I Have Called You by Name Isaiah 43:1-7; Romans 6:1-11; Luke 3:15-22

 

Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God our Father, who calls us by name, and our Lord Jesus Christ, our baptized Savior.

 

“I Have Called You by Name”, is our message today, from our Old Testament reading, Isaiah 43, especially verse 7: 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.

 

He who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel… Jacob meaning the descendants of Jacob, the people of Israel…

 

Jacob means to supplant, and Israel means “struggles with God”. 

 

Israel was the name God gave to Jacob in Genesis 32, after he fought with and resisted a man who he thought was the enemy, but was actually the angel of the Lord, the Son of God in human form.

 

In naming Jacob Israel, God described his personality to some extent, as we’ll see in the Bible Study about Jacob that we’re starting today. 

 

Often, it seems, it was a struggle for Jacob to do things God’s way, rather than his own way. 

 

We can all relate; we have that same, selfish tendency. 

 

Israel also described Jacob’s descendants, the nation of Israel, which often rebelled against God and resisted His commands, rather than obeying them, and trusting God’s words, rather than listening to His prophets, and believing His promises. 

 

Still, God didn’t give up on the Israelites, just as He didn’t give up on Jacob. Their stubbornness didn’t keep God from keeping His promises.

 

God continued to preserve and bless Jacob’s line, and so the Messiah was born in Bethlehem of Judah, and raised in Nazareth of Galilee, among the people of Israel, whom God had made His chosen ones, and among whom  

the Messiah was baptized, ministered, died, and rose for the world. 

 

Despite their inadequacies, God didn’t give up on His chosen nation, but sent His Son to live among them, to save them. 

 

In the same way, despite our sins and short-comings, God doesn’t give up on us, His chosen, baptized people today. 

 

As 2 Timothy 2:13 says, when we are faithless, He is faithful… when we doubt or stray or slip or fall into temptation, He keeps on loving and helping us. 

 

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.” 

 

Our sin disconnected us from our Creator, made us orphans, but by the blood of His Son, through the water and the Word, in holy Baptism, by the gift of faith from the Holy Spirit, we have come back home, to our forever Father.

 

2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you…

 

When trapped by Pharoah’s army, pinned against the sea with no route of escape, God blew apart the waters of the Red Sea, and the people crossed, unharmed.  

 

When, after 40 years in the desert, they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land at flood stage, with raging waters over their heads, again God parted the waters, and they crossed safely.

 

In the waters of that same river, many generations later, God’s own Son would submit being baptized by John, not for the forgiveness of His sins, but for the forgiveness of our sins, to win our forgiveness on the cross.

 

As the Son of God, Jesus had no sin to forgive, no spiritual short-comings to repair.

 

When Jesus was baptized, it was not to be forgiven, but to reveal His Father’s approval, and His identity as the true and only Son of the Father. 

 

And so all that Jesus would do to save us would be holy and perfect, done by God Himself, through His Son.  

 

Back to Jacob, he didn’t always do things God’s way, but Jesus always did; and because He did, we are redeemed to live.

 

In the history of this world, many false teachers, both religious and secular, have misled people away from God. 

 

Jesus was no false teacher, no counterfeit, self-appointed Messiah, of which there have been many.

 

Jesus is the real and only one, sent by God, which the Father made clear at His baptism, speaking His approval, saying, “You are my beloved Son, with You I am well pleased.” 

 

Our text from Isaiah echoes those words: I have called you by name, you are mine. 

 

To fulfill prophecy, and as a witness of His divine nature, and sacred mission, Jesus submitted to being baptized, even though He had no sin to be forgiven. 

 

 

 

His Baptism bears witness to us, through the approving words of the Father, and the descent of the Holy Spirit as a dove, that Jesus truly is the One sent from Heaven, to successfully and authoritatively, redeem our lives from death.

 

Jesus was baptized and anointed by the Holy Spirit to die on the cross for us, to win our forgiveness, and to rise back to life again, to restore our lives.

 

Jesus was baptized into His ministry to save us, and now we are baptized into Him, into His ministry to serve Him, into His death to be forgiven by Him, into His resurrection to be raised by Him, into His ascension to be glorified by Him, and into His return, to be taken home with Him.

 

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” 

 

In holy Baptism God calls us by name, and makes us His own by faith. 

 

That means no trouble in this life, no enemy in this world, no weakness in this body, mind, or soul, need cause us to fear or tremble, nor cause our hearts to fail. 

 

Why be afraid of what our Savior has already, soundly, utterly, defeated and destroyed?

 

As He was courageous to die for us, and powerful to rise, so, with the help of His Spirit, and the encouragement of His Gospel and His Church, let us be strong and courageous to live for Him who died for us.   

 

Our God has redeemed us by the blood, suffering and death of His dear Son.

 

In Baptism, He has anointed us with Himself, the Holy Spirit of God to live and abide in us, and so to be our never-failing source of strength.

 

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” 

 

We belong to the One who made us in His image, redeemed us with His blood, and abides in us with His Spirit. 

 

We no longer belong to that which would hate and hurt us: sin, death, the devil, the fallen world, and the hostile culture. 

 

We belong to Him who eternally loves us, and values us as precious and dear to Him. 

 

Our God has called us by name in holy Baptism, let us with His help, know Him by faith; let us trust His truth in His Word; let us be strong and loving to obey His commands…

 

… let us believe and hold onto His promises; let us be glad to belong to Him, and rejoice to follow Him!

 

Whenever we start go our own way, and do our own thing, forgetting who redeemed us by blood, who calls us by name, may we be aware and humble, to hear and receive words of correction, which we all need to hear at times…

 

… and with God’s help, take action, correct course, turn around, and rejoice to follow Him again. 

 

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” 

 

Our God knows and calls us by name; may we always walk and rejoice in that most high and blessed calling.

 

And may His peace, which passes understanding, guard our hearts and minds, which are baptized into Christ Jesus, our Lord, who calls us by name, and loves us dearly. Amen.