Don’t Miss the New Thing: Following Jesus into God’s Future – Isaiah 43:18–19
Introduction: Standing at the Crossroads of Memory and Movement
Church, we are a people who love our memories. We frame them, revisit them, and sometimes—if we are honest—we live in them. Past victories. Past failures. Past moves of God. Past hurts.
But discipleship is never about camping in yesterday. Discipleship is about following Jesus—and Jesus always walks forwards.
Isaiah 43:18–19 confronts us with a holy tension: honour the past, but don’t live there. Remember what God has done—but don’t miss what God is doing now.
This is a word for the Church in the 21st century. A word for disciples who feel stuck. A word for believers who long for renewal. A word for sinners who need salvation.
Isaiah 43:18–19 (NLT): “But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
Isaiah 43 is spoken to Israel in exile. God’s people are captive in Babylon—discouraged, ashamed, and spiritually disoriented. Their greatest memory is the Exodus—God parting the Red Sea, crushing Pharaoh, redeeming His people.
Yet God says something astonishing: “Forget all that.”
Not because the Exodus was unimportant—but because God is not finished yet.
Theologically, this passage reveals:
God as Redeemer (Isaiah 43:1)
God as Creator (v. 7)
God as the Lord of history and the future
God as the One who specialises in new beginnings
This is not novelty for novelty’s sake. This is redemptive progression—God unfolding His saving purposes, ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
1. “Forget all that…” – Letting Go Without Losing Gratitude
The Hebrew word for forget here is ?????? (shakach) — meaning to release from fixation, not to erase from memory.
God is saying:
“Stop measuring My future by your past.”
Discipleship demands holy release—from:
Past sins
Past successes
Past disappointments
Even past revivals
R.T. Kendall: “Yesterday’s anointing will not meet today’s challenges.”
That’s a word for the Church. We honour what God did, but we cannot disciple a new generation with yesterday’s obedience. God is calling us to fresh surrender, not recycled spirituality.
2. “I am about to do something new” – The God Who Initiates
The Hebrew word for new is ?????? (chadash) — meaning fresh, renewed, never-before-experienced in this form.
This is not self-improvement. This is divine intervention.
God does not wait for Israel to improve.
God does not wait for the wilderness to change.
God says, “I am about to do something new.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT): “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
Paul writes to believers living in a morally chaotic Corinth. The Gospel does not renovate the old self—it resurrects the dead one.
Greek Word Study: “New” = ?a???? (kainos) — new in quality, not just time.
Discipleship begins not with behaviour modification, but with new birth.
Tim Keller: “The Gospel is not about turning over a new leaf; it is about receiving a new life.”
That’s why Jesus doesn’t call us to try harder—He calls us to follow Him. Only the risen Christ can do something truly new in a human heart.
3. “Do you not see it?” – Spiritual Perception and Faith
God’s new work is often unrecognised before it is undeniable.
Faith precedes sight.
John 5:39–40 (NLT): “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.”
The religious leaders knew Scripture but missed Christ.
You can be biblically informed and still spiritually blind.
The Train Platform
Standing on the platform, clutching yesterday’s ticket, while today’s train pulls in. Discipleship means recognising when Jesus is moving—and stepping on board.
John Piper: “God is always doing ten thousand things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.”
Discipleship sharpens our spiritual eyesight. Following Jesus trains us to recognise the quiet, powerful movements of God.
4. “A pathway through the wilderness” – Grace in Impossible Places
Wilderness in Scripture is never wasted:
Israel was formed there
Moses was prepared there
Jesus was tested there
God doesn’t remove the wilderness—He redeems it.
John 14:6 (NLT): “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
Jesus is the pathway Isaiah foretold.
Max Lucado: “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way.”
Grace meets us in the wasteland—but discipleship walks us through it, following Jesus step by step.
Gospel Presentation: The New Thing Is a Person
Church, the ultimate “new thing” is Jesus Christ.
He lived the life we could not live
He died the death we deserved to die
He was buried in a borrowed tomb
He rose again on the third day
He now offers forgiveness, freedom, and new life
Romans 6:4 (NLT): “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives."
Church, the resurrection is not just something we believe in; it is something we are invited to live in. The empty tomb is God’s declaration that the past does not get the final word. Jesus does.
5. “Rivers in the Dry Wasteland” – Resurrection Life Where There Was None
Isaiah’s language now becomes unmistakably life-giving. Wilderness and wasteland are places of death, scarcity, and survival mode. Yet God promises rivers—not trickles, not puddles, but overflowing provision.
This is resurrection language.
John 7:37–38 (NLT): “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”
Jesus speaks these words during the Feast of Tabernacles, when Israel remembered God providing water in the wilderness. Jesus stands and declares: I am the fulfilment.
Greek Word Study “Living water” = ?d?? ??? (hydor zon) — water that is alive, flowing, fresh, not stagnant.
Many believers survive on yesterday’s rain. Jesus offers present-tense life through the Holy Spirit. Discipleship is learning to drink daily.
Charles Stanley: “Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.”
That is discipleship in a sentence. You may not see the river yet—but obedience positions you where the water will flow.
The Desert Bloom
After rare rainfall, deserts like the Atacama suddenly explode with colour. Seeds dormant for decades spring to life.
Church, some of you carry promises that look dead—but heaven knows exactly when to send the rain. What looks barren to you is not barren to God.
21st-Century Relevance: Following Jesus in a World Stuck in the Past
We live in a culture obsessed with:
Nostalgia
Trauma
Identity rooted in history rather than hope
But disciples of Jesus are not defined by what was, but by Who is.
In a world of anxiety, Jesus offers peace.
In a culture of reinvention, Jesus offers regeneration.
In an age of confusion, Jesus says, “Follow Me.”
Application and Call to Action: How Do We Respond?
1. Repent – Release the Old
Repentance is not just turning from sin—it is turning from anything that keeps you from following Jesus fully.
2. Recognise – Open Your Eyes
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see what God is doing now, not just what He did then.
3. Respond – Step Forward in Obedience
Faith is spelled R-I-S-K when Jesus is leading.
4. Rely – Drink from the Living Water
Daily dependence on Christ through prayer, Scripture, and obedience.
Invitation to Salvation: Don’t Miss the New Thing God Wants to Do in You
Friend, if you are listening today and you know—deep in your heart—that you are living in the wilderness of sin, separation, or self-effort, hear the good news:
Jesus Christ came for you.
He died for your sins.
He rose again to give you new life.
You cannot save yourself—but you can surrender.
Today, you can:
Repent of your sins
Place your faith in Jesus
Receive forgiveness
Become a new creation
If that is you, call on Him now. He will not turn you away.
Conclusion & Benediction: Step into God’s New Work
Church, discipleship is not about clinging to yesterday—it is about following Jesus today.
May you:
Release what God has redeemed
Recognise what God is revealing
Receive what God is ready to pour out
“See, I am doing a new thing.”
Let us not miss it.
Amen.
