FOSTER CARE 22 January 2025 www.goodnewsfl.org Good news • South Florida Edition We can likely think of countless attributes for God – wise, powerful, loving, just, compassionate, and we could keep going. But I don't think we always fully recall how great of a creative force God really is. He's been in the business of creating since the beginning of time, and He continues to uniquely create as time progresses; imagine the infinite creativity that requires! In fact, his creativity is in and through all things and is the source of all creativity around us. Imagine, no creative blocks, no drought of thoughts or ideas, just endless creativity! As we've entered this new year, my attention is drawn to this scripture, 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” Anyone in Christ The first thing that strikes me is “anyone.” This literally means you, our Good News readers, the kids we serve every day at 4KIDS, the families in our community who are hurting – we all fall into this “anyone” category. And it's so encouraging to know that if you are in Christ, your journey is constantly newly created. Even just the idea of being in Christ is a prolific thought, because Christ doesn’t just represent the tradition of Christianity, but He’s an actual person. Being in Christ means you are surrounded in him, protected in him, covered in him, woven in him, and connected to him. Here you are, a part of the perfect son of God, and it's beautiful. With him nothing is missing, nothing is broken, nothing is lost, in fact, you are a new creation, someone made completely new. It’s so easy to read right over, “anyone who is in Christ” but there is such depth, connection and wholeness to be discovered in just those few words. The new creation To be “in Christ” we know there is this initial step to being renewed – this first big leap of acceptance and salvation. But beyond that, what happens in our hearts and our lives as a result of being in Christ looks like our ongoing progress and our continual change. Sometimes we can be tempted to be wary of innovation or betterment, but what I see is how we can go from glory to glory. We can embrace a constant bettering, maturing and progressing that is very Christ-like. Ongoingly we can experience the eternal newness that God grants us by being in Christ. The old has gone When we hear “the old has gone” what comes to mind for me is the old systems, old mindsets, old habits and old, limiting beliefs. We might just imagine sin as the “old ways,” but I see it as so much more expansive than that. It’s our old routines and our old ways of thinking that keep us from having renewed minds and transformed hearts. We have no obligation to continue these old, tired ways of existing and being, instead, it’s declared gone! The new is here Just as we see “the old has gone,” we read, “the new is here.” What an exciting, encouraging word! Another translation reads, “behold, the new has come!” I want to remind you, to behold; look at the new creation ahead, because it really is something to “behold.” Here is where you know I am going to tie in the New Year! And I know it is so cliche, but this season really does offer us an opportunity to look back and declare that old things need to pass away so a new creation can continue. I know I will be looking back on the things in my own life that weren’t productive, things that were limiting or things that weren’t truly producing the goodness of the Lord, and I am set out to leave those things behind. You have that same chance too, to embrace this symbolic time and activate what’s happening here in scripture. There's a reason why this New Year focus surfaces every year. It's this dedicated time to look back at the old and embrace the new. We can lean into the momentum of this new creation and seize the opportunity to do new things. All this attention a new year gets isn’t just societal chatter; I believe it’s a biblical drive to newness and change. Together, I invite you to “behold” with me. I believe fully that we are on the brink of creative, God-designed, change – the new is waiting for us. A New Creation - Andrew Holmes - 4KIDS President
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