In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:1-5)

Scripture begins and ends with new. An entirely new creation in Genesis 1 and a renewed creation in Revelation 21. In between these two events, we see new things happen quite often. After God cleanses the earth with the flood in Genesis 6, he begins anew with Noah and his family. In Genesis 12, God calls a man by the name of Abram to leave his home and follow God to a new land that his descendants would inherit. When God rescued those descendants from Egyptian slavery, he began to live among them in a new way with the tabernacle. With this new way of God being present with them, came the priesthood and sacrificial system which was new. Then God led them to the land he had promised, and they suddenly found themselves in a new land and a different way of life from what they had experienced for generations. After settling in the land, the people wanted a new system of leadership, and the monarchy was born. Within a couple of generations, the temple was constructed in Jerusalem, and suddenly they had a new centralized place to worship.

Then due to the disobedience of the people, God sent them into exile. With the temple now destroyed and finding themselves in yet another new place, the people had to find new ways to gather and worship until the remnant returned and a new temple was built.

Then came the fulfillment of God’s promise of a Savior with the birth of Jesus. He began to teach of the new way in which people would relate to the One who created them. In Jesus, we see the beginnings of the new creation promised by God, as he taught, healed, gave up his own life, and was raised from the dead.

The book of Acts is how this new movement, this new way of being God’s people burst on to the scene. We see the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the earth, now including Gentiles as well as Jews. The New Testament letters are written to churches who were struggling with how to live out this new way in their old contexts and cultures.

2024 stands in front of us as a brand-new year full of new possibilities. While it is new in some ways, in some ways we will see some of the same old things. There will be opportunities to do good, to love, to serve, and to bring others to Jesus. There will be successes. There will be failures. There will be joyous moments. There will be painful moments as well.

Yet, here we stand, hoping to make the best of another year. But, how? Paul gives the Christians in Philippi some good instruction in this quest.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)

There’s something here that we ought to notice as we move into 2024. Whatever it holds for us, whether successes or failures, joys or hurts, we continue to move closer to Jesus. We deepen our relationship with him and continue to have our lives shaped more like his.

We do this by forgetting what is behind us. The past is just that, the past. It is not that we can’t learn from it. We can and we should, but we can’t dwell on it. Dwelling on our past failures will rob us of our hope. Dwelling on our past successes will rob us of our motivation to keep moving forward.

My hope and prayer for all of us is that 2024 is a great year. Not in the often superficial way in which we measure greatness, but that every day that we are allowed in this new year we grow closer and closer to the One who loved us and gave himself for us. My hope and prayer is that whatever we encounter we remember and continue to follow the One who loves us more than we can imagine.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:22-24)