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CONTENTS<br />
• Goodbye 2018,<br />
Hello <strong>2019</strong><br />
• A Happy New<br />
Year<br />
THE GOOD NEWS<br />
J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9<br />
As one year comes to an end and<br />
the next begins, we wonder if the days<br />
ahead will be any different. We’ve<br />
been told<br />
that the more<br />
things<br />
change, the<br />
more they<br />
stay the<br />
same. So why<br />
go through<br />
this annual<br />
ritual of saying,<br />
“Happy New Year”? Do we really<br />
think that it will be all that new?<br />
Each year brings more of the<br />
same—the same old heartaches and<br />
disappointments, the same seeking<br />
after relationships or objects or pleasures<br />
that never quite satisfy. Almost<br />
three thousand year ago, a very wise<br />
king named Solomon had to confess<br />
the fact “there is nothing new under<br />
the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). He spoke<br />
about the seeming pointlessness of it<br />
all. There is the endless succession of<br />
people onto the stage of life; “One<br />
generation passes away, and another<br />
generation comes; but the earth<br />
abides forever” (Eccl. 1:4). The grandchildren<br />
soon become the grandparents;<br />
the birthing room quickly gives<br />
place to the<br />
deathbed. In<br />
the words of<br />
Longfellow;<br />
“And our<br />
hearts, like<br />
drums, are<br />
beating funeral<br />
marches to the<br />
grave”. And the<br />
beat goes on.<br />
Everything around us mimics this<br />
vain repetition; “The sun also arises,<br />
and the sun goes down...The wind<br />
goes toward the south, and turns<br />
about to the north...All the rivers run<br />
into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to<br />
the place from which the rivers come,<br />
there they return again” (Eccl. 1:5-7).<br />
And our own schedules are like<br />
that. You just get the washing done in<br />
time to start all over. So it is with haircuts,<br />
and yard work, and paying bills,<br />
and car maintenance. Is that all there<br />
is to life?
P A G E 2<br />
“God<br />
took all<br />
our sin<br />
Himself,<br />
paid the<br />
debt we<br />
owed,<br />
and gave<br />
life to<br />
everyone<br />
who<br />
receives<br />
Him as<br />
Saviour”<br />
T H E<br />
G O O D<br />
N E W S<br />
But more than that, he reminds<br />
us that “the eye is not satisfied<br />
with seeing, nor the ear filled<br />
with hearing” (Eccl. 1:8). The<br />
books we read, the things we<br />
watch—in fact, everything we take<br />
in, either to our body or soul—<br />
doesn’t seem to satisfy. We keep<br />
going back for more. And more.<br />
And more.<br />
In Solomon’s view, the sad<br />
fact was that things would not appreciably<br />
change for the better.<br />
“That which has been is what will<br />
be”, he<br />
said, and<br />
“that which<br />
is done is<br />
what will<br />
be done,<br />
and there<br />
is nothing<br />
new under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9).<br />
Must we yield to this fatalism?<br />
If what Solomon saw “under<br />
the sun” is all that there is, then<br />
yes. But what if there’s more to<br />
life, a reality beyond this world?<br />
Surely there must be more than<br />
finding a good job, paying off the<br />
mortgage, retiring with a pension,<br />
and then having a lovely funeral!<br />
If only there was a way for us<br />
to know for sure. Are there resources<br />
available so life can be really<br />
new? Not trying to turn over a<br />
new leaf, but starting a new life.<br />
What if there were someone beyond<br />
the sun, someone from<br />
Heaven who would come and tell<br />
us about a new beginning, would<br />
show us the secret of living it?<br />
Then we could know.<br />
The Bible claims to have the<br />
answer; “If anyone is in Christ, he<br />
is a new creature; old things are<br />
passed away; behold, all things are<br />
become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). But<br />
that’s too good to be true, isn’t it?<br />
No, it’s so good only God<br />
would have thought of it! To think<br />
that He would become like His<br />
creatures,<br />
let them<br />
crucify Him,<br />
and, while<br />
on the<br />
cross, take<br />
all our sin to<br />
Himself,<br />
paying the debt we owe God, then<br />
rise again and give His kind of life<br />
to everyone who would receive<br />
Him as Saviour! We never would<br />
have thought of it. And the amazing<br />
thing is that everyone who<br />
agrees that they are the sinner Jesus<br />
died to save, and have asked<br />
Him to save them by grace alone,<br />
have found it is true!<br />
“For God so loved the world<br />
that He gave His only begotten<br />
Son, that whoever believes in Him<br />
should not perish but have everlasting<br />
life” (John 3:16).
