When you see me, what do you see? You see a person who looks pretty much the same as who I was thirty years ago, plus some aging. You recognise the face, the hair, the eyes, the voice, and so on. But God doesn’t look at believers in that way – he no longer sees the old person they used to be. Instead, he sees the new person who is made new in the image of Jesus Christ. We tend to see the old person, because we see the same old face, and associate that as being the same old person. But that isn’t the way we ought to think of ourselves, or other believers. Underneath, we are new people. Despite the same appearance as in the past, we are new people in Christ. If someone is a Christian, if they have placed their faith in Jesus, if they have found peace with God through Jesus’ death on the cross for their sins, and know the new life that comes through the Holy Spirit, they are like an old Cortina that has had a new engine, a new interior, new brakes, new suspension, and so on, but with the outer bodywork, the shell, the bit you see, still having to be renewed. The Christian is renewed inside, in their spirit. And we wait as we look forward to having our outer shell, our body, what you can see, renewed as we receive our new bodies when the Lord comes again (1 Corinthians 15:50–57). “So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! ” (2 Corinthians 5:16–17, NLT) Therefore, in the meantime, we ought not to think of believers in Jesus as we once did. We ought not to look at the outer appearance and think that that is a reflection of who they really are. We ought also not to see their old life of sin as we once did, because their sins have been forgiven – if God does not remember their sins any longer, we should not either (Hebrews 8:12). Appearances can be deceptive, and moreso when it comes to seeing Christians than in anything else in life. The reality is so much different than what we see. One day, when you receive your new body, you will be seen in all your glory. But in the meantime, what can be seen is not a true reflection of who you are in Christ. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. ” (Colossians 3:3–4, ESV) When Christ appears, when he comes back, at the second coming, when you receive your new body, your full glory will be revealed. In the meantime, therefore, don’t judge a book by its cover. Don’t look at the old same appearance. Anyone who truly trusts in Jesus for salvation ought to therefore live more in the reality of their new life, not their old life: “And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. ” (Romans 8:10, NLT) As we look forward into a new year, let’s not just look to the 12 months ahead, but to the glory of the fullness of our life ahead in Christ for eternity. With that in mind, the next 12 months are not simply another year of the same as before, but a year closer to our eternal future, a year in which we can live our new life more and more each day.