Good News About God’s New Thing 2. The purpose of God’s new thing God’s Good News For The New Year - Part 1 43:18-21 • To satisfy His people

1. The promise of God’s New Thing “The beasts of the field will glorify Me, The jackals and the ostriches, because I have given waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert,” :20 • To transcend things that are past “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past.” Isaiah 43:18 Matthew 5:6

What were the “former things”? V.3 “satisfied” – in the sense of 37:4

“For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of , your Savior; I have given Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.” Isaiah 43:3 Psalms 37:4

Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?” • To magnify His person For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this. 7:10

“The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My praise.” Isaiah 43:21 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. 19 Behold, I will do toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. something new,” Isaiah 43:18-19a Philippians 3:13-14 Takeaway “forgetting what lies behind” - you can’t focus on where you are going until you forget where you have been. A past held on to is a future lost “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me,” Isaiah 46:9

• To transform things that are present

“Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19