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And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.(Luke 2:21)
In the beginning, God created all things in six days. Everything was very good. There was no sin and no death. God, then, rested on the seventh day. The following day, Sunday, was the first day of the week. You might say that Sunday was the eighth day of creation. Gone were the days of darkness. Life and light were present.
After the flood waters began to recede, Noah wondered whether there was vegetation on the earth. So, he sent out a dove. It couldn't find any resting place, so it returned. Eight days later, Noah sent the dove out again. This time it came back with a freshly plucked olive leaf in its mouth. Noah rejoiced in the fact that there was now life on the earth. This happened on the eighth day. Gone were the days of the flood, and new life was approaching.
God said to Abram, “Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father's house, [and go] to a land that I will show you.” Furthermore, God told Abram that through him the promised Savior will come and will be a blessing to all families of the earth. So, Abram and Sarai packed their bags. Gone were the days in Ur of the Chaldeans. Gone were the days in Haran. The future days in the promised land were approaching.
When the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, gone were the days of slavery in Egypt, and new life was among them. On the eastern shores of the Red Sea, it was a new day for the Israelites. They gave thanks to God for the salvation which He has provided for them.
Forty years later, when the children of Israel crossed over the Jordan River into the promised land, gone were the days in the wilderness of eating manna and quail. It was a new day in the promised land which flowed with milk and honey.
Tomorrow, we cross over into a new year. In a few short hours, the days of 2009 will be gone, and a new year will arise. Today will be an old day, and tomorrow will be a new day. It will be a new beginning.
Do you have any regrets regarding 2009? I'm sure that Adam and Eve regretted eating the forbidden fruit in the garden. I'm sure that Noah regretted getting drunk and exposing his nakedness. I'm sure that Abram regretted doubting God's Word and begetting a son through Hagar, Sarai's handmaiden. While Israel was in the desert, some of them regretted leaving Egypt. They wanted to go back to slavery.
Do you have any regrets regarding 2009? Something you've said to the neighbor? Something you've done to a co–worker? Something you've said that hurt a spouse or family member? If Adam, Noah, and Abram were not perfect, neither are any one of us. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We do not have a perfect love toward God with our whole heart, soul, and mind. We do not have the ability to perfectly avoid what displeases God. We do not have the ability to perfectly rely on God for help in every need. We are all sinners and need a Savior.
This is why God sent a Savior born of the virgin Mary. When Mary's Son was eight days old, she brought him to the priest. The priest took a knife and cut the foreskin off of the baby boy. I'm sure he cried, and I'm sure he shed blood. Then, the priest asked, “What is his name?” The answer was given, “His name will be Jesus.” The name Jesus means “The Lord saves.”
Names have meanings. Your first and last name have meanings. But this does not necessarily mean that we fulfill those meanings. Suppose you were to give a name for 2009. What would you call it? Would you call it “The Year of Economic Downfall”? You can give 2010 a name such as “The Year of Prosperity,” but this does not mean that it will fulfill its name.
Jesus fulfilled the meaning of his name. He came to save us from our sins, and this is exactly what happened.
Jesus' first act of salvation was his circumcision on his eighth day.
Why was Jesus circumcised? Jesus was circumcised in order to put Himself under the law. The law prescribed that all males should be circumcised on the eighth day with no exceptions, not even Jesus. Saint Paul says that Jesus was born under the law in order to redeem us who are under the law. So, the circumcision of Jesus was His first step in fulfilling the whole law. Throughout His life, He obeyed the first commandment loving His heavenly Father with all of His heart, soul, and mind. He also kept the fourth commandment, the fifth, the sixth, and so forth and so on. In the end, Jesus was found to be the spotless lamb of God who has done nothing wrong. Jesus was placed under the law, and He kept the whole law in our place and on our behalf.
The circumcision of Jesus was also His first step in suffering for us. The shedding of His infant blood marked the beginning of His suffering which ended on the cross of Calvary.
Jesus is willing to exchange places with us first in His circumcision and, also, on the cross. On the cross, Jesus shed His blood for the sins of the whole world. Then, He died.
Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. Easter is a new day. Gone, now, are the days of death in the tomb, and a new life of resurrection is among us. Easter is like a new creation — an eighth day. The early church often called the day of the resurrection the eighth day.
Jesus fulfilled the meaning of His name. He saved you from sin, death, and the devil by the cross and open tomb.
Now that Christ has fulfilled the law, died, and rose from the dead, gone is the old covenant, and the new testament in the body and blood of our Lord is among us. Gone is the need for circumcision, and a new era — a new day — has arrived. Gone is death's power and life lives on. Satan has been defeated, and a new life with Christ is here. Sin is paid for, and a new life of forgiveness is ours.
Yes, tomorrow will be the beginning of a new year. Gone will be the days of 2009, and 2010 will be a new day.
But a “new beginning” for you and me began at our baptism. Our baptism was a new day. Our baptism was like a circumcision because something old was removed, and something new was given. Our Old Adam was “buried with Christ” in those waters, and then, we were “raised with him through faith” (Colossians 2:10–13). Circumcision removes flesh by a surgical procedure. Baptism removes the power of the sinful flesh over us.
Both circumcision and baptism involve infants. All of us were sinful from birth, sinful from the time we were conceived. Baptism, therefore, is God's solution to our dilemma of sin.
Both circumcision and baptism are a means by which God's grace and blessing comes to His people.
Circumcision incorporated its recipients into the community of Israel. So also baptism incorporated you into Christ's death and resurrection. In baptism, you were “marked” or identified as a child of God.
The difference, however, is that baptism is for both males and females. It is for infants and adults. It is for all nations.
Baptism, then, is a putting off of that which is old and a putting on that which is new. Ephesians chapter four says it this way, “Put off…the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (v. 22).
And so, dearly beloved, put off the ways of the world. Don't walk in the darkness of unbelief. Don't turn toward the ways of the devil. Don't go back to the ways of slavery in Egypt. Don't leave your baptismal life. Sin wants to control you. It wants to be your master.
Put sin in it's place by confessing it. Drown those sins all over again by confessing them before God. Then, God says through the minister, “I forgive you all yours sins.” Your sins, then, are gone.
Ephesians chapter four continues by saying, “put on the new man which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness” (v. 22). God did that to you in your baptism. He washed you clean. He put on you a new white robe. The “new man” is Christ who is your righteousness and holiness. You have been baptized in the name of Jesus. In your baptism, you have been given the name “Christian”.
And so, tomorrow will be an eighth day — a day of new beginnings. On that day Jesus was circumcised, marking the beginning of His suffering which ended on the cross of Calvary. Your baptism was a day of new beginnings — a time when you were baptized into Christ's death and resurrection.
There will be a day when you will cross over the shadow of death and will enter eternal life in heaven. We don't know whether death will come upon you or a family member in 2010 or not. But we are comforted in knowing that God will be with you always and that you are in His hand. He is especially with us tonight in His body and blood.
In 2010 and beyond, may God's grace and mercy follow you all the days of your life. Amen.
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