P A G E 3<br />
A traveller was walking<br />
along the road. He had a scythe<br />
upon his shoulder and an hourglass<br />
in his hand. He walked with<br />
measured, exact footsteps. His<br />
eyes looked straight in front, and<br />
they never moved either to the<br />
right or left, but gazed on what<br />
was beyond. I said to him,<br />
"What is your name?"<br />
"My name is Time."<br />
"Where are you going?"<br />
"I am going to eternity."<br />
"What is the number of<br />
your years?"<br />
He showed me an open<br />
book, and on the page just<br />
turned over was written the date<br />
of the year just begun.<br />
Where he went I followed,<br />
but even as I went I felt I could<br />
not tell how long I should follow.<br />
I saw one person after another<br />
stop in the road, and lie down to<br />
rise no more. They were left behind,<br />
for Time paused not; his<br />
course was unstopped.<br />
Yes, my reader, you are<br />
walking with Time on the road of<br />
life in a new year begun. But you<br />
may not go far; you may pass the<br />
buds of Spring, but never see the<br />
flowers of Summer. Or, you may<br />
watch the leaves fall from the<br />
Autumn trees, and lie beneath<br />
them in the Winter. But whether<br />
your days on earth are to be few<br />
or many, are you ready for eternity?<br />
You may have begun this<br />
year with grey hair and other<br />
signs of old age, or you may be<br />
facing the future with youthful<br />
buoyancy. But whether you are<br />
old or young, God would have<br />
you number your days, and apply<br />
your heart to wisdom (Psalm<br />
90:12).<br />
To begin the year with God<br />
is more important than anything<br />
else in this world.<br />
The Bible says; "Seek the<br />
Lord while He may be found, call<br />
upon Him while He is near. Let<br />
the wicked forsake his way, and<br />
the unrighteous man his<br />
thoughts; let him return to the<br />
Lord, and He will have mercy on<br />
him; and to our God, for He will<br />
abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:6-<br />
7).<br />
T H E<br />
G O O D<br />
N E W S<br />
“To begin<br />
the year<br />
with God is<br />
more<br />
important<br />
than<br />
anything in<br />
this world”
The dawning of a new year serves to<br />
remind us that we are all marching through<br />
time, heading for eternity. Awaiting each<br />
traveller is either a glad and glorious Heaven<br />
in the presence of God, or a sad and<br />
sorrowful Hell,<br />
banished from<br />
God. The eternal<br />
Son of God<br />
entered into<br />
time as the man<br />
Christ Jesus to<br />
make a way for<br />
sinful man to<br />
approach God<br />
and enter into<br />
life eternal. His<br />
death, burial<br />
and resurrection<br />
have fully<br />
accomplished<br />
this objective so<br />
that Jesus now proclaims, "I am the way,<br />
the truth, and the life. No one comes to<br />
the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).<br />
To personally "seek the Lord" is to realise<br />
that Christ died for your sins, and to<br />
trust His shed blood as the full and powerful<br />
payment needed to wash your sins<br />
away. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son<br />
cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). On<br />
the basis of Christ's atoning sacrifice, God<br />
abundantly pardons the repentant sinner<br />
and makes him a child of God forever.<br />
"Christ also<br />
suffered once for<br />
sins, the just for<br />
the unjust, that He<br />
might bring us to<br />
God" (1 Peter<br />
3:18). See also Romans<br />
5:10; 2 Corinthians<br />
5:21; 1<br />
John 3:1,2.<br />
But you<br />
must seek Him<br />
now, "while He<br />
may be found",<br />
while there is still<br />
time, before you<br />
pass into eternity.<br />
In view of the uncertainty of life, how important<br />
it is to "Prepare to meet your<br />
God" (Amos 4:12), through faith in Christ<br />
as your personal Saviour! This alone will<br />
enable you to experience a truly "Happy<br />
New Year"—and look forward to a glorious<br />
eternity with absolute certainty.<br />
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Good <strong>News</strong> Magazine<br />
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