This week we finish out another year and with each new year comes New Year’s resolutions. I must admit that I am not a huge fan of making resolutions. If I want to change something or make a long-term plan, why not just do it? Why wait for a particular time of year? But I get why New Year’s resolutions are popular. With a new year come new opportunities and a time for reflection. We think about the past year, in all its successes and failures, and dream about what the next year might hold.

So as we think about what the next year might hold, I want to offer a quote I recently read from John Calvin. In this section of Institutes of the Christian Religion, he is writing about what it means for Jesus Christ to be our King and he concludes with this little gem:

“Thus it is that we may patiently pass through this life with its misery, hunger, cold, contempt, reproaches, and other troubles - content with this one thing: that our King will never leave us destitute, but will provide for our needs until, our warfare ended, we are called to triumph. Such is the nature of his rule, that he shares with us all that he has received from the Father.” (Institutes, 2.15.4)

For some of us, 2015 was a great year and so the prospect of another year is an exciting thing. For others of us, 2015 was not such a great year and the idea of another is a source of more trepidation than hope. But regardless of what 2015 looked like, we can go into 2016 with hope because Christ is our King. As I read this quote, I notice three ways that Calvin finds hope in our King:

1. Our King provides for us - Sometimes life takes more than it gives, but our King will never leave us destitute. Our Lord will provide what we need. He is able and willing to care for us.

2. Our King is leading us to triumph - If your faith is in Christ, there is only one destination for you: triumph. Notice how Calvin describes this life as warfare. He recognizes life is tough, but our God is good and, in Christ, we will triumph over the trials of this life. In Christ, we cannot ultimately be defeated.

3. Our King is generous - Jesus shares with us all that He has received from the Father. This includes His righteous life. Jesus does not just give us some of the benefits of His resurrected life. Our King is not stingy. He gives us everything. In Christ, we are counted as children of God and we receive all the benefits of being in God’s family. All of them. We can take great comfort in the knowledge that God is not holding out on us. In Christ, He gives us all things.

Brothers and sisters, my prayer for us all is that we will go into the new year with hope. Jesus Christ is alive and, in Him, so are we. Whatever the road the Lord might have us travel in the coming year, it can only lead to our triumph in Christ. Hallelujah!

In Christ,

Tom