God Got Your Back

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.

isa 43:1-

Introduction

There is a story about two brothers who grew up very tight. When you saw one brother you knew that you would see the other one somewhere around. One day the brothers were outside playing when the oldest brother accidentally knocked out the front tooth of the youngest brother. The youngest brother was very angry and upset and he desperately wanted to get even with that brother but he remembered that their mother always said that they were supposed to have each other’s back.

Well one day the youngest brother overheard a group of guys talking in the neighborhood saying that they were going to jump the oldest brother after school so the youngest brother ran up the oldest brother and told him what they had planned to do and he told his oldest brother “Man whatever goes on just know that I got your back”

Well just as the youngest brother had said the group of guys surrounded the oldest brother and started to jump him. The oldest brother was winning until he became tired and when he looked up he saw his brother from a distance running toward the pile and that’s when he remembered that his brother had told him that he had his back. The oldest brother began to smile at the sight of his brother coming to his rescue but to his surprise the youngest brother started to join the other guys in the fight. After the fight the oldest brother asked the youngest brother why he did what he did and the youngest brother replied “I never told you how I was gonna have your back I just told you that I got your back”

Many of us know of at least one person we can call on whenever we have an emergency. These are people who would answer the phone whenever something crazy has happened in your life.

The time you had a flat tire

The time you left your homework at home and had to copy there’s in session room

That time you had to lie to get out of a situation

That time you had a medical emergency and had to be rushed to the hospital.

One of the reasons why we can feel comfortable calling on these people is because many times in the past they have shown either by their words or their actions that they had our back. In other words they looked out for you or was there when you needed them the most.

The issue comes in when the person who we’ve counted on the most has let us down. Either when we needed them the most they did not show up or when they showed up they did not deliver in the way we thought they should have delivered.

Being hurt by people can be some of the deepest pain you can every experience. One of the deepest ways a person can hurt you is by saying “Man you know I got your back” but they failed to show up when it mattered the most.

Whenever a person expresses that they have your back it is best to know what exactly do they mean by I got your back? We automatically assume that certain people should have our back no matter what the situation is

· Parent

· Sibling

· Spouse

· Best friend

But I have some good news for you if you have ever been let down by a person before. The good news is that:

The first lesson the text teaches us that God has our back is because we are in His Possession.

God can heal that broken situation if you allow Him to

God will always have your back

The reason why I am here this morning is to remind someone that has forgotten that God has your back and to tell someone who never knew that God has your back.

I’m so glad that our scripture for this morning will show us the reason why God got your back.

Before we can understand the importance of these verses, we must first understand the history behind the text.

History

During this period of time the nation of Israel is God’s chosen people and they are in Babylonian captivity.

The first lesson the text teaches us in knowing that God got our back is because we are in His Possession.

Possession

Isaiah 43:1 ESV

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.

Being in God’s possession means that He owns you. In other words that means that you belong to Him.

The text teaches us that God has an unique relationship with His children as He is our Creator, Former, and Redeemer.

That three-fold relationship that God has with His children is unique because it teaches and validates a different aspect of the relationship we have with Him and the reason as to why He has your back.

The first reason is because He is your Creator.

Creator

The same God that said...

“Let there be light”

That separated the light from the darkness and called the light Day and the darkness He called Night

The created the land and the sea

The created the sun, the moon, and the stars

That created lions, tigers, bears, bird, and swimming creatures

“Let us created man in our image”

is the same God that brought us into existence.

He is the reason why we are here on this earth. He is the reason why we have breath in our body. He is the reason why we have eyes that we can see, ears that we can hear, a mouth that we can speak, and a heart that is beating in our chest.

Because the God is the Creator of this world and because God is the creator of you is the reason why you are in His possession and the reason why He has your back.

One of the unique characteristics about God is that He is a God that is omniscient.

Another

Omniscient which means that He knows everything and as our Creator He is the Author of our life. Because God is the Author of our life and because God is omniscient, that means that He knows our end just as much as He knows our beginning.

You can have confidence in the fact that God has your back when you know that you are His child and He will do what is necessary as your Creator.

Not only are we His possession because He is our Creator, but we are also His possession because He is our Former.

You can have confidence in the fact that God has your back when you know that you are His child and He will do what is necessary as your Creator.

Former

This word for “former” is used of a potter or an artist who works with soft substances as earth or clay to bring a shape to the masterpiece. This person is responsible for the transformation of the substance to make sure that what they are moulding is becoming exactly what they desire for it to be.

Jeremiah 1:5 ESV

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Knowing that God formed you should be comforting because that means that He gave you certain gifts and talents that He intends for you to utilize on this earth. God being your former also means that He has a plan for you life.

This is important to know because when you know that God formed you for a purpose, you can have a different outlook on the situations that you have to endure because you can know that everything that you are going through or will go through will be used for God’s glory and for your good.

How can we say that with confidence?

Romans 8:28 KJV 1900

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

romans

Knowing that God is our Former should increase our confidence in knowing that He has our back because we can know that God has already given you everything that YOU need to handle whatever or whoever comes your way.

Brother and sisters, I hate to alarm you and be the bearer of bad news, but there is some bad news in knowing that God created you and formed you.

The bad news is that there are people in this world who recognizes that you belong to God and they are going to do everything in your power to take you out of this world.

That person who you think is your friend can be used by the enemy to distract you from your purpose in life.

That manager who you think has your best interest at heart by giving you extra hours and assignments to complete which is causing you to miss church on Sundays and bible study during the week can be used by the enemy to distract you from your purpose in life.

