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Goodenf News January 2019

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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 />

Melbourne<br />

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Monday: 9:30—10pm<br />

Good <strong>News</strong> Magazine<br />

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Moonee Ponds, VIC 3039<br />

www.goodnewsmagazine.org.au

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