A FRESH START WITH GOD
TEXT ISAIAH 43:18-19
How many of you here this morning would like to have something new or a fresh start in your life? Sometimes, we allow the setbacks and failures we experienced to define and enslave us to the point of missing out on the abundant life God has given us to enjoy.
The good news is God says," Forget about what has happened. Do not think about the past. Instead, look at the new things, I am about to do"
Let's turn our Bible to the Book of Isaiah chapter 43 and verses 18 and 19
Isaiah 43:18 Remember ye, not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
The passage above from the Book of Isaiah was addressed to the children of Israel while they were in captivity in Babylon. They were there for a long time, and they had lost hope of ever returning back to their own land as freed people. It was during this situation that God engaged a prophet called Isaiah to bring them the message of hope and encouragement.
i. God's Ability to Transform
Isaiah 43:18; Romans 12:2; Ephesian 4:22-24; 2 Corinthians 5:17.
God assured them that they would be released from their captivity. He revealed to them that He is the Lord, their redeemer, and therefore, He will make good every word He has spoken to them. He reminds them of the great things He did for their fathers when He brought them out of Egypt. ( Exodus 13:14) He promised to do a yet greater thing for them than He has done in the days of old. He also promised not only to deliver them out of Babylon but to conduct them safely and comfortably to their own land.
ii. God's Loving Salvation
Isaiah 43:19; John 3:16; Romans 5:8
We learned later from the book of Isaiah that these physical rescues from captivity are but a shadow of the great and final spiritual and holistic rescue that God has in store for humanity. God speaks again and again through the prophet about the coming Messiah who will suffer for His people and save them from the bondage of sin and death. The New Testament reveals Jesus as the Messiah.
John the Baptist identified and pointed Him to u as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world ( John 1:29)
iii. A Call to Humanity
Isaiah 43:18-19; 43:25; Matthew 11:28.
God is calling to you and me to listen, and look and see what He is doing in our lives. He is asking us to turn towards Him for His loving salvation. He is asking us to give up our sinful ways and pursue His loving plan for our lives.
Isaiah 43:25 says " I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins."
God wants to save His people from their sins through the Lord Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION:
We all may have a dirty past but that should not be the bus stop of our lives. God saw the unpleasant past but asked us to forget the past and turn a new leaf by embracing His plan for our rescue that came through the Lord Jesus Christ. He promises to carry us through the wilderness of life and guide us unto His glorious kingdom.
