John 19:30 – “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ” It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”  NASU

Today is the 2nd day of a New Year and we have ended a year, closing the door on the year 2016 and opening the door of 2017.  The end of one year opens the door for a new beginning with a clean slate, so to speak.  Today, in a very real sense, is the Door to 2017 so as we reflect on the year gone by we should also seek the Lord’s guidance for our plan for 2017 or His plan.

Some have asked and I’ve heard theological debates over when the Old Covenant ended and the New Covenant began.  I try to avoid hair-splitting discussions and wrangling over things that bring confusion rather than unity so my purpose is not to delve into that topic per se.  The words of Jesus on the Cross are powerful and important.  As he hung suspended on that cruel tree of shame He cried “IT IS FINISHED!”  I believe it is important to take note of WHAT was finished so we can understand and perceive the Door of Opportunity that He opened.

Man, in the Garden, fell short of the mark and sinned.  Adam & Eve were disobedient to God and that disobedience plunged humanity into a state of depravity that gave legal ground to the devil on the earth.  The Bible identifies the devil as the ‘god of this age’ in 2 Corinthians 4:4.   In Ephesians 2 we discover that the devil is called, ‘the prince of the power of the air.’  Then in John 12:31 we find him called the ‘ruler of this world.’  All of those are significant and identify his legal standing because of man’s sin.  Adam, through his sin, opened the door to the kingdom of darkness and gave legal standing to the devil.  Breaking that legal claim would require a man to come who could satisfy ‘divine justice’ and redeem man.  Jesus came, as man and for man, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and died on the Cross to pay the price for sin.  What was finished on the Cross was the devil’s legal claim!  Jesus paid the price for your sin and mine and the subsequent events after His death, the burial, taking the keys of hell and the grave from the devil, stripping him of his legal claim, rising from the dead and ascending to the right hand of the Father ARE VITAL.  His declaration, IT IS FINISHED marked the end of the Old and the Beginning of the New.  He closed the door on the devil and opened the door to Salvation.

As we enter 2017 we should reflect on 2016, only in the sense of learning from the lessons and be motivated to not make the mistakes of the past, but then close the door on it and never look back.  Today, the 2nd of January marks a NEW BEGINNING and a NEW OPPORTUNITY.  You and I, as members of the Body of Christ, can place the past under the Blood of Jesus and embrace the newness of life and the awesomeness of His life. We can face 2017 not with trepidation but anticipation.  Yes, all the problems that exist today will be there tomorrow but we are not children of the past but children of the future, in Jesus.  We are not those that take hold to the plow looking back but those who are looking to the hills from whence comes our help.  We are not those under the domain of darkness but those who have been translated into the Kingdom of Light.  We are those who have weapons mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.  We are more than conquerors through Jesus!  So, look out 2017 here comes the Body of Christ!

God, bless you as embark on your journey in this New Year.  May your new year and entire year find you enjoying the richest and best of the blessings of God and rising to new heights in Him soaring as the eagle, running without weariness, and walking without fainting.  GOD, BLESS YOU and may you have a continued HAPPY NEW YEAR!