At the beginning of a new year we naturally think about new things. Sometimes Christians go further and project this kind of thinking onto God, imagining that God is going to do something new just because a calendar page has turned over.

It is true that the prophet Isaiah, speaking on behalf of God, did say, “Behold I will do a new thing”. However, Isaiah was not speaking of our day. Seven hundred years after Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus sat down to a final meal with his disciples, took a cup of wine and said, “This is my blood of the new covenant,” fulfilling Isaiah’s prediction.

The New Covenant...