Is New Year's That Important?
- Strength For Life
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
The celebration of New Year’s has a surprisingly complex history. Some cultures have celebrated the beginning of the year in the spring, since it is the season of new growth and life. Other cultures observed New Year’s closer to the winter solstice, when the days began to lengthen after the shortest day of the year. In Exodus 12:1-2, God decreed that Israel’s new year would begin in the month He delivered them from Egypt. By that calendar, their year also began in the spring, but for reasons directly related to their redemption as a people.
We American Christians have been given January 1 as our new year by tradition. Regardless of whether we think there is a better month or season for the new year to begin, the date will not be moved anytime soon. Instead, we face a different problem: our holidays are emptied of meaning and turned into merely days off of work and school and an excuse to indulge our flesh. For New Year’s, there is also the half-hearted attempt at resolutions to change our behavior in some aspect of life. This year, the world’s take on the holidays seemed especially hollow. Christians are the only ones that can restore meaning and genuine celebration into our culturally significant holidays. The order of the day, then, is to recover our significant dates so they will be reminders to look to the Lord, in ways unique to each holiday. To that end, what follows is not a formal theology of New Year’s. Instead, we will draw from 1) the connection between Christmas and New Year’s, and 2) the Scriptures specific lessons that, if we meditate on, will restore meaning to our annual celebrations.
One obvious biblical correlation between Christmas and New Year’s is that January 1 is eight days after December 25. The eighth day after a male child’s birth was significant, because it was on that day he was circumcised. Luke 2:21 records this overlooked aspect of Jesus’ birth this way: “And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” Jesus was not only circumcised on the eighth day; he was also formally given the name that Gabriel had instructed Joseph and Mary to name Him. Jesus was so named because “he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). If you are following the distance between our Christmas and New Year’s Day celebrations, you know they are eight days apart. That means that if Jesus had been born on December 25, then January 1 would have been the day He was named.
It is common for Christians during Advent to emphasize that Jesus was born to die. However, New Year’s Day is perhaps a more directly applicable day to remember His death by which He would save His people from their sins (think Isaiah 53:5). Since the eighth day was circumcision day, it was also the day a baby’s blood was spilled for the first time. Medieval preachers pointed out that this first spilling of blood on the western New Year’s Day, was a sign of the day He would shed His blood in sacrifice for our sins.
Another significant correlation between Christmas and New Year’s is that December 25 and January 1 were historically part of the 12 days of Christmas. These days, December 25 through January 6, are the dates the famous song is named after. It is wise for us to take from our western heritage that the two days are connected to each other. After all, the “newness” of New Year’s, as well as the expectation of the New Year and the hope for sanctifying personal growth, are only possible because Jesus came as a baby. People often fail to persist in personal change in the new year because it is based entirely in the momentum of self-effort. The fact that New Year’s follows on the heels of Christmas reminds us that our new life comes from Christ. The opportunity to repent, have a fresh start, and see God’s work of sanctification in us from year to year is only possible because new life from God is a gift. We in Christ are new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17), able to accomplish God’s will because He is at work in us (Php. 1:6). Just like the new year comes because God wills the seasons (Gen. 8:22), so our growth into Christlikeness happens because God wills His work in us to grow us into maturity (Eph. 4:13).
The final correlation between Christmas and New Year’s is that our new year is a representation of the “bridge” years between birth and public ministry. Luke 2:52 summarizes the growth of the Lord quite simply: He “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” The growth that Jesus experienced is the same growth we evaluate at the beginning of every year. Are we increasing in wisdom? Are we making ourselves physically stronger and more capable? Are we pursuing God’s favor? Are we growing in capacity to benefit others? Each new year we reevaluate how well we are submitting to God’s sanctifying work in our lives, just like Jesus was required to submit to the process of human maturity in His own life. At no point on earth will we reach full sanctification, but we accept the slow pace of God’s work—by some of the same mechanisms our Savior grew—by faith that God will bring us into full Christlikeness when we see Him face to face.
The above article was written by Jonathan Kyser. He is a pastoral assistant at NorthStone Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL. To offer him your feedback, comment below or email us at strengthforlife461@gmail.com.
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