But how many of us, as we consider change and new things think about what new thing God wants to do in our lives? What are God’s plans for us? You see, the Bible teaches us that God never changes, James 1:17 says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows," and Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” God never changes. With all the change in the world, He is always the same. But that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t want to change your life. The Bible also teaches that He is constantly doing something new in the world, constantly working to bring about the new, constantly working to do something different in our lives.
You see, God wants us to be like Him, and so what God is about in our lives is constantly working to bring about change in our lives to make us more and more like Him. In fact, God’s plan for all of history is about doing something new in the world. Look at Revelation 21:5: “And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’” God’s plan for all of human history is to radically and completely make all things new, a total transformation of people and the universe and government and our relationships to him and to each other.
So, as we look at a new year and a new presidency and a new era, and all the expectations we have for it, all the plans we have, all the resolutions we are making, all the unknowns that are still in store, we need to remember that God is in control and that God is working out his plans and his goals and his resolutions for our lives. Isaiah 42:9 says, “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” God says, “Look, everything I have said would happen in the past has happened, and everything that I say is going to happen will happen.” God already knows what this year holds for you. He already knows what he wants to do in your life. We don’t know what the new year may hold, but God does, and he has some incredible new things that he wants to do in your life this year.
So, today I want you to think about what are the changes that God wants to do in your life, and how to respond to that change. We are going to look at four areas where God may want to bring about a change in your life, and four ways that you can respond to the new thing that God is doing. Now, the first area is a change in circumstances. In the new year, God may have some new circumstances in store for you, something new in your job, you get a new boss, you receive a cut in pay or a raise in pay, transfer to a new location, you lose an important account or you gain a new one. There’s a decent chance that you may lose your job. It can be a new relationship with people, your kids going away to college, you gain some new friends or an old friend moves away, you have a new baby, your spouse passes away. It can be a change in your health. There are any number of changes in circumstances that can happen in a year’s time. Someone you love dies, you buy a new car, your bills go up. In fact, I can almost guarantee that in a year’s time there will be some significant change in your circumstances in some area of your life.
Now, here’s the thing, most of us don’t like change. We try to avoid new circumstances because they produce uncertainty in our lives. But the great thing about new circumstances is that they almost always represent new ways that God is working in our lives and new opportunities for us to grow. Look at Isaiah 43:18-19:
“The Lord says, ‘Forget what happened before, and do not think about the past. Look at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening. Don't you see it? I will make a road in the desert and rivers in the dry land.’”
God says, “Stop looking at the past and focus on what I’m doing right now! I’m doing something new and amazing, something that you have never seen before, and it is an opportunity for you to see me work in a way you’ve never seen me work before.” God doesn’t want us stuck in the past. He doesn’t want us to get hung up on what has happened before or how he worked in our lives before or even what he did just last year. God wants us focusing on the new thing he is doing in our lives right now. When God does something new, it is an opportunity for us to make the most of the life God has given to us.
So, how do you respond to new circumstances in your life? You trust God. You depend on the fact that no matter what new thing may happen in your circumstances this year, God is still in control. Your life is working out according to the purpose and plan of God. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, then you can be assured that there is absolutely nothing that comes into your life that God either hasn’t caused to happen or allowed to happen. So, there’s a purpose in everything that happens in your life. So you trust God. In Matthew 6:31-34, Jesus says:
“So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing… Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Jesus says, “If you live your life in dependence on me, then I will take care of all the circumstances of your life.” There is no circumstance in your life that Jesus cannot provide for.
So, the first change that God may bring in your life this year is a change in circumstances. Then, the second change that God may bring about is a change in character. Not only may God change the external circumstances of your life, but God may want to do something new on the inside in your life. God may want to do something new in you. It may be a sin that he wants to get rid of, an attitude that he wants to change, a broken relationship that he wants you to restore, or a habit that he wants you to break.
Becoming a Christian is about our character being changed into the character of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 4:22-24:
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Being a Christian is about continually, constantly being transformed, being changed to be more and more like Jesus Christ, and it is a never-ending process. Until the day you die, as a follower of Jesus Christ, God is going to be doing something new in your character. In this passage, Paul uses the picture of taking off an old set of clothes and putting on a new set. For Christmas, I got several sets of new clothes. Now, one of the things I have to do is get rid of some of the old clothes to make room for the new. Our kids got a lot of new stuff for Christmas, and yesterday they went through their old toys and got rid of some of them to make room for the new stuff. Now, that was a painful process for them. There were some things that they didn’t want to get rid of, but they were things that they didn’t really need and things that weren’t good anymore, and they needed to be discarded. And that’s the same thing that happens with our character. God has some things that he wants to change in our lives, some new aspects of our character, some ways that he wants us to be more like Jesus, but he also wants us to get rid of some things.
God is going to be working on your character this year, teaching you something new, growing your faith, developing your love for others, giving you peace of mind, growing your patience, giving you a greater sense of joy in the middle of trials, helping you to learn to be kind toward unkind people, turning you into a giver instead of a taker in life. There are all kinds of new aspects of character that God wants to work in your life this year.
