New Horizons (Isaiah 43:16-21)
When we lived in Virginia, Tammy, the boys, and I often ate at Cracker Barrel before Wednesday evening Bible study. One Wednesday evening, we ate, and piled in my car for the five-minute drive to the church building. I was pulling out of my parking spot and had a couple of cars waiting to get by when my front axle came undone and the front of the car just hit the pavement. I obviously wasn’t going anywhere!
I had so much going through my head—we were blocking traffic in and out of the restaurant, I had a Bible class to teach, and I had to do something with the car.
Tammy went in and spoke to the kind manager while I got on the phone to one of the elders. Joe, of course, told me not to worry about Bible class, and he told me to have my car towed to his car dealership, and he’d have his mechanics see what could be done. A lady came and picked Tammy and the boys up. One of the members came and picked me up after the tow truck left. We were stranded, but we found rescue.
Have you ever needed rescuing? Have any of you needed help changing a flat tire or a battery jumped or someone to bring you a spare key? Have any of you ever gone in a ditch and needed someone to come pull you out? How many of you have fallen and needed help getting back up?
The Israelites had fallen and needed help getting back up. They were in Babylonian Captivity—stranded—and they needed someone to come to their rescue. In this morning’s text, God came forward and told the exiles that he would rescue them from Babylon. This morning’s text presents an important truth: “God rescues his people from the punishment for sin.”
Scripture (Isaiah 43:16-21)
verses 16-17:
In these verses, Yahweh reminded his people of what he had done during the Exodus. You recall that the Israelites stood at the Red Sea with the Egyptian army behind them—they didn’t have any way of escape. God opened the Red Sea, and his people crossed the sea on dry ground. The Egyptians saw the sea open up, and they followed in after the Israelites; God caused the sea to come back together so that the Egyptians drowned.
By reminding the exiles of what he had done at the Red Sea, God was saying, “Look, I know your situation looks hopeless—you’re captive in a foreign land. But I’m the God who rescued my people from Egypt with mighty deeds. I can—and I will—rescue you.”
verses 18-19a:
The Israelites didn’t need to remember “the former things.” The captives didn’t need to remember the 70 long years they had spent in captivity, nor did they need to remember how the Babylonians had razed Jerusalem. The consequences for their sins were in the past, and the people could move beyond them.
They could put the Babylonian Captivity behind them, for God would do a new thing—rescue them from Babylonian Captivity.
verses 19b-21:
God informed his people that he had the power to rescue them from Babylonian Captivity. Remember that the Israelites complained in the wilderness about the lack of water, and God provided them water from a rock. When the Israelites headed for Canaan from Babylon, they, metaphorically, wouldn’t just have water from a rock, but they would have rivers of water.
Yahweh said he would bring from Babylon “the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” The Israelites hadn’t been formed from Abraham for their own benefit—they were formed for God himself.
And Yahweh would rescue them from Babylonian bondage that they might declare his praise. God’s point doesn’t seem to be that the Israelites would be able to come together and worship; instead, his deliverance of the Israelites would cause other nations to sit up, take notice, and worship the true God instead of their idols. The Israelites would be a shining light of what the living God can do when people turn to him.
Application
“God rescues his people from the punishment for sin.” The Israelites had been in Babylon for 70 years because they had been idolatrous. God, through Isaiah, promised that he would do a new thing, give his people “New Horizons,” and take them home to Canaan. He would rescue them from the punishment for their sin.
God will rescue you from the punishment for your sin, too. You deserve death for your sins. “The soul who sins shall die. . . . The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself” (Ezek 18:20). “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). While you deserve death for your sin, God sent his Son to suffer death in your place so that he might rescue you: John 3:16-17.
How should you live since “God rescues his people from the punishment for sin?”
One: Depend
You must Depend on God for rescue. The Israelites had been in Babylonian Captivity for 70 years, and God said, “I’m going to rescue you from Babylon, and nothing will be able to stop me.” What’s so amazing is that God spoke this morning’s text to Isaiah long before the Babylonian Captivity even began; before Nebuchadnezzar carried the first Israelite into Exile, God had a plan to rescue his people. Therefore, the people could depend on God.
You can Depend on God to rescue you from sin; before you ever sinned, God had a plan to rescue you. God “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Tim 1:9).
God has the power to save you. God wants to save you. You must, however, Depend on him. When the consequences of your sin hit hard, will you trust in God to deliver you from your sin? When the guilt of your sin hits hard, will you trust in God to deliver you from your sin? Will you Depend on God’s great power?
Two: Discount
You must Discount your sins by putting them behind you. The Israelites had suffered captivity for 70 years for their sins, and God told them, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old” (Is 43:18). The Israelites would be able to put the Babylonian Captivity behind them and return to the Promised Land.
You, too, must Discount your sin. Don’t hear me say for one second that sin doesn’t matter or shouldn’t be taken lightly—sin caused the death of the Lord Jesus (and you can’t get more serious than that). However, God’s forgiveness means that your sin has been put away from you: “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Mic 7:18-19).
Once you have done what God requires for your forgiveness, your sin is gone, and you no longer bear it. You do not need to wallow in guilt, for you are forgiven. You can keep fighting the good fight, for you are forgiven. You can hold your head up high, for you are forgiven.
Do you need to Discount your sin?
Three: Declare
Once you’ve been forgiven, you Decare to the world the great things God can do. The Israelites’ going home from Babylon would Declare to the world that Yahweh is the living God who forgives: God said he would bless “the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise” (Is 43:21).
As God forgives your sin, you Declare to the world that your God is loving and forgiving. Think about Saul of Tarsus for a moment; he was a murderer—there’s no nice way of putting it—whom God forgave. Notice what the apostle said about his forgiveness: “I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Tim 1:16).
Will you allow God to forgive you and use your life to Declare to others how great God is? Will you allow others to come to Christ through your example because you Declare God’s forgiveness? Do you need to come to Christ this morning as we stand and sing?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.