Honoring Christ in the New Year

Believers do it religiously. School kids do it unconsciously. Bankers do it commercially. Even atheists do it inadvertently. Some of them do it every day. The President of the United States does it over 100 times each year. The signers of the U.S. Constitution did it in 1787. Historians especially do it. Celebrants in Times Square do it on New Year’s Eve with great enthusiasm. Everyone does it ceremonially once a year. Many have no idea that they are doing it.

They all honor Jesus Christ when speaking, writing or even acknowledging the year. When the calendar is flipped to a new year, it focuses the fact that everyone is doing it; we all are honoring the Lord Jesus Christ, and there’s no escaping it.

Beginning tomorrow, January 1, the technical year will be AD 2009. AD stands for “anno domini”—“in the year of our Lord.” “Our Lord” is Jesus Christ. In fact, a Wikipedia article notes, “More fully, years may also be specified as Anno Domini Nostri Jesu Christi (‘In the year of our Lord Jesus Christ’).” The calendar dating system of the world is synchronized to His lowly birth by the virgin mother in a cow stall in Bethlehem about 2009 years ago.

It is even constitutional, despite what detractors say about no mention of religion in that U.S. founding document. At the bottom of the original, it says, “Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven…. In witness thereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.” Underneath, 39 delegates from twelve states signed the document.

At last count, President George Bush had issued 115 presidential proclamations. Each one lists the date as being “in the year of our Lord….”

There are several calendar systems in use around the world, but only one unifies the globe in its computers, its economy and its correspondence. We call it the Christian calendar, and so it is. In contrast with all other calendars, this Christian calendar has a mid-point. That is, while all others begin with some notable event and stream forward endlessly, our Christian calendar counts descending years to Christ’s birth and ascending years from it: 4 BC, 3 BC, 2 BC, 1 BC, AD 1, AD 2, AD 3, AD 4, etc.

The history of this absorbing phenomenon is a fascinating study. As far as can be determined, “AD” was in widespread use by the 9th century. It was not until the late 15th century that “BC” (“before Christ”) was in widespread usage. So, after many centuries, the influence of Christ was increasing dramatically.

Today, two major calendar types are used—those with a starting point, such as the creation calendar widely used by the Jews, and one with a mid-point, or the Christian calendar. Ultimately, all calendar systems defer to our Christian dating system, which everyone uses on school papers, checks, legal documents and computers, with Christ’s birth date in each one.

Attempts have been made to shift to other calendars, one being the Jewish calendar, which is a creation calendar, but even prestigious publications such as the weekly Jerusalem Post carry both dates, for example, “December 2008 and Kislev 5769”. Incidentally, objectors sometimes do an end run around the obvious by designating years as BCE and CE, meaning “Before the Common Era” and “Common Era.” However, the “Common Era” is the Christian era. The Christian era by any other name is still the Christian era, and 2009 used by anyone still cries out another “year of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Apostle Paul had it right when he wrote, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

We wish all our friends a most wonderful and happy New Year of AD 2009—another year of our Lord Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:4), the beginning and the ending (Revelation 1:8), and our times are in His hands (Psalm 31:15).

Dave Virkler