As we approach a new year, I’ve been thinking about what the Bible has to say regarding new things.

Thanks to my nifty computer concordance, I was able to discover the word “new” is used more than 125 times in the Bible (in the Revised Standard Version), and more than a third (46) of those are in the New Testament.            

We learn Jesus Christ gives us a “new teaching” in Mark 1:27 and a “new commandment” in John 13:34.

He establishes a “new covenant” in Luke 22:20 through which we receive “new life” in Romans 7:6.

Through faith in Christ, we become a “new creation” in 2 Corinthians 5:17 with a “new nature” in Ephesians 4:24, leading us to sing a “new song” in Revelation 5:9 in the “new Jerusalem” in Revelation 21:2.

And all of this is summed up in Revelation 21:5 where Jesus Christ declares, “Behold, I make all things new.”

My prayer for all of us is we might experience the newness of Christ in the coming new year.

Don Stanley is pastor at Salem Church of Pine Grove.