See, I Am Doing a New Thing

Isaiah 43:1-19

Key Verse 43:19

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

A while ago we studied the Book of Exodus. At the New Year’s Leadership conference, we would like to study the book of Ezekiel. It has been said, “While the book of Exodus defines what the Israelites could have become, the book of Ezekiel describes what the Israelites actually became.” 

In the book of Exodus the Lord God called the Israelites out of Egypt to himself. Then the Lord said, “If you obey me fully, you will be my treasured possession; you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (cf. Exo 19:5,6). The Lord God also said, “[I] will set you in praise, fame and honor, high above all the nations he has made...” and, “You will always be at the top, never at the bottom . . . You will lend [money] to many nations, but will borrow from none.” But all these good and rosy promises lead to the same point: they show what the Israelites could have become. But by the time the Prophet Ezekiel came and spoke to the Israelites, what had they become? Did they become the champions in the Hall of God's Greatness? Did they reach the top? Did they rise high above all the nations, spiritually or otherwise? They did receive God's salvation. They did come out of slavery to the worship of God. With God's glorious promises, such as the promise to be at the top, they entered the Promised Land. The Prophet Ezekiel came and spoke about 7 centuries since that time had passed. During that period of time how did they do? What does their report card say? Did they get an A+, B, C, D, or F-? You know the answer. 

Today we would like to briefly study Isaiah 43. Moses spoke before the Israelites entered the Promised Land. Ezekiel spoke after the Israelites had been kicked out of the Promised Land. Isaiah spoke in-between the two events: after getting in, but before being kicked out of the land. 

In the passage the Prophet Isaiah tells us how those who are falling down to the bottom can reverse the course of descent and rise back to the level where God wants them to be, that is, at the top. He talks about the wisdom of how to reverse that downturn direction to upturn, turning the life that is downward mobile to the life that is upward mobile, turning the life that is going from bad to worse, to the life that is going from better to best. 

In the year to come we all expect that life will get better. As a ministry we expect great things to happen. But Isaiah says that there are principles to follow. Essentially, there are four things to remember. 

First, you are mine (1).

Look at verse 1. “But now, this is what the LORD says—he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.’”

This Bible passage tells us that the Lord God spruced up the Israelites in such a way that they could fulfill their full potential as children of God. The word “create” indicates that the Lord God already imbedded in them the image of God; God wired them up to have fellowship with God, to know God, to grow to God's image, and to function as God would have them to function. In other words they were designed to fully rise to God’s level and thereby fulfill the potential God had given them. They were endowed with all the glorious features to operate as the crown of creation. 

The word “formed” indicates that they were given a vessel, which is a body, so that in this body they would carry the glory of God and be like living chariots of God’s glory. God gave them brains which work brilliantly, working faster and better than all computers combined. God gave them the ability to talk, so that with the power of speech they could fulfill tons of things, such as writing books. God gave them each two hands so that with their hands they could do many useful things, such as driving, typing, drawing beautiful paintings, playing piano and much more. God also gave then not only hands but two legs, so that they could walk, jump, and dance. 

The word “redeemed” refers to God’s work of redemption. The word “redeem” means to buy back what was sold. Due to their ignorance, or sheer neglect of God's precepts, they screwed up. They disobeyed God and thereby sold themselves to sin and Satan. But in God’s mercy, through the blood of the lamb, the Lord God delivered them out of bondage to the power of sin and Satan. Then the Lord called them to worship the Lord and serve him all the days of their life on earth. 

The net effect of all these things comes down to one point, that is, bringing the Israelites to a position where they could become all they were supposed to become. The Lord God equipped them to fully fulfill their God-given potential. 

In John 1:12, the Apostle John expresses the same framework when he said of believing Christians: “Yet to those who received [Jesus Christ], to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become the children of God.” Say to your neighbor, “I believe in Jesus.” Say, “So I have a right.” Now say, “I have the right to become a child of God.” You may ask, “What does the ‘right’ have anything to do with ‘God-given potential’? In the first place what does this ‘right’ do for me? What is in it?” If this sort of question hits you, you had better go and study the full meaning of the word ‘right,’ especially the meaning of the ‘right to become’ the children of God. The idea behind this title is, “You are not created to be like an animal.” Nowadays people in this so-called “civilized” nation have gone so far “un-civilized” that some say, “The more I meet people, the more I like my dogs.” But man is supposed to function better than a dog.

“But now, this is what the LORD says—he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.’”

