I remember going on a summer vacation with my family to Colorado when I was 13. The reason that I remember that vacation was that first – we only took three vacations and it is easy to remember when we got the gift of going somewhere, and second, I was 13 and family awkwardness was at its all time high. During the vacation, we went to a great place where you could hike and see this great series of waterfalls. As a family we were having a great time of hiking, my brother and I harassing my sister, and seriously just taking all of the amazing views in the mountains. And then we saw it! We saw this mountain goat – you know one of those picture perfect animals with big horns, standing up on the cliff of a mountain. It was awesome! We took pictures. We couldn’t believe that we saw this mountain goat – in fact we started to believe we were expert mountain goat hunters. As we started down the mountain we were pretty proud because we were convinced that we were the first and maybe only people who had ever discovered this amazing animal. We started to tell people that were on their way up – “Hey if you are lucky the mountain goat might still be there – it is amazing, hope it is still there.” We were the experts and were convinced that we had been given an incredible gift of discovering animals in the wild.
And then 15 minutes later a wave of humility hit us. As it was getting dark, we turned around and looked back at a last look at our famous mountain goat and noticed that our mountain goat had magically been lighted up. It then hit us, that our mountain goat that we had discovered was actually a statue that was part of the attraction. We turned in humiliation and shame and moved as fast as we could to our car so that we could get out of the parking lot before we met anyone. In that moment a truth hit me – there is really nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
Key Learning Number Four – There Is Nothing New
I am more convinced than ever that there is nothing new in our world. Each of us discover things for the first time and it is amazing and we think it is has to be the first time that anyone has ever experienced it. Whether that is Krispy Kreme donuts, Disney World, graduation, or even that crazy, illusive and mysterious thing called love. Guess what, thousands, maybe millions of people have experienced each of those things. Nothing is new.
The number one thing where the Truth that nothing is new is the most powerful is simply the name of Jesus. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His grace and His life and His sacrifice on the cross is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The sin that Jesus paid for on the cross two thousand years ago is still paid for today and will be next year, a decade from now, a million years from now. Your sin, your mistakes, your separation, your feeling of shame, guilt, pride, disqualification, invincibility, or ignorance is not new to Jesus. You have not experienced anything that His love can not get to and conquer.
I have had a front row view that nothing is new in Jesus and His offer of peace, love, power, and forgiveness. From sitting with a six year old in a small office in Mattawan, Michigan to a late night conversation in rural West Virginia with a teenage atheist, to a middle schooler sitting in a packed auditorium in Andover, Minnesota, to a beach in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to a small group conversation in Lexington, Kentucky I have seen Jesus’ offer of forgiveness and salvation be true. I have seen drug addicted students, jocks, theater majors, cheerleaders, beauty pageant winners, techies, loners, nice kids, thugs experience the TRUTH that nothing is new about Jesus BUT when you give your life to Christ and admit that you need to be forgiven and accept His offer of forgiveness and freedom that in an instant everything is new. Your past is erased and your future is rewritten.
I believe that there is nothing new in Jesus. He has not changed, nor will He ever change. His love for me, for you, for this world will never change. His offer to save His lost kids will never change. I will never be the same from experiencing Jesus for myself in October of 1982 and I am forever grateful that He saved me, rescued me, and unleashed me for a future that only He could orchestrate. Wherever you are at, whatever you have done, I encourage you to either experience the TRUTH of that there is nothing new about Jesus or remember when you experienced it yourself.
There is Nothing New about Jesus, but experiencing that is only the beginning.