people you couldn’t trust because they were "out of it," as anyone under thirty can tell you. But I noticed an interesting thing along the way — the years began to pass much more quickly. After thirty, I stopped paying much attention to the years, but I do notice that they do seem to tick off fairly rapidly. I still remember when I was five, and had my whole life in front of me — an eternity, it seemed like. How quickly time does pass.
As we look back over 1995, indeed over the whole of our lives, what shall we say? What have we done with our lives? Indeed, what have we done with 1995? Have we made the time count? To use a phrase from a not-too-distant political campaign, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" Or even last year? The Bible speaks of redeeming the time. But do we really believe that time can be redeemed?
It is not only true that time marches on. It is also true that however much things change, they remain substantially the same. It is to this idea that Solomon speaks in the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes has been called the "treatise on the illusion of life." And we do see, in Ecclesiastes, a very pessimistic outlook on life. The word "vanity" occurs around forty times in the book, and seems to be its theme. Let me remind you that "vanity" can be translated as "nothingness" or "emptiness." And so Solomon says, at the beginning of that book, "‘Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher, ‘Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.’" (Ecclesiastes 1:2) In other words, life is emptiness, and it doesn’t matter how hard you work. In verse 3, Solomon says, "What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun?"
Here we see life described, in very pessimistic terms, as a barren cycle of events, in endless repetition. And in a very real sense it is true. The sun, to our perception, rises in the morning and sets in the evening as the earth spins on its axis. The tides rise and fall. The winds blow from North to South and then South to North. The seasons come and they go. On a broader level, as you read the history of civilizations, you find a certain advance and then a decline. Even with all our advanced technology and scientific understanding, some civilizations which existed before us knew how to do things we haven’t even figured out yet. Solomon saw this cycle of events and concluded "That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
You may be saying, "What a ridiculous statement." Obviously there are new things under the sun. Just look at our century: We have airplanes now. There didn’t used to be airplanes. We now have radios and televisions, and washing machines and dishwashers, and microwaves and VCRs, and automobiles. There are weather satellites and space shuttles, and telephones, and many, many other things that are brand new. What does Solomon mean when he says, "there is nothing new under the sun?" Was he wrong?
No. I do not believe Solomon was wrong, because I do not believe Solomon had these kinds of things in mind. Solomon had in mind the routine of life and the monotony of living it. You see, whether you can cook your food in ten minutes in a microwave, or in thirty minutes over an open fire, you still eat regularly. Whether you sleep in a cave or on a nice waterbed, you still must sleep. Whether you chisel words on a stone tablet or type them into a word processor it not the point. The point is, for all our advances in technology, the gadgets we have produced have not substantially altered us. Whether we live in mud huts, grass huts, or brick huts has not made a great deal of difference. Whether we work on dirt streets or Wall Street has not substantially altered the heart of man. Because of who man is, and because the desires of man do not change, life tends to have a sameness about it.
So one week tends to look like the next, one year like the next. We tend to make the same mistakes, follow the same routine. Even the changes we’ve seen before.
But do changes in circumstance really alter us? Over the past few years, we’ve seen many significant changes across our globe. The Berlin Wall was torn down. Communism collapsed in Russia. But tearing down the Berlin Wall does not tear down the walls in the human heart erected to keep God out. While we can rejoice in countries turning toward freedom and democracy, we must be honest enough to say that democracy cannot liberate the human soul any more than communism can enslave it. Circumstances really do not alter us. Democracy is not the answer to greed, envy, selfishness, pride, egoism, hatred, lust, and a host of other human problems. This is why there is still great unrest in our world today. The situation in Bosnia, Israel, and a dozen other hot spots only illustrates this tension. What we have seen before in man, we see now. And what we see now, we will see again. There is nothing new under the sun. Or so it seems.
But let’s look at the new year in terms of God making all things new. We must contrast a Scripture against Solomon’s conclusion in Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun. In Revelation 21:5 we read, "And he who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’" Here, God is speaking of the ultimate recreation of all things in the future. But what God ultimately does in fullness, He does now in part. He can make a difference in our situation of sameness. He can make all things new for you.
We must come to understand that there are new things under the Son. Of course, the Son I’m talking of is not that glowing orb in the sky, but the living Son of God. Jesus came to this earth to make a difference in your life. The Bible teaches us that He came to give us abundant life. In Christ, God can make all things new.
What would make a difference in your life? If something could be changed, what would you have God change? Would you have Him change your circumstances? Would that make the difference in your life? Many people would like that. If only they could only have a new situation in work, or a raise in pay. If only some external circumstance could be change, then all their problems would be solved - they think. But that is simply not true. Circumstances may change, but the basic problems persist.
Circumstances are not primary, they are secondary. Happiness does not reside in our circumstances. Now, there are some circumstances that certainly need to change. And if I could change them for you, I would. I would love to be able to cause your employers to give you all substantial raises in pay. It would please me to be able to reach into your lives and make things outwardly better. But while that would reduce some tension, it would not solve all your problems, and it would not make you happy. Your happiness must be from God. True joy does not only reside in those who are wealthy and filled with material possessions. You can find the joy of the Lord in people who are of very humble circumstances, even in those who are suffering outwardly. The difference in joy and misery is not in the size of the bank account, but in the attitude of the heart toward God.
You see, the real need is for a new you. New years come and go. But if the new year brings a new you, that’s the change we need.
Circumstances may vary, but if by the grace of God we are given a new heart, a new mind, a heavenly perspective, then even our circumstances will be better. In fact, sometimes God uses tight circumstances to change you. If you feel the pressure of your circumstances, don’t fail the test. Turn to God in faith and trust Jesus in the midst of the circumstance.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." The truth of that passage is that in Christ, a new creation has begun. When you come to Jesus Christ, you begin a progressive change. You don’t become totally different overnight, but by the Spirit, Christ is changing you. He is molding you after His own image. He is making you a new person from the inside out. And that is the real need, not only for us, but for all mankind. So as you consider the new year, the real question is not your circumstances, but the condition of your spiritual health and the degree of your intimacy with God.
You see, a changed man or woman sees a change in their circumstances. When you are changed, things tend to change around you. But the real difference is in you. Then you become a catalyst for change.
W. E. Sangster told the story of the workman who was harassed by his co-workers because he lived a life of strict sobriety, never gambled, and always spoke of the Bible with reverence. "‘If you believe in the Bible,’ they said, ‘you must believe that water was turned into wine.’ ‘I believe more than that,’ he said. His mind went back to his evil early days and his pre-conversion years. ‘I have seen,’ he said, ‘beer turned into furniture, betting slips turned into food. I have seen a woman miserable because she was married to a gambling addict made radiantly and permanently happy because her man was changed before her eyes. Of course I believe in miracles’" When you are changed, you change your environment.
What makes the difference? What can turn a church from a cold mausoleum, filled with relics from the past, to a place where people’s hearts are burdened with the work of God and filled with the life and love of Christ? What can turn a home from a place of tension and strife to a place where love and kindness abound? What can turn a person from bitterness and resentment to a life of abundance and joy? A change in circumstances? No. Only a new heart, a new commitment, a new perspective can make such a change. And only Christ can make that change.
New Year’s Resolutions come and go. Generally, they go, because there is no power in the life to accomplish them. In all your resolution making for 1996, put at the top of your list this resolution: Resolved: That in 1996 I will begin the year by giving myself more completely to God than I have ever done in the past; with my ultimate goal to make every day His. If you will make that resolution in humble commitment, He will give you the power to see it come to pass. He truly can make all things new.