The Unshakable Identity Text: Isaiah 43:1-7
Introduction: The Identity Crisis
We live in an age of profound identity confusion. Modern man is frantically trying to build a self out of the flimsy materials of his own feelings, preferences, and desires. He is told to look inward to discover who he is, and so he looks inward and finds a swirling mess, a vapor. He tries to anchor his identity in his job, his sexuality, his politics, or his curated online persona, but these are all shifting sands. The result is not liberation, but a pervasive and crippling anxiety. When your identity is something you create, it is also something you can lose, something you must constantly defend, and something that will ultimately collapse under the slightest pressure.
The world tells you that you are the author of your own story. You are the captain of your own soul. This is the oldest lie in the book, whispered in the garden, and it is the root of our modern misery. The world offers you a flimsy, do-it-yourself identity kit, and it is a recipe for disaster. It is to build your house on the sand.
Into this chaos of self-creation, the Word of God speaks with absolute, world-altering authority. The Bible does not offer you tips on how to discover your "true self." It tells you who you are by telling you whose you are. Your identity is not something you invent; it is something you receive. It is not found by looking inward, but by looking upward to the God who made you, formed you, redeemed you, and called you by name. This passage in Isaiah is a broadside against the entire modern project of self-definition. It is the granite foundation of an identity that cannot be shaken by circumstance, by suffering, or even by death itself.
The Text
But now, thus says Yahweh, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. For I am Yahweh your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your seed from theeast, And gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth, Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”
(Isaiah 43:1-7 LSB)
The Foundation of Identity (v. 1)
The passage begins with a sharp, glorious turn. The previous chapter detailed Israel's sin and God's judgment. But grace interrupts the story.
"But now, thus says Yahweh, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, 'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!'" (Isaiah 43:1)
Notice the cascade of divine actions. God is your Creator (bara), the one who made you from nothing. He is the one who formed you (yatsar), like a potter shaping clay. This is not just about the initial creation; it is about His sovereign shaping of Israel as a nation, and of you as an individual. But He doesn't stop there. He has redeemed you. He bought you back from slavery. He has called you by name. This is not a generic, mass-mailing salvation. It is personal, specific, and intimate. The shepherd knows his sheep by name.
And look at the names He uses: Jacob and Israel. He acknowledges who they were by nature, Jacob, the heel-grabber, the schemer, the supplanter. That is us. But He addresses them as who they are by grace, Israel, the one who strives with God and is granted grace. God's call transforms us from what we were into what He declares us to be.
All of this culminates in the bedrock declaration upon which all Christian security rests: "You are Mine!" This is the great possessive pronoun of the covenant. You do not belong to yourself. You do not belong to the state. You do not belong to your sin or your fears. You belong to God. He has the rights of a manufacturer, the rights of a potter, and the rights of a redeemer. This is not the oppressive ownership of a tyrant, but the loving, protective ownership of a Father. To be owned by God is the definition of true freedom.
The Proving Ground of Identity (v. 2)
This glorious identity in God does not mean a life of ease. In fact, it guarantees the opposite. But it comes with a promise.
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you." (Isaiah 43:2 LSB)
Take careful note of the grammar. It does not say "if" you pass through the waters, but "when." Trials are not an elective course in the Christian life; they are part of the required curriculum. Waters and fire are potent biblical symbols for overwhelming chaos and purifying judgment. Think of the Red Sea and the fiery furnace. The promise is not that you will get to bypass the flood. The promise is that you will not drown. The promise is not that you will be exempt from the furnace. The promise is that you will not be burned.
Why? Because of the five most comforting words in this verse: "I will be with you." This is the heart of the covenant. Immanuel, God with us. The presence of God does not eliminate the trial, but it utterly changes its nature. The fire that would consume the unbeliever only serves to purify the believer. The waters that would drown the pagan are parted for the child of God. Your security is not in the absence of danger, but in the presence of your Savior.
The Cost of Identity (vv. 3-4)
What is the basis for this lavish protection and love? God tells us plainly.
"For I am Yahweh your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life." (Isaiah 43:3-4 LSB)
Our identity is secure because of His identity. He is Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God. He is the Holy One, utterly separate and pure. He is your Savior. And He demonstrates the value He places on His people with a shocking statement. He says He ransomed them by giving up other nations. In His divine economy, He sovereignly orchestrates the rise and fall of empires for the sake of His elect.
This is offensive to our modern, democratic sensibilities. But it reveals a staggering truth about the nature of God's love. The reason He does this is stated in verse 4: "Since you are precious in My sight... and I love you." Your value is not inherent. It is not something you earn. Your value is imputed to you by the sovereign love of God. He loves you, therefore you are precious. The world says, "Prove you are precious, and then maybe someone will love you." God says, "I love you, and that makes you precious."
This principle of substitution, of a ransom being paid, points us directly to the cross. For in the ultimate act of redemption, God did not simply give up Egypt or Ethiopia. He gave up His only begotten Son. If you want to know how precious you are in His sight, look at the cross. The price tag for your soul was the blood of Jesus Christ. God gave up God in exchange for your life. That is the cost of your identity.
The Scope and Purpose of Identity (vv. 5-7)
This redemption is not a small, tribal affair. It is global in its scope and glorious in its purpose.
"Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your seed from the east, And gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth, Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made." (Isaiah 43:5-7 LSB)
The command "Do not fear" brackets this whole section, grounded in the promise "I am with you." And here, that promise fuels a new, greater Exodus. This is not just a return from Babylon; it is a prophecy of the Great Commission. God is commanding the entire world, north, south, east, and west, to release His children. This is fulfilled as the gospel goes out and builds the Church, the true, international Israel of God, composed of people from every tribe and tongue and nation.
And what is the ultimate point of it all? Verse 7 gives us the final, foundational answer. Why did God create us? Why did He form us? Why did He redeem us and call us by His name? For one reason: "for My glory."
This is not cosmic egotism. It is the ultimate good. God is the most glorious being in the universe, and the highest joy for any creature is to see and savor and reflect that glory. You were not made for yourself. You were made for Him. Your identity, your salvation, your security through the fire, it is all designed to put the magnificence of God on display. And in finding your identity in Him, in living for His glory, you find the very purpose for which you were made. You find your true self not by looking in, but by being found in Him, for Him, and to Him be the glory forever.