Thanks and praise be to God the Father who in his infinite wisdom, love, and power, has already done a marvelous work – not only creating and forming us as the crown of creation but also redeeming us, and then calling us to live as His children, all for his own glory. Praise be to our Heavenly Father who saved us even by shedding the blood of our Lord Jesus, the Son. In the coming New Year, may the Lord bless us to never forget this supreme truth, that we might live a life that is truly fruitful. 

Second, I love you (2-8).

The next thing we need to remember is the purpose of God’s calling. Let us read verses 2-8 responsively. Many Bible scholars interpret this Bible passage in many different ways. But for our own purpose we would like to focus on two words: love (as in, "I love you," in v. 4) and people (or children, sons and daughters) (4, 5). 

In verse 4, for the first time in the entire Scriptures, the Lord God directly says to his children, “I love you.” Then he talks about the purpose of his love, that is, people. Out of the Lord's love relationship with his children Israel the Lord God wants to fill the whole earth with people bearing His image! (Read Genesis 12:2,3; 15:5.)

Figuratively speaking, we can compare what God did for Israel to a Mr. Macho Man (or Prince Charming if you will) courting a woman into a marriage relationship with him. Indeed God is like a truly Mr. Macho Man, for God is truly wealthy, benevolent, generous, and all powerful. And in many places of the Old Testament Scriptures the Lord God identifies himself as the husband and the Israelites as his wife (cf. Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:14, etc.) God’s practice did not change in the New Testament period. When John the Baptist came he called Jesus the Bridegroom and all who believed in him the Bride. In Ephesians 5 the Apostle Paul calls the marriage relationship between the Christ and the church as “a profound mystery.” 

In the same way, as we already saw in the book of Deuteronomy, by leading the Israelites out of Egypt to Him at Mt. Sinai the Lord God succeeded in wooing the Israelites to him and getting them to sign a marriage contract with the Lord. In this way the marriage relationship between God and his children was born. 

Why then did the Lord God desire to get into a relationship with them? We already know the answer: to produce ‘children,’ so to speak. How many? Genesis 15:5 answers the question: as many as the number of stars in the sky.

In making children God is interested not only in the number of children but also the quality (inner character) of children: he wants to produce children in God's image! So let us stop for a moment and think about God's image a bit further. Genesis 1 teaches us that God created man according to his image. But since the fall of the first man Adam, man lost God’s image; by sinful rebellion man exchanged the glorious image of God for images made to look foolish, like mortal man, birds, animals, or reptiles. But this is not what God wants. God desires people to look like him. And what parent does not want his children to be as glorious as they can possibly be?! God wants to see the whole earth filled with children bearing His glorious image. 

How then can God fulfill this purpose? Look at verse 4. “Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.” Some people use this Bible passage to accuse God for showing favoritism; they say that God discriminates one class of people over another. But the Bible says that God is fair. He does not discriminate anyone. In love he wants to save all peoples on earth.

 

A better way to interpret this passage is to think about the way God designed us to produce children, that is, through the marriage relationship. Last Sunday we had a children’s Christmas worship service. The center was full of children. Where did they all come from? Did all of them drop out nowhere? No. They came because of the marriage relationships. Someone married someone else. In a marriage relationship they fell in love with each other; they prayed to produce children; then children came out. And all of them looked lovely. How did they come to grow so lovely? Did they grow lovely all by themselves? No. Their parents or grandparents had to take care of them, changing diapers, feeding them regularly, and constantly babysitting them, making sure that they all grow as lovely as possible. Otherwise they would end up looking like a bunch of orphans; their clothes will get dirty; their countenance will go blank and bleak. 

The children’s Play also affirmed the same truth. The play greatly impressed me so I asked who wrote the script. The person seated next to me said, “Daniel Tourn wrote it.” Thank God. He wrote a good script. The conclusion of the play was interesting, that is, a real family is the family where our Lord Jesus is the Savior. In love the Lord gave his life for the members of his church called the Bride. It is through the marriage relationship with Jesus Christ that we came to produce children and provide homes for them. Jesus provided us with a true family all because of his sacrificial love. 

Speaking of the same truth, the Prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 53:9-10, “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.” The will of the Lord here is the will to produce children bearing his image; and what is going to prosper is the number of children increasing. 

So it is my prayer that in the year to come we would love the Lord back as much as he did, that through our devotion to the Lord the Lord would bless us to produce many children after His image. 

Third, you are my witnesses (9-17). 

Verses 9-17 teach us the practical way to mold a godly character in a man, that is, the way of witnessing. 

Look at verse 9. “‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, and ‘my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.’” Look at verse 12 as well: “I have revealed and saved and proclaimed – I, and not some foreign god among you. ‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am God.’” 

