The God Who Knows Us and Walks With Us

Good morning. It has been a good day to be in the house of the Lord. I don’t know about you, but I am so grateful that God has allowed us to have this day to worship Him, to draw near to Him, and to make Him known. In the midst of everything, God is still on His throne. God is still in control.

Have you ever had one of those moments where you just couldn’t shake something? Like you kept coming back to it? Maybe it was a thought or a song. Maybe it was a commercial. Let’s see if you can finish this:

Give me a break

Give me a break

Break me off a piece of that _______ ________ _________ (hopefully they’ll sing KIT KAT BAR)

How about this one?

The best part of waking up is ____________________________ (FOLGERS IN YOUR CUP)

One more:

Buh - Buh - buh - ba -buh _________________________ (I’m lovin’ it!)

Now if you are a certain age or above, you knew those. (Have fun with this, like comment about how no one under the age of 30 gets this or if no one gets it say something about how you admit that you used to watch way too much TV. Keep it light and flowing - READ THE ROOM.)

For me, especially here lately, God has been drawing me back to specific Scripture verses. In my seminary class, we’ve spent time unpacking the second half of the Old Testament. One of the things that we have to do is create these teaching overviews where we relay what we have learned about the book to others. And a couple weeks ago, we talked about Isaiah, and it was such a blessing to read the book. God began to draw me to this morning’s passage. And then a couple of weeks ago in our Youth Discipleship, we began a series where we are looking at who we are in light of who Jesus is and what He says about us, and that’s when God caused this morning’s passage to cling to me. In light of the past couple of weeks, it has served as a reminder to me to have hope. It is a passage that I have found myself talking about a lot and I feel that God has led me to it this morning. Maybe you are here this morning, and there are things in your life that have been hard. Maybe for you, the things that you have built your life around have come crumbling down. Hopefully, you will come to the same conclusion that I have — that there is hope.

That as hard as what this time is, God wants to guide you through it.

As you turn to Isaiah 43, I want to give you some background on the book. The book of Isaiah reveals the heart of God and the desire of full and total commitment and obedience to Him. Isaiah points ultimately to the current hope that we have as believers and the future hope that we have of the new heavens and the new earth where we will worship God in peace for all eternity.

The setting for the book of Isaiah takes place at the end of King Uzziah’s life in Judah. Isaiah’s ministry spans 40 years. The book spans through the rules of the kings of Judah – Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. There were critical events that also happened during this 40-year period such as the fall of the northern kingdom and the Syro-Ephraimite war.

The occasion for the book of Isaiah is similar to those of the other prophets in the Old Testament. Isaiah 1:4 reveals how the people have sinned against God by turning away from him and refusing to obey him, calling them a “people weighed down with iniquity, brood of evildoers, depraved children!” Isaiah 6 details Isaiah’s calling to go and speak to the people what God tells him to speak until cities and houses are destroyed, the land is ruined, and the people are removed.

Chapter 1 contains the introduction to the book of Isaiah. In verse 4, the people have abandoned God. Verses 5 through 6, Israel is in deep need of healing from a physician. Verse 8, the land and everything in it is destroyed. This leads to verse 11, stating that their hardness of heart has turned God from their offerings. God goes on to declare that the people cannot atone for their deep need to cleanse themselves because they are filled with unrighteousness and injustice. Isaiah 1 ends by God stating that He will restore them, that He will remove their impurities, and make things right. When it is all said and done, they will be called the “Righteous City, a Faithful Town.”

Chapters 2 through 39 discuss the punishment and hope to Judah and the world. Chapters 2 through 12 focus on Zion and Judah. God is going to judge not only Judah but the nations. What was once weapons of war will be turned into garden instruments. In the midst of this section, we are given Isaiah’s calling in chapter 6. Mark Rooker indicates that not only does Isaiah 6 reveals Isaiah’s calling but that it could also reveal “a special commission to a specific task.” This task is for Isaiah to speak God’s message of judgment and hope until everything lies in ruin, and the land is desolate. It is then that a “holy seed” will come. In Isaiah 9, the people are given the hope of the holy seed who is the Messiah who will sit on the throne of David. Isaiah chapter 11 discusses how the Messiah will be a new David from Jesse. The Messiah will usher in peace, as illustrated by various animals coming and lying down together. The Messiah will gather the remnant from all over together.

