Isaiah 43:1-5a "But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. Fear not, for I am with you;"
In this blog, I want to talk to you about the TRUSTWORTHINESS of the God of the Bible. So as we get into this, I want to ask you a few questions...
- Are you currently going through a trial?
- Do you currently doubt the Lord with something?
- Are you wondering how a “certain situation” is going to come to an end?
- Are you a non-believer today? And you wonder about this God of the Bible?
- Do you ever wonder if God is really “There for you”?
1. His Words of Ownership
Vs.1 “But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.”
As we consider the fact that He has created us and formed us, I want to share with you some verses out of Psalm 139...
Psalm 139:13-16 “For You formed my inward parts; You covered (wove) me in my mother’s womb. 14I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made (distignuished); Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. 15My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.”
Next, we consider the point that He said that He has redeemed us. What does that mean? The word redeemed means to regain possession of something in exchange for a payment; to buy back. I think that this little story is a cool little picture of redeeming something. (Maybe you have heard of it).
There is a story about the little gingerbread boy; there was a little girl who had worked hard to bake the perfect gingerbread man. Having formed him, baked him, as she was putting the final raisin button on him, he suddenly jumped out of the pan, and began to run away. She began chasing after him as fast as she could run. He called back, and he said, “Run run, as fast as you can! You’ll never catch me, I’m a gingerbread man!” Sure enough, she couldn’t catch him, he ran away. She went home crying. But the next day as she walked down the street, she looked in the window of the bakery store, and there smiling at her, was her little gingerbread man.
So she went into the store, and she said, “Sir I want my gingerbread man who is in the window.” He said, “He will cost you ten cents.” She said, “No, it’s mine, I made him.” He said, “He will cost you ten cents if you want him.” So she went home, and got her bank, and got the pennies out and went back to the store, and said, “I want my gingerbread man”, and she put the ten pennies down on the counter. The man went to the window, and took the little gingerbread boy out, and handed it to her. As she went down the street, clutching it tightly, she said, “Now you’re really mine. I made you, and now I bought you.”
So she went into the store, and she said, “Sir I want my gingerbread man who is in the window.” He said, “He will cost you ten cents.” She said, “No, it’s mine, I made him.” He said, “He will cost you ten cents if you want him.” So she went home, and got her bank, and got the pennies out and went back to the store, and said, “I want my gingerbread man”, and she put the ten pennies down on the counter. The man went to the window, and took the little gingerbread boy out, and handed it to her. As she went down the street, clutching it tightly, she said, “Now you’re really mine. I made you, and now I bought you.”
Have you ever wondered how much you are worth?
Consider these two verses...
1 Peter 1:18-19 “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
1 Corinthians 6:20 “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.”
2. His Forewarning & His Promises
Vs.2-3 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. 3For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.”
This is an amazing point about the LORD. He is so faithful to forewarn us of future trials or tribulations. Note what He says... He says, WHEN you pass through the waters... He continues and states... AND through the rivers. WHEN you walk through the fire...
It is not an IF, but it is WHEN... You see God's Word does not promise the believer that they will never go through trials or tribulations, in fact He says, WHEN you go through ___________ (fill in the blank).
Consider these verses…John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
But something that you must note, is that it does not stop there. The next detail that He tells us about future tribulations, are His precious promises!
Listen to these promises…
• I will be with you
Is this Promise Enough for You?
If this was the only promise that He gave to you through your trials or tribulations, would that be enough? I mean, think about it. Let's consider some of the worst things that could happen in our life... Losing a loved one to death. Losing everything financially. A fire burning up everything you own... Would the promise of HIS presence be enough for you? Think about it!
But He didn't stop there in these verses, He goes on to say...They (the rivers) shall not overflow you...You shall not be burned...Nor shall the flame scorch you...For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior
How do you respond to these promises? Do you TRUST Him with these promises?
3. His Words of Love
Vs.4 “Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life.”
A. You were precious in My sight.
The word precious means to be prized; to be highly valued. You need to understand something with this point. He is telling this to: A nation that constantly turned their backs on Him. A nation that had hardened their hearts many times with Him. And yet He says that they were PRECIOUS in His sight! Such Love & Grace
Deuteronomy 7:7-8a “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because the LORD loves you,”
B. I have loved You
Jeremiah 31:3 “The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”
1 John 3:16 “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.”
Romans 5:6-8 “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:6-8 “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
4. His Promise
Vs.5a “Fear not, for I am with you;”
One of the greatest things that destroys our faith is FEAR. If you note, the LORD told them not to fear two times in these five verses. My question for you is... Why would He say that? Why would He say... FEAR NOT? Simply put, because they had fear. Look at these next few statistics about fear in the Bible:
- 51 times in the Bible it says – DO NOT FEAR
- 50 times in the Bible it says – DO NOT BE AFRAID
- 11 times in the Bible it says – FEAR NOT
- 3 times in the Bible it says – DO NOT BE DISMAYED
I am with you
As we come to the close of this message, I want you to think about all that was said…
• They are HIS words of Ownership
o He has created us
o He has formed us
o He has Redeemed us
o He has Called us by Name
• HE has forewarned us of future trials and tribulations
• He has promised us His presence!
• HE has spoken words of LOVE to us
• HE has given us HIS promise of HIS presence again
• It is all based upon HIM
• Not upon US!
• HE IS TRUSTWORTHY!
• HE IS FAITHFUL!
Hebrews 6:13 “For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,”
• Do You See How He is TRUSTWORTHY?
• Have you placed your trust in Him?
• Will You give over that “situation” and TRUST Him with it?
HE IS TRUSTWORTHY!
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