It is the sixth century B.C. The people of Jerusalem are exiled in Babylon, far from home. So many of the Lord鈥檚 promises seem to have been undone. He had promised that David鈥檚 line would reign for eternity. But now there is no king in Jerusalem, only the heavy hand of Babylonian rule. He had promised that He would dwell among them in the temple, delivering forgiveness through His chosen means. But now the former temple is little more than rubble. The people of Jerusalem are dejected and depressed, frustrated and forlorn. Things seem hopeless.
Yet over a century earlier, the Lord inspired His prophet Isaiah to proclaim words of hope. With the Lord, hope is never a wish that may or may not come to fruition. With the Lord, hope is certain and sure. He gets their attention, saying, 鈥淏ehold!鈥� More casually, it could be translated, 鈥淭ake a look at this!鈥� They look around and they see Babylon, but He is calling them to look beyond the immediate circumstances. He is calling them to hear and believe what He is doing. 鈥淟ook at this! I am doing a new thing!鈥� Thus, the Lord promises that they will be delivered from exile. The day is coming when they will go home.
The Lord is doing a new thing. Yet, it sounds as if He is doing the same thing He has done in the past. He describes Himself as the One who makes a way in the sea and mighty paths in the waters (Is. 43:16), the One who makes chariot, horse, army and mighty warrior to lie down so that they do not arise (Is. 43:17). Sound familiar? That is what He did at the Exodus, granting Israel a way in the sea, which then came crashing down upon the army of Egypt. The Lord had acted mightily in the past to save His people. He was about to do it again. His past saving deeds grant certainty of His promised saving deeds.
So, what is new about His impending salvation of His people? It is cut from the same cloth as His past actions 鈥� there is continuity; the Lord鈥檚 actions are an unbroken history of salvation. Yet He delights to do salvation anew in a grander fashion than He had before. What is new? Before He made a path through the waters so that His people walked on dry ground. Behold, now He is about to cause waters to appear in the desert! 鈥淚 will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert鈥� (Is. 43:19 ESV).
Part of the continuity of these two great salvation events 鈥� the Exodus and the return from exile 鈥� is water. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul took note of this connection. He saw the unfolding narrative of Christ鈥檚 salvation from Exodus to return from exile to the first century A.D. and beyond, all bound by water. In 1 Cor. 10:2, Paul says Israel was baptized into Moses in the sea. Paul also uses Isaiah鈥檚 language of a 鈥渘ew thing鈥� in 2 Cor. 5:17, saying that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. Paul鈥檚 letters are permeated with the language of being 鈥渋n Christ,鈥� which is a glorious part of baptismal theology.
Just as the Lord saved His people through the sea at the Exodus and did a new thing to save His exiled people with water in the desert, so He makes His people to be a new creation today through baptismal waters. Do you feel all that new? Your life is likely punctuated with times of renewal. A chance to get away from the daily grind for rest and relaxation. Coming home to spouse and children. Gathering with fellow saints to be fed from Christ鈥檚 Word and with His body and blood. The vitality delivered by the Lord through each of these gifts is renewing.
There are also times when you must remind yourself how renewing those gifts are because you don鈥檛 feel that new. You look around and see a world undone by sin and you have a sense that you are an exile, a stranger in a strange place. Even more, you look within with self-examination to find the old Adam (the sinful nature) elbowing in to displace the new man who came forth from the waters of Baptism. Jerusalem, exiled in Babylon, was called to acknowledge the same thing. They were exiled not because the Lord didn鈥檛 keep His promises, but because of their sinful refusal to live in accord with His promises. We are the same. Our sin proclaims that we are old and dying.
鈥淏ehold, I am doing a new thing鈥� (Is. 43:19 ESV)! 鈥淚f anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come鈥� (2 Cor. 5:17 ESV). The Lord delights in the new because He delights in life. Even when 鈥� especially when 鈥� the world around us and the sin within us testifies to an old, dying creation, the Lord鈥檚 promise sustains us with hope, not a wish that may or may not come to fruition. The Lord delivers hope that is certain and sure because it is based upon His promises that are backed up by His past actions.
Ultimately, our hope is in an unfettered new creation. You are a new creation right now through your Baptism into Christ. Yet your new man still battles with your old Adam. You are new, but that newness is awaiting its full revelation at the return of Christ. 鈥淏ehold, I create new heavens and a new earth鈥� (Is. 65:17 ESV)! 鈥淚 saw a new heavens and a new earth 鈥� And he said, 鈥楤ehold, I am making all things new鈥欌�� (Rev. 21:1,5 ESV). Jesus is coming back and when He does, we will live in the new creation freed from every vestige of sin and death.
That is a huge promise. That is our hope. It is certain and sure because Christ鈥檚 promise is backed up by His past actions. From Moses and the Exodus to Isaiah and the return from exile to your Baptism into Christ, He has been making all things new time and again. He will bring that newness to fullness at His return. Until then, He sustains you in hope because you are in Christ. You are a new creation.