Promise and Purpose

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass 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. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior… Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you… Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth – whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

– Isaiah 43:1-7

Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise. Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; you have been weary of me, O Israel! You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense.

– Isaiah 43:18-23

This morning as I read Isaiah 43, I was struck by God’s promises, His clear statement of our purpose, and His warning that we may grow weary of Him. In a single chapter, God lays it all out in plain language. He reminds us who He is. He is, not only the Creator, He is our Creator. He created everything in the universe by speaking, He formed each of us and breathes the breath of life into each of us, and everything in all of creation, everywhere, is subject to His holy, divine sovereignty. He is God, and He is our Lord, our God.

I pause, trying to soak in the majesty of the thoughts, of who He is, and of how small I am by comparison. I am overwhelmed by the fact that God, the Creator of the universe, cared and cares enough to speak through Isaiah and inspire him to preserve the words and inspire generation after generation to save His holy word so that I am able to read His amazing promises today. It is amazing beyond words.  

So it is with great reverence and awe that I consider His promises. He promises His redemption. He promises His personal relationship, His protection and His presence. He expresses His love and desire for us, for you and for me. He promises that He is in the process of starting something new. It is just beginning, the sapling is breaking through the soil and He urges us to see it and to experience it with Him. And because of who He is and His promises and His faithfulness, He urges us to exchange our fear and worry for faith, trust and confidence in Him.

Take a moment to ponder His promise of new beginning. What new thing is He in the process of starting in your life? God urges us to see it and experience it. Are you in a wilderness? God works to transform wilderness and desert to fertile ground. Are you in a storm? The waves calm at His command. Pray for eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart that is fertile soil for His holy seed to grow, because God is doing something new and we want to join in His holy mission here on earth, which brings us to our purpose.  

Discussing His sons and daughters, God describes them as people “whom I created for my glory” (v.7) and “whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise” (v.21). Through Jesus Christ, we are sons and daughters, we are adopted heirs, and we were created for God’s glory so that we might declare His praise. God created us to declare God’s praise and to exist for His glory.

The word “declare” suggests other people are listening. It is good and proper to praise God while we are alone in private prayer, but to declare implies proclaiming God’s praise for others to hear. If that is our purpose, I ask myself, how am I doing? How often do I publicly declare God’s praise?  

And what does it mean to be created for God’s glory? Perhaps the starting point is to ask what is God’s glory? God’s glory is a manifestation of God. Scripture reveals that God is holy, pure, and divine. He has all power and all authority in heaven and on earth. He is sovereign. He is also perfect. His knowledge, reasoning, thinking are perfect and absolute. He is love. God is the standard of perfection and His glory is the earthly manifestation of His presence.

God’s holy word explains that God’s glory took the form of a cloud that led His people during the Exodus as they traveled through the wilderness. God’s glory manifests itself through miracles that allow us to see tangible evidence of His holy hand at work. For instance, when Jesus converted water into wine Scripture describes the act as a revelation of glory (see John 2:11), when Jesus healed a blind man Jesus explained that the man’s physical condition allowed God to reveal His glory through him (see John 9:3), and when Jesus raised Lazarus from the tomb, He explained that the event happened to reveal God’s glory and to glorify Jesus Christ (see John 11:4). Through these examples we understand how God presents His presence, power, authority and love, and how some people have eyes to see His glory while others do not.  

Jesus also explains that God’s glory is something that we, through Jesus Christ, share in (see John 17:22). He explains that He is the light of the world (see John 8:12) and that we are the light of the world (see Matthew 5:14). We are capable of serving as light when we surrender to Jesus and allow His light, love and life to flow through us. In other words, we allow His glory, or the manifestation of His presence, to flow through us.  

God’s holy word refers to life lived in communion with Jesus Christ as living “by the Spirit” and the tangible presence of Jesus’ character flowing through us and influencing our behavior as “fruit of the Spirit” which is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (see Galatians 5:22-23 and 25).  

Our purpose is to declare God’s praise and to exist for God’s glory, which means existing for the manifestation of His earthly presence. He reveals His glory through us when He reaches into our realm and acts in miraculous ways. He also reveals His glory through us when we live in communion with Him and His light, love and life flow through us and our lives are characterized by tangible evidence of His presence.

After His amazing promises – He promises that He is with us, He promises His love, redemption, protection and relationship and He promises that He is beginning something new in our lives – after all that, He reveals our purpose, and then He issues a warning. He warns that we might grow weary of Him, that we might stop worshiping Him, that we might stop seeking Him, that our relationship with Him might grow cold.

Can you imagine that? The holy, divine, Creator of the universe desires relationship with us. He has power beyond our ability to imagine and all authority everywhere, yet He says in His holy word, “you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.” He desires relationship with each of us. Can you imagine ever allowing your relationship with Him to fade?

Unfortunately, I can. The words stab my soul because I know they describe me.  

God is here with us, loving us, providing for us, blessing us, giving us purpose. Please join me in my prayer. Let’s pray for one another, that God will help us maintain our focus on Jesus Christ and avoid the distractions of the world seeking to pull our attention away from Him, help us to continually seek Him, desire Him, invite Him in, and help us declare His praise and surrender to Him so that He might use us for His glory. Praise God.