Isaiah 43:18-19 (NKJV) 18 “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now It shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.
I believe God has spoken to me about 2023 and that we can win every day. This does not mean we will always see the results we want at the end of the day. I believe it means we can maintain our faith, integrity, joy and victory every day no matter what we may be going through. One of the most important Bible skills we need if we are going to win every day is the ability to cooperate with change. In Isaiah 43 God makes a statement that should have brought great joy to Israel and should bring joy to us. This scripture has been one of those that my generation has been quoting for years. God says he is going to do a new thing.
I have seen God do many wonderful things since I met him as my savior in 1967. I was a Catholic boy who met a Baptist Girl who captured my heart. Through her influence I was born again at 14 and joined the Baptist church. At 17 I was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke with tongues as the Spirit gave the words. This was the beginning of a new dimension in my Christian walk and my introduction to the Charismatic movement shown recently in the movie “The Jesus Revolution.” It was a wonderful time, but we yearned for more.
There were many other things that the Lord brought me through. There were many wonderful truths that I learned. We have seen God touch many lives in many countries not to mention our own local churches. However, with all that I have seen, I do not believe I have seen a “new thing.” In this scripture, the prophet points out that Israel must “not remember the former things nor consider the things of old” if they want to see this new thing that God says he will do. I want you to see that there is no question about whether God will do a “new thing” only whether they will see it affect their lives.
I am 69, and I believe that there are “things of old” that should not be abandoned. God has set certain principles in his Word that transcend times or generations. The idea of a “new thing” that I have not yet seen is both exciting and difficult for me. I want the new thing. I do not want to stop considering “the things of old.” I do not believe we should simply throw away everything we have learned in the last 2000 years nor in the last 30 or 40 years. God has, since the reformation been restoring to the church things that were lost in the first 1000 years of her existence. What is God really saying to us?
I think God is reminding us of the delicate balance between honoring and learning from the past and being open to what God has for humanity next. God did not tell Israel to ignore the Abrahamic covenant. He was not telling them to forego the law of Moses nor the practices and sacrifices that came with it. What he was saying is that God’s relationship with man is moving towards something greater. This process will continue until Jesus comes again. Maybe the greatest example, and the one Isaiah is directly referring to here is the first coming of the Messiah, Jesus.
Beginning with Genesis 3:15, God revealed that there was a time coming when everything that happened in the fall would be reversed and man would be put back into a spirit to spirit relationship with God. Even the covenant with Abraham pointed to this.
Genesis 26:4 (NKJV) 4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
We can see here that God did not limit his blessing to the children of Abraham. In Abraham all nations of the earth would be blessed. The new thing that God will do was for the whole world. That was clear throughout the Old Testament. Yet when the Messiah, Jesus, was finally born, those who should have rejoiced either did not recognize him or they did not want to lose their place and position if that is what this “new thing” required.” In truth, because they could not get by the “former things” and because they remembered the things of old, they would not or could not enter in to the new thing God was doing even though that new thing, the birth, ministry and death of the Messiah was the reason for the existence of Israel to begin with.
As we look through church history, we find this process repeating itself over and over again. In the reformation, God visited a man named Martin Luther. He had been bound in the “old things” and began seeking God for something more. God visited him and revealed to him that man is justified, made right with God, by faith in Jesus’ sacrifice alone. The existing church could not accept that. Eventually the church was changed forever, but those who were part of the established order fought this “new thing” and many died to preserve something God was no longer doing.
When someone else began to seek God for more, God revealed that with justification came a need for clean living. The move of sanctification was born, and another part of the truth was added back to the church. Do you know what the Lutherans did? They persecuted those who preached sanctification. They could not get past what God had shown them to accept what was next. There is always something more and there always will be a new thing until Jesus returns.
The revelation of sanctification did not negate the revelation of justification by faith. Although Isaiah says we must forget the “former things” that does not mean we should throw away what God has revealed in the past. It means we must understand that we do not have the full picture of what God is continually doing. While we continue in the truth we know, we must stay open to what God is saying today. We must not think that God will ever say or do anything that is outside of the principles set forth in the Word of God. However, we do not fully understand all of those principles. There is more than what we know now. God wants to deepen and strengthen our relationship with him. God wants to show us more of himself so that we can live as a beacon of his life to the world.
Finally let me say that this is not just a global or historical process. It is a personal one as well. If we want to see God do a new thing in our own lives, there is one thing we must understand. We are going to have to change. God has something new for you. God has something new for the church. Let us make a decision to be open to change. Not change just for the sake of change and not change that violates principles God has already revealed but change that comes from the heart of God. That kind of change will help us move in tune with what he wants to do in our lives and in the world.
This is not just an Old Testament idea. Look at the words of Paul in Philippians 3.
Philippians 3:12-14 (NKJV) 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
God is going to do a new thing in the church. God wants to do a new thing in your life and mine. The question is will we be ready to move with him when he does. He is gentle and kind and will work with us through our hesitation and misunderstandings but let us prepare our hearts to be ready or whatever he wants to do.
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