Isaiah then shifts to the world in chapters 13 through 39. In Isaiah 13 through 19, we are given through oracles the punishments of Babylon, Egypt, Moab, and other nations who were against God and the people. In Isaiah 19:24-25 Isaiah says that there will be an alliance between the people, Egypt and Assyria. God will bless it, stating, “Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” Isaiah 25:8-9 discusses how there will be no more death or tears and that the people will declare that God is their God. Isaiah 27 details how God will slay the Leviathan and that with the destruction of the Leviathan there will be a multi-ethnic communal gathering. God will then gather the remnant and restore them to “worship the Lord at Jerusalem on the holy mountain.”

The next section, chapters 40 through 66, is where we find our text.  This whole section discusses global salvation and new creation. Isaiah 40:3-4 identifies that there will come one who will be the preparer of people for the Messiah. The very first gospel text is found in this section in Isaiah 40:9 that reveals that the Messiah will come with might, as a shepherd with good news for people and the world. God will work through His spirit-led servant to accomplish His justice. He will be light and hope for all nations. God then begins to reveal the work of the Messiah in Isaiah 42. The Messiah will faithfully bring justice and will restore. That leads us to this morning’s passage.

Isaiah 43:1–3 CSB

1 Now this is what the Lord says— the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel— “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and the rivers will not overwhelm you, When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched and the flame will not burn you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior. I have given Egypt as a ransom for you, Cush and Seba in your place.

As I said earlier, this passage has been on my heart and mind for a couple of weeks. There are some things that we can take away in this passage that will help guide us through this time. I’ve narrowed it down to just three:

We Are Called by Name and We Are His

We Can Conquer the Trials with God

We Can Get Through it Because Christ Is Our Eternal Savior

Let’s dive into how we are called by Name and are his.

1. We Are Called by Name and We Are His

Isaiah 43:1 CSB

1 Now this is what the Lord says— the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel— “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine.

Isaiah begins this chapter saying what the Lord says. These are not Isaiah’s words but are the Lord’s words. And do you notice how God opens up with talking to the people? He says, “Do not fear.” I’ve noticed that whenever God says to not be afraid, it is something promising that follows. We see this same type mentality when we read in the Gospels with Mary when the angel appears to her and says in Luke 1:30

Luke 1:30 CSB

30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

We see it again in the Gospels when Joseph has a dream to not divorce Mary and is told Matthew 1:20

Matthew 1:20 CSB

20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

And we see it with the shepherds in Luke 2:10

Luke 2:10 CSB

10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:

After all the things that Isaiah talked about how they are being punished because they have forgotten their first love, He tells them here to not be afraid. The reason is given in the rest of this passage why they don’t have to be afraid. He tells the people of Israel that He has redeemed them. That He has called them by name and they are His. Through all the things that the people of Israel went through, God did not give up on them. God could have said to them you have sinned against me and so I am done with you. Yet that is not what He says her. Here God assures them of His enduring love and presence. He is not a distant God who doesn’t know who they are or a God that has abandoned them.

He is the one who knows them. Knows them by their name. He declares here that their identity is His own. That He has redeemed them by His grace. The fact that God knows them by name and claims them despite their disobedience reveals the type of father that God is. He is a good father who loves His children.

For us, the same is true. We do not have to be afraid no matter what we are going through because those of us who are followers of Jesus are His. Even in the midst of being disciplined because of our disobedience to God, He still loves us. When everyone turns against us, He will not. When people give up, He won’t.

