Here we are entering into a brand new year! It’s been nearly 2,026 years since the birth of Jesus if you use the Gregorian calendar and 5,786 years since creation if you use the Hebrew calendar. Of course, if you use the Hebrew calendar, God’s new year started a little more than 3 months ago…
God alone knows what the new year holds for us. Whatever may come our way whether it be good, bad, or indifferent, we can enter into this new year with hope! Whatever we may face, God is greater!
God is greater than our ups and downs.
God is greater than our fears.
God is greater than our failures.
God is greater than our obstacles.
God is greater than our doubt.
God is greater than our weaknesses.
God is greater than our strengths.
God is greater than our faith.
God is greater than our successes.
God is greater than our highs and lows.
God is sovereign.
This means that God possesses:
All power
All authority
All knowledge
All wisdom
He alone possesses the Name above every name
Everything was created by Him.
He needs absolutely nothing from us.
We depend on God for absolutely everything.
Revelation 4:11
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
Colossians 1:15-23
15 Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.
If. There is that big, little word. There is that word which everything hangs on conditionally. IF we continue in our faith and do not move from the hope found in the gospel.
As we enter into the new year, let’s enter into it continuing in our faith and committed not to be able to be moved as we cling to our hope in Jesus. Let’s remind ourselves and each other of God’s great promises so that we have a firm foundation to stand on and a certain word with which to fight off doubt and fear!
Hebrews 6:13-20
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.
19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
When depression, loneliness, fear, anxiety, or discouragement try to seep into our souls, we can chase them off with hope through the promises of God! We can take those thoughts captive and kick them out of our minds replacing them with God’s truth!
We have a hope rope! We have hope whose rope goes straight into the holy of holies anchoring us to Jesus who has gone ahead of us! This hope keeps us moving forward in life into God’s victorious future! It keeps us following Jesus, our forerunner, our pioneer, the author and perfector of our faith!
Whatever we may face, God is greater!
Whatever we may face, God has the final say over our destinies!
Who is like our God?
Who can even begin to compare to His greatness?
God said:
Isaiah 40:25-31
25 “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?”
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
Why do we whine and complain?
Why do we feel neglected or abandoned or forgotten by God?
Why do we feel like God doesn’t care?
Those feelings are just that; feelings.
They are lies and distractions although they feel true.
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
When we start feeling down or discouraged, we need reminded of the truth of who God is.
God is greater! He is calling us onward and upward. He wants to give us a hope and a future! He wants to renew and restore us! He wants to increase our understanding and strength and power!
We need to be like David who, when feeling this very same way, often had to say to himself:
Psalm 42:5, Psalm 42:11, Psalm 43:5
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Even back at the very beginning of time, God directly went and spoke with Cain who was feeling that way and was getting very bitter and angry as a result and God asked him:
Genesis 4:6-7
6 “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
Hope rules over sin because it causes us to desire the good things that God has promised us. It is an incredible path that leads to both a full and fulfilling life!
Discouragement and anger and discontentment causes us to desire sin which might make us happy for a time, but ultimately leads us to more discouragement and anger and discontentment causing us to desire to sin more. It’s a terrible path that leads to death!
Sin desires to have you, but you must rule over it!
Why so downcast? Why so disturbed? Why so angry?
Put your hope in God!
Praise Him!
Let Him be your Savior!
Follow His lead by hope into an abundantly full life!
Remind yourself that whatever you are facing, God is greater!
God is greater than all of our ups and downs!
When we fix our focus on Him, it puts our current circumstances into proper perspective.
Hebrews 12:1-3
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Sure, Jesus went through some tough times; far tougher than we will ever endure! However, those were just some tough times and did not end in a tough life! In fact, they can’t even begin to compare to the eternal glory that it achieved Him.
IF we do not lose hope and cling to Jesus through the tough days, what overwhelms us now will be but a brief memory in our future!
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
All of the things of this world are temporary and they will all fade away. They will let us down and cause us trouble. However, we are not of this world! Yes, we are citizens on earth, but we are also citizens of Heaven; children of God; heirs and priests and prophets and so much more!
In this world, we are like Jesus. He said that He is not of this world and His Kingdom is not of this world. We have been set free from the constraints and restraints of this world! Sin, and even death, itself, has no power over us! Our lives are Jesus’!
Jesus proved His power and authority over all created things including sin and temptation and death. When we keep our eyes and focus fixed on Him, we are naturally lead into supernatural victories! The truth that He has spoken will supersede our facts and His promises will miraculously come to pass for us.
Romans 4:18-24
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Against all hope, we also can believe in hope and receive the promises of God!
No matter how impossible our circumstances may be!
No matter how long we have been waiting in hope!
Why?
Because God is greater!
We just finished up a season of gift giving. It may have been an epic one for you, but I doubt that ever in the world’s history has there been a gift giving season like the one that we’re about to read!
David and all of Isreal’s leaders just gave all of the wood and gold and silver and precious jewels and everything else of great value well above and beyond what was needed for his son, Solomon, to build the first temple for the Lord. None gave out of compulsion or obligation. Everyone gave generously and joyfully. Then:
1 Chronicles 29:10-14
10 David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,
“Praise be to you, Lord,
the God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
Even with all of the wealth and worldly blessings that he had received, David recognized and acknowledged that all of it was nothing compared to God. In fact, all of that was created by God and given to them from God in the first place!
As we proceed into a new year, we’re reminded as well that God is greater! Greater than anything that we will face within this new year. Greater than anything that we’re leaving behind in this year. Greater than any of our highs or lows!
God is greater!