That newness starts when the old life ends. The Bible describes our old life as the life of sin, a life of doing things our way instead of God's way. It's been like this all through history. In our heart of hearts we are prone to believe that our way has to be the best way, whether it is or not. So we strive to raise ourselves up over one another in our dealings with others.
Nations strive to conquer other nations.
We keep developing technology so that we can gain control over nature and over one another. In it all we tend to act as if we were God. We've been doing this for centuries, all in the hope of a better, a simpler life. So today we have complex lives and restless hearts. But in the word of baptism God brings hope.