"Fresh Starts and New Beginnings"
January 10, 2010 Isaiah 43:1-7
New Year’s Day has come and gone. Some of you have already left your resolutions behind. That
doesn’t matter. I like that saying that became very popular in the early 1970’s. Maybe you
remember it? “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” That is essentially the message that
Jesus came to share.
He told people that they could put their pasts behind them and start fresh. Their sins would be
taken away and they would be forgiven and granted a new life. He told them that he would pay the
price for God’s demand for righteousness and we would be the recipient.
In December of 1934 John and Betty Stam, a young American missionary couple assigned in
China, were captured by Communists and eventually martyred for their faith. Captured with them
was their baby daughter. One of the other prisoners, as he was being released from Jingde Prison,
overheard the soldiers discussing what to do with the Stams’ baby. The men didn’t want to listen
to her constant crying, and could see no use in preserving her life, so they decided to kill her for
their own convenience. The prisoner, whose name remains unknown, stepped forward and said,
“Why kill her? What harm has she done?” “Are you a Christian?” shouted one of the Reds. “No, I
am not,” was the answer. “I am a prisoner you just released.” “Will you die for this foreign baby?”
they asked. “I will,” answered the strange prisoner. And as the Stams hugged their baby tighter,
they saw this prisoner hacked to pieces before their eyes. Thus little Helen Priscilla’s life was
spared because of the sacrifice of the life of this Chinese prisoner. She was given another chance at
life – a new beginning – and this is a picture of the new beginning in life that we receive in Jesus
Christ, because Jesus took our place in death that we might live.
That’s the good news of the gospel. I can stop preaching right now and if you truly understood
the message of the gospel you would walk away feeling blessed. No more baggage. No more guilt.
Our slate has been wiped clean.
But since it’s such a cold day and you did come out, I want to make sure you get your money’s
worth and then some. So here goes. In the book of Isaiah, God explains the how, the why and the
what of our fresh start.
Chapter forty three begins with the words, “I have redeemed you.” What does the word “redeem”
mean? Redeem means, “to buy back,” “to recover,” and “to obtain the release or restoration of, as
from captivity, by paying a ransom.” Essentially God wanted to restore Israel from ruin and give
the people freedom and victory.
Israel had been invaded by the Assyrians around 721 B.C. The kingdom had lost its power and
authority and become a puppet of the invaders. In Psalm 137:1-2 and 4 we can hear the cry of a
people trapped in spiritual bondage, when they declared, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat
down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst
of it . . . How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?”
The people felt lost and without hope, but God had not forgotten them. The good news is that
God is still in the redeeming business today. Sometimes the events that unfold in our lives
overwhelm us. We’ve made bad choices. We have got caught up in circumstances. Like the
Israelites we have let these things take over and control our lives. Well God wants to give us a new
lease on life. So he sent the redeemer, Jesus to pay the price to redeem us and give us a fresh start.
In Galatians 4:4-5 the apostle Paul said, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent
forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption as sons,” and then in Titus 2:13-14a we are told, “Looking for the
blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself
for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special
people.”
Wherever you are right now, and whatever bondage you find yourself in, your Redeemer is calling
you by name so you can claim that fresh start.
God doesn’t only redeem us, he is also our savior. He walks with us through life. I love these next
few verses and often use them in funeral services. They are powerful reminders that we are never
alone. Isaiah says “when you walk through the water I will be with you. When you pass through
the river it will not overwhelm you.”
This is a direct reference to the parting of the Red Sea for Moses and the children of Israel. He
reminds the people that God always makes a way. Do you remember that story? Moses had just
had his showdown with the Egyptian Pharoah and was leading the people out of their bondage onto
the promised land. Then word came that the Pharoah had changed his mind. They were ready to
flee but they came up against the Red Sea with nowhere to go. They were trapped. That’s when
Moses prayed and then lifted his rod and the sea opened before them.
Even in the most impossible of circumstances, God can find a way to keep you safe, if only you
trust him. Whenever we feel as though we are drowning in a deluge of difficulties, we need to
remember that the Lord is walking with us .