What this also means is that for the Believer, our identity is found solely in Him. Not in the expectations of others or in our abilities. Our identity is to be found solely in Him. That is why He says we are His. For those of us who profess Jesus as Lord, we are reflecting what Paul talks about when Paul says in Ephesians 2:8–9 “8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.” There was nothing that we could have done to earn salvation. We are saved simply because God loved us so much that He sent His Son who Isaiah prophesies as the suffering Messiah who will be killed, and which by through His death we will be healed.

Because of this we can go through hard seasons. We can face life knowing that we don’t go it alone. Even when we are being disciplined because of our sin, we are still His. Not only are called by name and His, but we can conquer the trials with God.

2. We Can Conquer the Trials with God

Isaiah 43:2 CSB

2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and the rivers will not overwhelm you, When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched and the flame will not burn you.

Life is hard. I think if Job was here with us this morning, he’d agree. Job was a man who faced all kinds of suffering. He lost his wealth, his sons and daughters, everything in a single day. And then he became infected with boils all over his body. He did nothing to deserve this. It wasn’t because of sin but instead to prove that he would not curse God. If you read the book of Job, you might discover that Job is never told why he suffers. But what you do see is how he responds with authenticity to God. He doesn’t curse God but he asks God why.

The truth is that we may never know why we go through the things we go through. That doesn’t mean that God isn’t there. In verse 2 here, we are reminded that even when life is tumultuous, God is with us. That only He can lead us through the “waters” and “fires” that can happen in life. This is true for us as a church. God wants to lead us through this hard season that we are in.

God wants to guide us in the difficulty of life, but in order for that to happen, we have to be willing to hold things loosely, even if that means giving up control of our life. All too often we say we are willing, yet we want our will to be done. And when we try to do it on our own, failure is quick to follow. God wants to guide us through the hard times, but we have to say “God take it because I cannot do it on my own.”

As a church, we have to be willing to let go of our own ideas and agendas and trust Him to lead and guide us. It is the only way we are going to make it. God’s commitment to guide and lead us through the water and the fire echoes what David writes in Psalm 23 when he says that even when he goes through the valley of the shadow of death, he will fear no evil. Why?

Because God is with him.

The same God who says here in verse 2. God doesn’t give up when things are hard. He leads us through the hard times and the difficulties. Because of this we can conquer the trials. We just have to be willing to give up control and let Him lead.

Today, we can get through this because we are called by name and we are his, we can conquer the trials with God, and finally we can get through it Because Christ is our eternal savior, and he is with us.

3. We Can Get Through it Because Christ Is Our Eternal Savior

Isaiah 43:3 CSB

3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior. I have given Egypt as a ransom for you, Cush and Seba in your place.

Here, God proclaims that there is going to come a day when Egypt, Cush, and Seba will one day no longer be the the strong nations that they are. While they are not an empire during the time Isaiah, especially Egypt, they were strong nations. Here God is reminding the people that He is their God and that when you read further on, you will see that God will deliver them. That as their savior, God will deliver and restore the people back to Him.

The point in this verse is that God will restore. That what the people are going through is not eternal. It is temporary.

We see here that God wants to restore. God wants to deliver His people who are in exile because of their sin. That’s why we read in Isaiah about the prophecy of the Messiah. It is the Messiah who will come and set things right for those who believe. For those of us as followers of Jesus know who this Messiah is that Isaiah ultimately points to - Jesus Christ. That is how God ultimately actively delivers His people. For those of us who are followers, this should cause us to embrace our secure foundation in Christ. To know that no matter what we face, it is not permanent but temporary.

As hard as what the hardships we face may be, and as long as they may persist, they are not eternal. Jesus is. For those of us who are followers of Christ, it is that truth that because Jesus is our eternal savior, we can know that whatever it is that we are going through. Whatever trial we are facing, it is temporary. We have to be willing to trust Him through it. And when we do, we will be changed. We will not be who we once were. Our life will be characterized by hope - a life living on purpose in Him and dependency on Him.

We are going to have a time of invitation....

Pray and invite people to respond as the spirit leads.