“Happy New Year!” What does this greeting mean? For many, it may simply be a declaration of the passing of time. The calendar shifts from 2011 to 2012. It’s a new year. Or perhaps it can be an expression of a wish that the coming year would indeed bring happiness. There are a number of nuances or shades of meaning to the idea of newness. Guided by Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, allow me to ponder the matter of the newness that matters.
“New” may simply be a description of the age of something, referring to its newness or youth, or an earlier point in someone’s or something’s existence. Thus, for example, it can refer to a young person, or new wineskins, or a new batch of yeast. Newness may also carry the meaning of something that is unused, such as when we describe a just-purchased computer or car as “brand new.” It may also describe something that is unknown or strange, such as the people’s response to the “new teaching” of Jesus and his followers (Mark 1.27; Acts 17.19).
The most significant aspect of newness that we find in Scripture often carries the sense of “the state of being different, new, and superior to a previous state.” And much of it has to do—directly or indirectly—with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The prophet Jeremiah spoke of a “new covenant” (Jeremiah 31.31; see also New Testament passages such as Luke 22.20, 1 Corinthians 11.25, 2 Corinthians 3.6, and Hebrews 8.8). The prophet Isaiah spoke of “new things” (Isaiah 42.9, 10; 43.19; 48.6), suggesting “future expression of renewal and salvation for God’s people. References to the “new heavens and the new earth” also point to the same theme. The prophet Ezekiel also speaks of newness in terms of God himself giving his people a new spirit and a new heart (Ezekiel 11.19; 18.31; 36.26). Mounce comments, “Clearly, this term is significant as it points to Jesus Christ, who fulfills the [Old Testament] anticipation of ‘new’ with regard to the history of redemption.”
The newness of the gospel is not just a matter of time—when the Christ came into this world—but of quality, for the gospel continues to bring newness to those who submit to the leadership of Christ. Paul declares that “if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5.17) And he describes the believer’s new nature as the “new self” (Colossians 3.10).
What kind of newness will this New Year bring you? May it be the kind that the gospel gives.
–Keith Y. Jainga