This year I'm not involved with preparing a New Year's Eve worship service and I am thankful. I've always found New Year's Eve to be a strange time, especially because my New Year has already begun. Let me explain with an emphasis upon that which is new.
For our spiritual ancestors, the Israelites, the Passover marked the beginning of that which is new. It was always celebrated in the Spring, when new life was beginning, somewhere toward the end of March and the beginning of April. Passover was marked by the phases of the moon and the vernal equinoxt; hence the indefinite date.
The event they celebrated year after year was their unexpected yet longed for deliverance from slavery (Exodus 12:2 and Exodus 13:4, etc.). But it was more than that. It was a celebration of freedom and of God's unmerited grace.
This wonderful annual celebration also marked the time when the Lord Jesus gathered His disciples and brought them a new reason for celebrating. During the Passover immediately prior to His crucifixion He told them He would not eat it again nor would He drink of the fruit of the vine until the Passover was fulfilled in the kingdom of God (Revelation 19:6-9). During the meal He took the unleavened bread, broke it and declared, "This is My Body, which is given for you." At the end of the meal, as the final cup of wine was about to be passed among them, He said, "Drink of this, all of you. This cup is the New Covenant in my blood" (Luke 22:14-23; Matthew 26:26-29).
Because the promises of the Passover were fulfilled in the death of the Lamb of God (John 1:29-34), most of us Christians gather weekly, especially on the first day of the seven-day week to celebrate His resurrection and to share the Supper He initiated on that final Passover. In Jesus we have a New Covenant. In His Supper we begin each week anew, with our sins forgiven and our hope strengthened. This is also why we mark the Feast of the Resurrection (Easter) as our first and greatest celebration. This is why each Sunday is another Easter for us.
Of course, we also celebrate the start of another new year, but not on December 31. Our annual celebrations are marked by three great events: the Father's gift of His Son, the Son's gift of His life and the Holy Spirit's outpouring of His presence—Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. So our new year of rejoicing and celebration already began several weeks ago as we marked Jesus' first coming, His coming among us in His Supper and His certain promise of returning to raise us up to glory—the season we call Advent.
All this is why I'm not very excited about all the hoopla the unbelieving world wraps around December 31. Oh, I suppose I'll join my fellow believers for a quiet time of prayer and meditation upon God's Word, but I'll then go to bed early and let the others stay up to drink champagne and dance.
Happy New Year—in Jesus!