That boyfriend or girlfriend you got that makes you feel loved and is enticing you and influencing you to do things that you know you ought not to do can be used by the enemy to distract you from your purpose in life.

But the good news is that God already knew that your situation would be an issue you in your life and He has a solution for that that is found in Isaiah 54:16-17

Isaiah 54:16–17 NKJV

“Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I have created the spoiler to destroy. No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.

Not only are we His possession because He is our Creator, but we are also His possession because He is our Former, but we are His possession because He is our Redeemer.

Redeemer

God being our Redeemer simply means that He will rescue us from our adversity.

The reality of the matter is that no matter if you are a believer or a non-believer adversity is awaiting us around the corner. Adversity is no respecter of persons.

You can be wealthy with a lot of assets or so poor that you don’t have two nickels to rub together.

ou can be the most popular person in school or you can be the lamest person to every thread the tiles of that school. You be be the Valedictorian of your class or you can be barely making it to the next great. It doesn’t matter who you are trouble knows your address and he is coming full force.

You can be the most popular person in school or you can be the lamest person to every thread the tiles of that school.

You be be the Valedictorian of your class or you can be barely making it to the next level in life.

It doesn’t matter who you are trouble knows your address and he is coming full force.

The good news for the child of God is that you have a Redeemer that is willing and able to rescue you from whatever is coming your way. Because He already knows what is around the corner, it is better to go through life knowing that God has your back rather that going through life without the assurance of knowing that He has your back.

Knowing that God has your back will allow you to:

Have peace when you go to bed at night

Will give you the faith to do things that you feel unqualified to do

Will allow you to be honest when people are blackmailing to do wrong

Stand up for righteousness when everyone around you is attempting to be wicked.

Your faith walk is different when you know that God got your back

Your conversations are different when you know that God got your back

The way you handle situation will be different when you know that God got your back

We can know

You can know that God got your back because you are His possession!

The first lesson the text teaches us that God got your back is because you are His POSSESSION and the second lesson the text teaches us that God has our back is because He made us a PROMISE.

Promise Keeper

Progression

The progression is seen when God says when you pass through, meaning that the hardship that you find yourself in is only temporary.

David could explain it best in the 23rd Psalm

Psalm 23:4 KJV 1900

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

psalm 23:

This is important for us to know because many times we will find ourselves in situations that seems like they will last forever.

God never promises us a length of time that we will have to endure what we are going through, but He did promise us that we will not endure it forever.

This is important as it comes to our relationship with God because when it it that you find yourself in situations that seem to be lingering for a long time, you have to remind yourself that trouble won’t last always.

Yes I know that

That financial hardship has been lingering for a while

Your job is giving your problems

God gives us the promise of our PROGRESSION and He also gives us the promise of HIS PRESENCE.

Presence

The promise is found right here in verse two.

Isaiah 43:2 ESV

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

The second promise that God made to us is the promise of His presence. He promised us of His presence by saying that I will be with you. Not I might, but I will.

The presence of person who is telling you that they have your back can change how you feel about a situation.

Give some examples.

One of the troubling issues I had with the text is knowing that I am a child of God and still having to go through adversity and it made helped me to realize a difficult truth:

If are going through a financial hardship and Warren Buffet said that he will be with you

“Just because you are a child of God does not mean that you will not go through anything, but it does mean that God will be with you whenever you go through your adversity.”

God has always been there for His people and God will always be there for His people so we can rest and assure that God always got your back.

Now there are two different situations that the text mentions where the presence of God will be and that is water and fire.

Water

It’s quite interesting to note that when the text mentions the water it mentions two different types of water and that is symbolic of the situations that we will go through.

There is a difference in the type of water that is mentioned in the text.

Waters represent much larger body of water like the sea and the oceans. One interesting thing to know about large bodies of water is that they are deep and that is symbolic, meaning that the pressures of life can be so deep that it can make it seem as if you are going to drown, but before you start to panic remind yourself of the promise that God made you when He said that “I will be with you.”

One interesting thing that you should know about rivers is that they are continuously flowing at a rapid speed and they are using traveling downstream. That is symbolic as it comes to our life because that means that life comes at you fast, but before you start to panic remind yourself of the promise that God made you when He said that “I will be with you.”

The rivers represent a smaller

God proved Himself be be trustworthy in that He will be with you in the waters because in the past He was with the Children of Israel when they had to go through the Red Sea when they were escaping our of Egypt and He was with the Children of Israel when they had to go through the Jordan River.

Not only does God gives us the promise of our PROGRESSION, not only does gives us the promise of His PRESENCE, but He also gives us the promise of His PROTECTION.

God proved Himself to be with you in the fire when He was with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego after King Nebuchadnezzar threw them into the burning fiery furnace.

Not only does God promise

Protection

The last lesson the text teaches us that God has our back is because He is a Promise Keeper.

2. Fire

God proved Himself to be with you in the fire when He was with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego after King Nebuchadnezzar threw them into the burning fiery furnace.

Protection

Illustrate the story

Not only does God promise

The promises of God are different from the promises of man. The promises of man have potential to be broken and have been broken before but the promises of God cannot be broken and will last forever.

Promise Keeper

God is not a man that he should lie

Numbers 20:19 KJV 1900

And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet.

Numbers 23:19 ESV

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

2 Corinthians 1:20 ESV

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

2 cor

Psalm 89:34 KJV 1900

My covenant will I not break, Nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

Another time in history when the promise of our progression, God’s presence and God’s protections is illustrated in

Mark 4:35–41 NKJV

On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Conclusion

Talk about financial story and baby

The only way that you can have confidence in fact that God got you back is if you have a relationship with Him.

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