Daily Devotional · Isaiah 43:1
I Have Called You by Name
Reflection
"But now, this is what the Lord says — he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: 'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.'" Four declarations in one verse. Each one could be a lifetime of meditation. He who created you. Not an accident, not the result of evolutionary chance, not an unintended consequence. Created. With purpose. By the same God who created the ends of the earth. He who formed you. The word "formed" (yatsar) is the word used in Genesis 2 for God forming Adam from the dust — individual, specific, with intentional attention to the particular person being made. He has redeemed you. Not might, not will eventually — has. Past tense. The act of redemption is already accomplished. The price has been paid. He has summoned you by name. Not "summoned you" — summoned by name. The personal, specific knowledge of who you are. Not general goodwill toward humanity. Your name. Your identity. Your specific particularity, known and called. You are mine. The simplest and most comprehensive claim. Mine — not as property, but as belonging, as the object of covenant love. And the result of all four: Do not fear. The "do not fear" is not a command to suppress the emotion of fear — it is a declaration that there is no ultimate ground for fear, because of who holds you. This is the foundation identity of the believer: created, formed, redeemed, named, owned.
Background
Isaiah 43:1 addresses "Jacob" and "Israel" — the same person under two names. Jacob was the name of the patriarch who wrestled with God; Israel was the new name given after that encounter (Genesis 32:28). God's address to both names is significant: He knows you in your struggle as well as in your transformation. The two names together represent the whole person, not just the polished version.
Truth
Your identity before God is not constructed by what you have done or who you have become. It is declared by what He has done and who He says you are. You are created, formed, redeemed, named, and His. This is not something you achieve; it is something you receive.
Application
Say Isaiah 43:1 with your own name substituted: "He who created [your name], he who formed [your name]: do not fear, for I have redeemed [your name]; I have summoned [your name] by name; [your name] is mine." Say it slowly. Say it as many times as you need to until you believe it.