722_God’s care for his created and redeemed people (Isaiah 43)
Isaiah 43:1-5 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.
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
5 Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you.
There is deep comfort in being known, called, and claimed by someone who loves you. In a world where many people struggle with insecurity, loneliness, and uncertainty, Isaiah 43 speaks words as powerful today as when they were first spoken to God’s people centuries ago.
The chapter opens with the reassurance: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1, ESV).
Those words reveal the heart of God toward His people. They remind us that we were created by Him, and He redeemed us.
Isaiah emphasizes the Creator role of God in the formation of His people Israel. He says, “He who created you” and “he who formed you.” Later, God speaks of those “whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isaiah 43:7). Our existence is not an accident. We are not products of chance. We were lovingly designed by a Creator who knows us completely.
Yet God’s relationship with His people goes beyond creation. He also says, “I have redeemed you.” Redemption means rescue. It means being delivered from bondage at a cost. Throughout Israel’s history, God demonstrated His saving power. Today, we look back and see the Cross, of which all earlier redemption was only a pale shadow. We see Jesus Christ who redeemed us with his own precious blood, as one without blemish or guile or sin.
Therefore, we belong to God twice over. He made us, and He bought us. And He says, “Fear not.”
He does not promise a trouble-free life. He speaks of rivers and of fire through which we must pass. All that He says is, “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” (Isaiah 43:2).
Not the absence of difficulty, but His presence in difficulty.
Many of us wish God would remove every river and extinguish every fire before we reach them. Instead, He often allows the waters to rise, and the flames to surround us, but His presence remains constant.
As Psalm 23 declares with godly confidence: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4). The greatest answer to fear is not more secure circumstances but the nearness of God.
God’s words become even more personal. He says, “Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you” (Isaiah 43:4).
The God who created the stars, who rules over nations, who holds all things together, says to His people, “I love you.” Does it make sense? For some people, it’s easier to believe that God is powerful than to believe that He is affectionate. They know He is holy and sovereign, but they struggle to imagine that He delights in them. Yet here God reveals with every word that His people are precious to Him.
This love drives his immovable determination to gather His scattered people. He promises to bring them from the east, west, north, and south. The message is clear: God does not abandon what belongs to Him. The Creator cares for His creation, and the Redeemer pursues His redeemed.
But God also declares, “You are my witnesses” (Isaiah 43:10).
God’s people are not only loved; they are called. They are witnesses to His power over time, to his ability to know everything, to His greatness and His saving work.
The Lord explains that His people are to know Him, believe Him, and understand who He is. We come to know God personally. We learn to trust His promises. Then we grow in our understanding of His character and sovereignty.
Our witness begins there. We tell others about His grace ourselves.
Verse 12 says, “I declared and saved and proclaimed.” God’s people testify to a God who speaks, who saves, and who reveals Himself. Our testimony is not about our accomplishments. It is about His faithfulness.
The chapter presents a fascinating balance between remembering and moving forward.
God reminds His people of the Exodus, the great deliverance when He made a way through the sea. Throughout Scripture, God calls His people to remember His mighty works. Remembering strengthens faith. When we recall answered prayers, unexpected provisions, and past deliverances, we gain confidence for today’s challenges.
Yet immediately after reminding them of the Exodus, God says, “Remember not the former things” (Isaiah 43:18).
At first glance, that sounds contradictory. But God wants His people to remember His faithfulness without becoming trapped in the past. He doesn’t want us to live on yesterday’s victories and stop expecting God to work today. Nor does he want us to remain imprisoned by yesterday’s failures.
Instead he calls us to see: “Behold, I am doing a new thing” (Isaiah 43:19).
The God who worked in the past is still at work in the present. Healthy faith looks backward with gratitude and forward with expectation.
Isaiah 43 also contains a warning. God tells His people, “You have not called upon me” and “you have been weary of me” (Isaiah 43:22, 24).
God’s people had drifted. Instead of delighting in Him, they had grown weary. From mechanical prayer, from grudging worship, the service of God had become obligation, divorced from the love of God.
But when our hearts grow cold, it is never because God has become less worthy. Rather, something else is allowed to hold His place.
And yet, astonishingly, despite these failures of love, their wilful sin, God speaks words of sheer grace to Israel: “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25).
The people did not deserve forgiveness or restoration. Yet God, in His mercy, stepped forward and offered cleansing.
This is the gospel. Through Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven. Not because of anything we are or do, but because he made atonement for our sins in the will of God. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Ephesians 1:7).
When God says He will not remember our sins, it is not because He forgets information. Rather, the atonement made by Christ reveals God’s justice, and affirms that he is justified in declaring us righteous when we confess and turn away from our sins. The debt has been paid. The Lord made of himself a living way back to our Father’s home, through his own blood.
And so Isaiah 43 ends where it began—with the faithfulness of God.
The God who formed His people is the God who redeemed His people. The God who protects them is the God who commissions them. The God who confronts their sin is the God who forgives their sin.
These are His words to our hearts: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” He will be faithful to his purposes about us, whatever the cost. His people will never be abandoned nor condemned. His grace is greater than their failures.
The Creator knows us by name. Our Redeemer God loves us. His presence is with us through every river and every fire. His purposes for our lives continue. His grace is greater than our failures.
Let us walk forward in confidence, remembering His faithfulness. Let us expect His ongoing work, so that our lives witness to His goodness and power and wisdom. Whenever fear begins to rise, let us stake everything on this unshakable promise: “I have called you by name, you are mine.” For He says we are “the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. “ God bless.
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