O my soul,
Why are you here?
I mean, why do you exist? What were you created for? You must know this!
I have been reading in Isaiah, and I am overwhelmed by what I read. Before we come to my question though, let’s consider how the Lord regards us, his beloved ones. Let’s lose ourselves in the love letter which is Isaiah Chapter 43.
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
Remember Jacob? He was that despicable little man, that man entirely without honour, a liar and a cheat. The man who wrestled with God, all night. The man to whom God gave a new name, Israel.
So these words addressed to Jacob, who are they for? Their setting was the Babylonian exile. Jacob had been dead for perhaps a thousand years. Not for him then! These words are for his descendants⸺not his physical descendants, but the children of the promise⸺and that includes us!
O my soul, these words are spoken to you by the God who created you, who formed you, who continues to form you⸺and he is not done with the forming by any means!
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
― Philippians 1:6
Paul continues.
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
― Philippians 1:9-11
So that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness. Fear not, O my soul. You have been redeemed by the Creator God of the universe. Called by him. Known by him. Belonging to him. Rejoice in that ineffable truth and embrace the forming of purity and blamelessness in your own life!
Know this: you are called by name. Your name is who you are. It is your character. You are fully known by the one who calls. There is nothing that the Lord could subsequently learn about you which would change how he regards you. You are called and you are known and you are his.
Do you remember God’s question to Jacob after the wrestling?
And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
― Genesis 32:27
What is God asking here? He is the omniscient and all powerful Creator God of the universe and he asks, “What is your name?” He is not seeking information! The question to Jacob is, what kind of man are you? And Jacob confesses his name⸺the cheat, the deceiver, vile and despicable.
Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel.
― Genesis 32:28
Behold! God is the one who makes all things new! Praise him!
And marvel at the extent to which the Lord will go to do this. Isaiah continues.
For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honoured, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.
― Isaiah 43:3-4
He is my saviour. He is your saviour. The ransom is costly and there is no limit to where he will go for the rescue, because I am precious in his eyes, and honoured. Because you are precious, and he loves you.
“I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.”
O my soul, he gave one man in particular in return for you: Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, in exchange for your life. In exchange for mine.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
― John 3:16
The ransom is costly. But fear not, O my soul, he has redeemed you!
So why are you here? Why do you exist? What were you created for?
But now thus says the LORD
Because you are precious in my eyes, and honoured, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.
… bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
― Isaiah 43:1, 4, 6-7
You were created for the glory of God. He set his love upon you, called you by name, poured out that great love at Calvary, and redeemed you. There is no higher calling than for the glory of God. It is why I am here. It is why you are here. And as we receive that great Calvary love may all see it for what it is and give God the glory due his name. Be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God!
The wrestling is done, O my soul. It’s time for that to end. You have been bought at a price⸺an unfathomable price. But that price has been paid, and in full.
Now may your love abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Rejoice, O my soul, to know the magnitude of the reason why you are here. It is for the glory of God! 🙏