All Things New

For last year's words belong to last year's language
and next year's words await another voice.
Little Gidding II —T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)

The object of a new year is not
that we should have a new year.
It is that we should have a new soul.
—G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

You must display a new nature because you are a new person,
created in God's likeness—righteous, holy, and true.
—Ephesians 4:24

But now is the time to get rid
of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.
Don't lie to each other,
for you have stripped off your old evil nature
and all its wicked deeds.
In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature
that is continually being renewed
as you learn more and more about Christ,
who created this new nature within you.
—Colossians 3:8-10

What this means is that those
who become Christians become new persons.
They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone.
A new life has begun!
All this newness of life is from God,
who brought us back to himself through what Christ did.
And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him.
—II Corinthians 5:17-18

And He who sits on the throne said,
"Behold, I am making all things new."
And He said,
"Write, for these words are faithful and true."
—Revelation 21:5

So let us celebrate the festival,
not by eating the old bread of wickedness and evil,
but by eating the new bread of purity and truth.
—I Corinthians 5:8