In Mark 4:35-41 we read the story where Jesus and his disciples were crossing the sea on a boat
in the middle of a raging storm. The disciples thought they were going to perish. It was scary. We
know the feeling. When we are enduring a tempestuous sea of trials and raging storms of strife, we
get scared. We may be fretting and pacing the deck, but Jesus is never far away. He can calm any
storm. He showed it that day by speaking peace to the wind. Our Redeemer and Savior, Jesus
Christ, wants to calm the raging storms in our life. He is right there beside us in the midst of those
storms and if we cry out to him he will declare, “Peace, be still!”
The Lord then said, “When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame
scorch you.” It is a reminder that God was with them in the heat of the desert. God proved to be
Israel’s Provider; however the wilderness was a purifying and refining experience and it was meant
to be difficult.
Hebrews 12:29 says, “Our God is a consuming fire,” and this is another way in which the people
came to know God while in the wilderness. In Ezekiel 22:17-22 we are informed of how the Lord
will sometimes allow us to endure trials to mold and shape our character, in what is called the
Refiner’s fire. We are made stronger by it and our imperfections are being worked out of us. This
fire serves to refine us into that precious individual that God created in the first place. It prepares us
for the new start.
We only read up to verse seven this morning but in the later verses Isaiah points to the fact that
God is going to do a new thing. He says now that I have redeemed you, “Do not remember the
former things, nor consider the things of old.” Do not hang on to the past and dwell on those hard
times, but look ahead to brighter days in God’s future.
God wants to do something new in our lives, and he does it through Jesus Christ. Back in the
1990’s, the Christian rap group D. C. Talk said in their song “Nu Thang,” that “God is doing a ‘nu
thang’ in our lives so; we’re doing a ‘nu thang’ through Jesus Christ.” In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we
read, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold,
all things have become new” and in Revelation 2:17 we are told that through Jesus Christ we
receive a brand new name. This God of miracles wants to do a miracle in our life by erasing the
past, and giving us a future and a hope.
January 10, 2010 Isaiah 43:1-7
New Year’s Day has come and gone. Some of you have already left your resolutions behind. That
doesn’t matter. I like that saying that became very popular in the early 1970’s. Maybe you
remember it? “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” That is essentially the message that
Jesus came to share.
He told people that they could put their pasts behind them and start fresh. Their sins would be
taken away and they would be forgiven and granted a new life. He told them that he would pay the
price for God’s demand for righteousness and we would be the recipient.
In December of 1934 John and Betty Stam, a young American missionary couple assigned in
China, were captured by Communists and eventually martyred for their faith. Captured with them
was their baby daughter. One of the other prisoners, as he was being released from Jingde Prison,
overheard the soldiers discussing what to do with the Stams’ baby. The men didn’t want to listen
to her constant crying, and could see no use in preserving her life, so they decided to kill her for
their own convenience. The prisoner, whose name remains unknown, stepped forward and said,
“Why kill her? What harm has she done?” “Are you a Christian?” shouted one of the Reds. “No, I
am not,” was the answer. “I am a prisoner you just released.” “Will you die for this foreign baby?”
they asked. “I will,” answered the strange prisoner. And as the Stams hugged their baby tighter,
they saw this prisoner hacked to pieces before their eyes. Thus little Helen Priscilla’s life was
spared because of the sacrifice of the life of this Chinese prisoner. She was given another chance at
life – a new beginning – and this is a picture of the new beginning in life that we receive in Jesus
Christ, because Jesus took our place in death that we might live.
That’s the good news of the gospel. I can stop preaching right now and if you truly understood
the message of the gospel you would walk away feeling blessed. No more baggage. No more guilt.
Our slate has been wiped clean.
But since it’s such a cold day and you did come out, I want to make sure you get your money’s
worth and then some. So here goes. In the book of Isaiah, God explains the how, the why and the
what of our fresh start.
