““Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing 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.”Isaiah 43:18-19 ESV
Reflection: how can we know if we have been “born of God”?
There are many names used to describe a Christian, such as “Follower of Christ”, “Saved”, “Believer”, “Elect”, “Born Again”, “Child of God”, “Disciple”, “Brother”, etc.. You might have a favorite, and even a few more you have heard used. Some actually use instead their affiliation with a church denomination, such as being a “Baptist”, “Methodist”, “Adventist”, “Lutheran”, among many others, instead of being called a Christian. That might seem a bit more “politically correct”, especially at work or among non-Christians. Not so weird, perhaps. All these names can be confusing from the outside, unless you know what all these characteristics and denominations mean. What they stand for. So if we were to distill this down to one name, one that all Christians could agree on, that would correctly characterize a true Christian, what would that be?
We read in the focus verses today of the work the Lord God is doing, once again creating something new, “Behold, I am doing 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.”Isaiah 43:19 ESV. The imagery He is using here is that of creating life out of the lifeless. Water, even rivers in a dead landscape, in the desert. And we are taken back to what the Lord did for the Israelites, freeing them first from slavery and oppression in Egypt, and then taking them to and providing for them in the desert. “Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:” Isaiah 43:16-17 ESV. He is the Creator God, and
He is creating “a new thing” out of nothing.
Life out of what was dead. Let’s look briefly at a parallel, at the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus, “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”” John 3:1-3 ESV. This puzzled Nicodemus, because he had never understood what “new thing” Isaiah had written about, and that Ezekiel wrote more directly of “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 ESV.
John put it this way, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:9-13 ESV. The new thing that Isaiah wrote about, was not about creating life in the desert physically, but of new spiritual life. The common denominator for the children of God, is that of having been
Born again, born of God.
John writes later “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.” 1 John 5:1-2 ESV. And, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8 ESV. Granted, “love” might be a bit too general, too “fuzzy” perhaps for many. So Paul helped us here by giving us a much more descriptive list of characteristics of those who have been born again by God, and have His Spirit in them “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 ESV.
We have to remember that only God can create something new within us; we are completely powerless by ourselves. But by surrendering to God, through receiving Jesus Christ, believing in His name, God does a new thing in us, He creates new life. We are born again; born of God.