So, how do you respond to the new character that God wants to bring about in your life? You submit to God. You just say, “God, here’s my life, and if there’s anything you want to do in my life this year, if there’s something you want to work on, if there’s an aspect of my character that you want to change, then I fully submit to whatever you want to do.” Look at Isaiah 64:8: “O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” What does clay do in the hands of the potter? It just gets molded into whatever the potter wants to fashion it into. It doesn’t resist. It just yields to whatever the potter wants to do with it. That’s what it means to submit to God. I want to challenge you this morning to say to God, “God, this year, I want to be clay in your hands. I submit my life and my character to you to be formed into the kind of person you want me to be.”
So, a change in circumstances, a change in character, then, third, a change in calling. God may have a new assignment for you in the new year, a new thing that he wants you to do in service to him. God may be saying, “I’ve got something new that I want you to do for me.” God may have a new ministry that he wants you to be a part of. God may be calling you to be involved in something that takes you outside your comfort zone. God may be calling you to full-time service for him. Look at what happened when Jesus called the disciples: “Jesus replied to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!’ And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus” (Lk. 5:10-11). They left everything and followed him. Following Jesus meant something radically new and different for the disciples, but they left it all to be with him.
Some of you, God is calling you into the ministry, and you’ve wrestled with him for a long time, and you have had arguments with him over this, and you’ve given him all the excuses, but God still keeps telling you that he wants you to give your life full time to serving him. Some of you, God is calling you to missions, to go tell the story of Jesus to other people in other parts of the world, and it scares you to death, but God keeps calling. Some of you, God is calling you to be more involved in evangelism this year, telling your family and friends and coworkers and neighbors about Jesus. Some of you, God is calling you to lead a ministry, to start a new ministry here in the church, to teach a bible study. God is calling you. And you know it, and you’ve heard his call, but you’ve been reluctant.
So, what do you do when God is calling you to something new? You answer the call. You do what Isaiah did in Isa. 6:8: “Then I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, ‘Whom can I send? Who will go for us?’ So I said, ‘Here I am. Send me!’” Now, do you know what most of us do when confronted with a calling like Isaiah? We say, “There he is. Send him!” or “There she is. Send her!” When we sense the call of God in our lives, we say, “God you missed. You meant the person next to me and you hit me by accident!” Answering the call means saying, “God, I hear you, and I am ready to do whatever you ask me to do!”
Listen to me, I know it’s a scary thing when God calls you to do something. Why? Because God always calls us to do things that we can’t do on our own and in our own strength. God always calls us to do God-sized tasks that only he can do and that require his strength and his power and his ability, and if he doesn’t show up we will fall flat on our faces and fail. And that scares us to death.
But let me tell you as someone who has been there, someone who is there right now in my life, there is nothing any more exciting in life than following God wherever he leads. When you finally let go and you say, “Okay, God, if you ask me to do something, my answer, in advance is I’m available, wherever, whenever, whatever, however,” there is no greater sensation in life, no greater freedom in life than that moment when you let go and let God have control. Answer the call.
So God may want to change your circumstances. He may want to change your character. He may have a change in calling for you to follow. Or he may want to change you. Some of you here today have never experienced the new life that God has to offer through Jesus Christ. And maybe you are here today because you want a change in your life. Maybe you want to have a new start in life. Maybe you want to do some things differently. Maybe you feel like you have messed up in life and you want to be able to start over again. Well, the greatest news that has ever been told is that you can have a brand new life in Jesus Christ. “When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!” (2 Cor. 5:17). You can have a new life. You can have a new start. God can make you brand new. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter where you come from. It doesn’t matter how bad the stuff is you’ve done. You can have a brand new life. Now what exactly does that brand new life involve. Well, first, it means forgiveness for your past. Every bad thing you’ve ever done, every person you’ve ever hurt, every sin you’ve ever committed, every hurtful thing you’ve ever said, every relationship you’ve broken, every bad thought you’ve ever had, it can all be wiped away. That’s forgiveness. You can have forgiveness for your past. You can have purpose for your present. You can have something to live for. You can have a life full of joy and peace and hope. You can live a life that makes a difference that impacts other people and that changes the world by following Jesus Christ. You can have forgiveness for your past, purpose for your present, and the promise of eternal life for your future. You can know that if you died today that you would spend eternity in heaven with Jesus Christ.
Now, how do you get all that? How do you have a new you? Very simply, you accept Jesus Christ. Now, how do you accept Jesus Christ? John 1:12 tells us. “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” You believe and receive. You believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for your sins, that when Jesus died on the cross, he died in your place, and that he rose again to overcome death and the grave so you could have eternal life. You believe, and then you receive. You receive Jesus as the leader of your life. You say, “Jesus, I’ve tried living life my way, and it hasn’t worked out so well. From now on, I want you to be the leader of my life.”
God wants to do something new in your life this year. God is all about doing something new. “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD” (Ps. 40:3). God wants to do something new in your life, and as you allow him to do so and as he works in your life and you praise him for the new thing he is doing, he will use that to impact other people’s lives as well. Nine times in the Bible it talks about God putting a new song in the hearts of his people. I love the last time, in the book of Revelation it says that they sang a new song before the throne of God and no one could learn it except those who had been redeemed from the earth. Through the things that he is doing in your life, God is writing a new song of praise that only you can sing, because you are the only one who has experienced him in that way. What is the new thing that God wants to do in your life this year?
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