Chapter forty three begins with the words, “I have redeemed you.” What does the word “redeem”
mean? Redeem means, “to buy back,” “to recover,” and “to obtain the release or restoration of, as
from captivity, by paying a ransom.” Essentially God wanted to restore Israel from ruin and give
the people freedom and victory.
Israel had been invaded by the Assyrians around 721 B.C. The kingdom had lost its power and
authority and become a puppet of the invaders. In Psalm 137:1-2 and 4 we can hear the cry of a
people trapped in spiritual bondage, when they declared, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat
down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst
of it . . . How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?”
The people felt lost and without hope, but God had not forgotten them. The good news is that
God is still in the redeeming business today. Sometimes the events that unfold in our lives
overwhelm us. We’ve made bad choices. We have got caught up in circumstances. Like the
Israelites we have let these things take over and control our lives. Well God wants to give us a new
lease on life. So he sent the redeemer, Jesus to pay the price to redeem us and give us a fresh start.
In Galatians 4:4-5 the apostle Paul said, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent
forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption as sons,” and then in Titus 2:13-14a we are told, “Looking for the
blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself
for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special
people.”
Wherever you are right now, and whatever bondage you find yourself in, your Redeemer is calling
you by name so you can claim that fresh start.
God doesn’t only redeem us, he is also our savior. He walks with us through life. I love these next
few verses and often use them in funeral services. They are powerful reminders that we are never
alone. Isaiah says “when you walk through the water I will be with you. When you pass through
the river it will not overwhelm you.”
This is a direct reference to the parting of the Red Sea for Moses and the children of Israel. He
reminds the people that God always makes a way. Do you remember that story? Moses had just
had his showdown with the Egyptian Pharoah and was leading the people out of their bondage onto
the promised land. Then word came that the Pharoah had changed his mind. They were ready to
flee but they came up against the Red Sea with nowhere to go. They were trapped. That’s when
Moses prayed and then lifted his rod and the sea opened before them.
Even in the most impossible of circumstances, God can find a way to keep you safe, if only you
trust him. Whenever we feel as though we are drowning in a deluge of difficulties, we need to
remember that the Lord is walking with us .
In Mark 4:35-41 we read the story where Jesus and his disciples were crossing the sea on a boat
in the middle of a raging storm. The disciples thought they were going to perish. It was scary. We
know the feeling. When we are enduring a tempestuous sea of trials and raging storms of strife, we
get scared. We may be fretting and pacing the deck, but Jesus is never far away. He can calm any
storm. He showed it that day by speaking peace to the wind. Our Redeemer and Savior, Jesus
Christ, wants to calm the raging storms in our life. He is right there beside us in the midst of those
storms and if we cry out to him he will declare, “Peace, be still!”
The Lord then said, “When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame
scorch you.” It is a reminder that God was with them in the heat of the desert. God proved to be
Israel’s Provider; however the wilderness was a purifying and refining experience and it was meant
to be difficult.
Hebrews 12:29 says, “Our God is a consuming fire,” and this is another way in which the people
came to know God while in the wilderness. In Ezekiel 22:17-22 we are informed of how the Lord
will sometimes allow us to endure trials to mold and shape our character, in what is called the
Refiner’s fire. We are made stronger by it and our imperfections are being worked out of us. This
fire serves to refine us into that precious individual that God created in the first place. It prepares us
for the new start.
We only read up to verse seven this morning but in the later verses Isaiah points to the fact that
God is going to do a new thing. He says now that I have redeemed you, “Do not remember the
former things, nor consider the things of old.” Do not hang on to the past and dwell on those hard
times, but look ahead to brighter days in God’s future.
God wants to do something new in our lives, and he does it through Jesus Christ. Back in the
1990’s, the Christian rap group D. C. Talk said in their song “Nu Thang,” that “God is doing a ‘nu
thang’ in our lives so; we’re doing a ‘nu thang’ through Jesus Christ.” In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we
read, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold,
all things have become new” and in Revelation 2:17 we are told that through Jesus Christ we
receive a brand new name. This God of miracles wants to do a miracle in our life by erasing the
past, and giving us a future and a hope.
Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
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