Isaiah 43:1 – But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”

This verse from Isaiah is packed with information about what God has done for us. It is good for us to meditate on all that God has done for us because all these things are signs of his grace. They show us just how much he loves us and they remind us that we did not earn any of these blessings. The gospel message is all about what God has done for us. Because of his grace, we in turn want to serve him.

This section starts out with two blessings that he has given to all people. He created us and he formed us. He created the whole world in just six days. He gave us all the wonderful things we see in nature. He gave us plants, animals, sun, moon, and so much more. He also created each and every person. He started with the first two people – Adam and Eve. After that, he has taken time to form each one of us. He makes us unique. He gives us our abilities and our intellect.

There is one major element of who we are that is not from God. He did not give us our sinful natures. Those parts of us that are evil are not from God. Those sinful natures come from our first parents. Adam and Eve fell into sin in the Garden of Eden. Because of that, sin has been passed down to all of us. We are born with a sinful nature. We are born with an inclination toward evil. Without God’s help, our destination is Hell.

That is why God intervened in human history. He sent Jesus to redeem us from our sin. Jesus perfectly obeyed the law in our place. He never sinned. Jesus died the death that we deserved. He suffered the punishment of hell in our place. That is why we don’t have to be afraid. We know that we have forgiveness through Jesus. His death truly did pay for all sins of all people. And yet, we would not know this or believe it without the next thing God has done for us.

He summoned us by name. We are now his. He called us to faith through the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. God did this for us. We could not have brought ourselves to faith through our own decision. We do not have that power. We needed the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts through the Word and through Baptism. Everything about our faith is a gift from God.

It is so important that our salvation depends on what God has done for us. If it depended on us even a little bit, we could never be sure. If it depended on our good works, we could never be sure if we had done enough. If it depended on our commitment to Christ, we would wonder if we were truly committed – especially when we give in to temptations. Because God has done it all for us, we can be sure of our eternal home.