How can we be the Lord’s witness? The practical way is to experience in person who the Lord is. If you happen to stand at the intersection of Paramount and De Palma Street and see a car accident with your own eyes, you can tell for sure who is at fault and who is not. You are a live witness to the event. The same is true with witnessing about the Lord. 

Another way of witnessing is through sharing what God has done in and through us. Dr. Scott Lively is a good example. He used to be a drug addict and an alcoholic. Since he met Jesus personally through the work of the Holy Spirit he received a complete release from his addiction to drugs and alcoholism. Now no matter where he goes he loves to share with people God's grace in his life. 

Look at verse 10 again. “‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.’” This passage tells us something marvelous about witnessing: that is, witnessing about the Lord is the key to knowing the Lord better. As you witness more you come to know Jesus better. As you come to know Jesus better you witness about Jesus more. At first the Apostle Paul did not know the Lord well. But as he obeyed the Lord’s command to make disciples of all nations, he came to know the Lord better. So he later said that he wanted to know the Lord better, even becoming like Jesus in his death (Philippians 3:10). Indeed as Paul suffered more for the Lord he could experience the power of the gospel. At one time he suffered even to the point of being stoned to near-death. Many say it was through this near-death experience that he was caught up to the third heaven, only to come back to life again (cf. 2Co 12:2).

So let us pray to become better witnesses of our Lord Jesus by participating in the remaining sufferings of our Lord Jesus, especially by feeding sheep.

Fourth, forget the former things (18-19).  

Lastly in order to become what we are supposed to become we need to forget the former things, look to, and go for the things which the Lord is doing now and is going to do in the days to come. Look at verses 18-19. "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." This passage indicates that the Lord God is forward-looking. He expects his children to be forward looking. In the history of the Israelites a lot of people lived as forward-looking people and thereby became a source of blessing for the multitude of people going through seemingly dark times. The Prophet Isaiah is one, the Prophet Ezekiel is another, and the Prophet Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth are still others.  

Isaiah lived about 8 centuries before Christ. The times of Isaiah were particularly dark. The first several chapters of the Book of Isaiah describe the darkness built into every corner of the Jewish society of Isaiah's day. The people, both young and old, men and women, were all so corrupt that he exclaimed, "Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evil doers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord! They have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him" (Isaiah 1:4). "The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with mincing steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles" (Isaiah 3:16). Brothers were heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks (Isaiah 5:22).

Yet, since the Prophet Isaiah saw in God's Spirit the vision of God doing a new thing he did not despair as others did. Rather in the vision of God he himself lived a holy life. He also led his family members to live by faith in God's promise. In this way, in one of the darkest moments in Israel’s history, he was able to write the book of Isaiah which is called the fifth gospel. His service bore fruit and is still bearing fruit. During the first century his gospel inspired a man named Matthew who in turn introduced Jesus the new born king of Israel as Immanuel, God with us. The hope Isaiah shared and the comfort the Apostle Matthew conveyed to us are so comforting that a friend of mine named Dr. Mark Yoon always closes his letters or emails with one word: "Immanuel!"

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Here "former things" refers to what has already transpired. "A new thing" is symbolic of what God is doing and is going to do in the days to come in and through Jesus, the Savior. The new things that God promised to do through Jesus can be summed up in two words: perfect redemption. The promise of perfect redemption consists of all the glorious visions and hopes we have in the Lord: the vision of resurrection, the vision of the perfected world coming! 

The promise of perfect redemption is never make-believe; it is the only viable reality we have in the Lord. To mean business, Jesus gave us tons of examples of the new things for us to see and believe: after suffering loss he rose again. Then he ascended into heaven even as the disciples were looking at him. This Jesus is going to come back just as he ascended into heaven. 

The new thing the Lord God is going to do is not a future thing alone without any root in the reality of time called Now. For those who believe in it, it is as real as the sun rising and setting. It is as practical as it rains or snows. "Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it?" How do we know that it springs up now? How do we perceive it happening? It is through the Spirit of God the Lord has put in our hearts. As King Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. But Jesus came from heaven. And he does and is doing nothing but what is new. Thank and praise be to God who through the Spirit of God which came from above enables us to have the vision of perfect redemption. In this glorious hope and vision, today and tomorrow, no matter what happens to us and this world, we can still serve people with the gospel of Jesus. And this is the way for us to become what we are supposed to become.  This is the way for us to exhort people to fulfill their God-given potential to the fullest extent possible.  

One word: A new thing