Readings for today: Isaiah 43-45, Psalms 80
God made you. He shaped you and formed you in your mother’s womb. He knit you together. Bone by bone. Organ by organ. Muscle by muscle. He gave you talents. Abilities. Gifts. He brought you into the world. It’s worth stopping just to think about this morning. The fact that you are fearfully and wonderfully made by God Himself. A unique, unrepeatable act of creation. “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.” (Isaiah 43:1) God knows you inside and out. God knows every hair on your head. God knows every cell in your body. God knows you as intimately as you can be known. And the most amazing thing is He loves you. Loves every part of you. The whole parts and the broken parts. The fully developed parts and the undeveloped parts. The good parts and the bad parts. He loves you warts and all. He calls you by name. You are His child.
God called you. Not only by name but for a specific purpose. You were created for His glory. Created to bear His image into the world. Created to bring Him praise in everything you say and do. “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made...the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” (Isaiah 43:7, 21) You were not a random act. You were not a mistake or an accident. You were not an afterthought or an add-on. God created you in order to make Himself known through you to the world. God created you in order to have an eternal relationship with you. God created you in order to dwell with you forever. This is why He is so faithful. God will never let us go. “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.” (Isaiah 43:2) God has declared that He will be worshipped by His people and He will not relent until we fulfill our divine purpose.
God consecrated you. Redeemed you. Saved you. Delivered you from the power of sin and death. God died for you. He took your place. Endured the punishment you deserved. Shed His own blood in order to satisfy the justice of God. You are no longer your own. You were bought with a price. He has claimed you. He has adopted you. He has brought you into His family. “Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’ “Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him. In the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.” (Isaiah 45:21-25)
God has done what we cannot. He has lifted us out of the pit and set our feet on solid ground. He has given us a new song to sing and a new heart filled with His joy. He has broken the back of our rebellion. Driven us to our knees with His love and grace. Showed us mercy where we have failed. Covered us in His own righteousness. In the Lord we are justified. In Christ we are made new. God shaping us and forming us yet again for His praise and His glory.
Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 46-49, Psalms 135