March 6, 2002
Reading
“Yet Is there anything of which it may be said, ‘See, this is
new’?” (10)
I think Solomon must have been having one of his bad days when he penned these words and much of this book. When one considers the matters he was considering from a human point of view his conclusions are accurate, “There is nothing new under the sun”. The same old boring things happen day after day: the sun rises and sets, the wind blows, the rivers flow into the sea but the sea does not fill up, etc. We go to work every day, catch the same subway at the same time only to face the same laborious work we have faced for the past twenty years. We get the kids ready for school, put them on the same bus and collect them at the same time everyday. Cleaning, laundry, cooking, shopping, boring, boring, ad boring! Is there nothing new under the sun?
Could this attitude be the reason why the Bible stresses the fact that there is something new? It speaks of a “new song”, a “new covenant”, a “new Jerusalem”, a “new life” and a “new way”, in fact, for the one who loves Jesus Christ everything has become new, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” 2 Cor 5:17. Does this mean that I no longer have to do my boring job or pursue my boring chores? No, but these things will be done with a new attitude for they are done as unto Christ and accomplished in His strength.
The foundation of all these new things is the New Covenant, for out of it proceeds everything else that is new. Without the New Covenant there would be no new life, new song, new Jerusalem, new hope or new way. The New Covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” Matt 26:27-28. If this covenant is new then it is understood that the old has been replaced, “In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” Heb 8:13. Specifically the old sacrificial system, temple, priestly robes and religious observances have been replaced by something new, the New Covenant and all that it entails, “by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant” Heb 7:22. By default, then, everything associated with the New Covenant is new. The function of the priests was to administer the Old Covenant and they also have been replaced by Someone new, “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises” Heb 8:6. Jesus is the Administrator of the New Covenant therefore He can say, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” because these attributes of Christ are a part of the New Covenant of which He is the only Administrator.
So, do we still agree with Solomon, “There is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, ‘See this is new’?” I think not. The moment a person accepts Jesus as their Savior, all things become new. These changes may not be evident from the ‘get go’, but much of the excitement of the Christian life is discovering that indeed all things have become new. A new attitude, new ethics, new outlook on life, new comfort in need, new strength in weakness, new joy in sorrow, new hope in despair, new ambition in discouragement, new purpose in life, new security in doubt, new assurance for eternity and a new Friend in Jesus.
“God having provided something better for us” Heb 11:40, something new!