This individual study guide draws directly from Ed Boston's sermon “Follow-Up Materials - Initial Analysis” so you can keep engaging with the message all week. Read, reflect, and share it with your small group or friends.
New Beginnings: Looking Forward, Not Backward
A Comprehensive Bible Study Guide
Based on the sermon preached at The Father's House, Columbus, Indiana | March 22, 2026
Primary Texts: Isaiah 43:18-19 | Philippians 3:13-14 | 2 Corinthians 5:17 | Proverbs 3:5-6 | Joshua 1:9
Estimated Study Time: 2.5 – 3 hours
Section 1: Introduction & Overview
Sermon Summary
In this warmly pastoral message, the preacher weaves together three threads that rarely appear in academic theology but are deeply present in lived Christian experience: the metaphor of a puzzle, the rhythm of seasons, and the courage required to stop living in reverse. Drawing on Isaiah's thunderous declaration that God is doing something new, Paul's athletic imagery of pressing forward, and the prodigal son's homecoming, the sermon makes a single, urgent claim: God is not finished with you, and your past does not have the final word.
The sermon moves through four movements:
- The past can teach us, but it must not trap us (Isaiah 43:18-19)
- Pressing forward is the posture of faith (Philippians 3:13-14)
- Salvation is transformation, not self-improvement (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- Trusting and stepping forward with courage (Proverbs 3:5-6; Joshua 1:9)
Learning Objectives
By the end of this study, participants will be able to:
- Explain the historical and theological context of Isaiah 43 within the larger Exodus-New Exodus framework
- Articulate what Paul meant by "forgetting" in Philippians 3 and why it is not spiritual amnesia
- Distinguish between self-improvement and genuine transformation as Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 5:17
- Connect these texts to the broader biblical theme of new creation running from Genesis through Revelation
- Identify one concrete area of life where backward-looking patterns are hindering forward movement in faith
A Note on Method
This guide honors the sermon's pastoral warmth while pressing deeper into the texts. You will encounter Greek and Hebrew words, historical background, and theological debate. None of this is meant to replace the simple faith the sermon commends—it is meant to strengthen it. As theologian J.I. Packer once wrote, "Knowing about God is crucially important for the living of our lives." Scholarship serves discipleship here, not the other way around.
Section 2: Exegetical Analysis
Structure & Genre
The four primary texts span three distinct genres:
- Isaiah 43:18-19 — Hebrew prophetic poetry with the characteristic parallelism and divine speech formula ("Behold, I will do...")
- Philippians 3:13-14 — Pauline epistolary exhortation embedded within an autobiographical argument
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 — Doctrinal declaration functioning as a theological thesis statement
- Proverbs 3:5-6 and Joshua 1:9 — Wisdom literature and divine commissioning speech, respectively
Recognizing genre matters enormously. Isaiah is not giving a self-help tip. Paul is not writing a motivational poster. These are covenant declarations and apostolic commands rooted in specific historical situations that carry universal theological weight.
Verse-by-Verse Highlights
Isaiah 43:18-19 The command "Do not remember" (al-tizk'ru) is a stunning reversal. Elsewhere, Israel is commanded to remember constantly—the Exodus, the covenant, God's mighty acts (Deuteronomy 8:2). Here God is not dismissing history; he is saying that what he is about to do is so unprecedented that even the Exodus—Israel's defining national memory—will pale in comparison. The "new thing" (chadashah) is already beginning: "Now it shall spring forth." The Hebrew verb here (tismach) is a botanical term meaning to sprout or bud—connecting directly to the sermon's spring/garden metaphor in a way that is not accidental but textually embedded.
Philippians 3:13-14 Paul's "one thing I do" (hen de) is a rhetorical focal point, a deliberate narrowing of attention. The word translated "forgetting" (epilanthanomai) does not mean erasing memory but releasing the grip of the past—ceasing to let it determine present trajectory. Paul's metaphor is athletic: a runner in a Greek footrace who looks backward loses speed and direction. The "prize of the upward call" (ano klēsis) is debated—it likely refers to the resurrection and final glorification, not merely a heavenly reward in a transactional sense.
2 Corinthians 5:17 "New creation" (kainē ktisis) is not merely personal renewal. In Second Temple Jewish thought, "new creation" was an eschatological category—the renewal of the entire cosmos God had promised through the prophets. Paul is saying that in Christ, the age to come has broken into the present. Every believer is a walking piece of evidence that God's promised future is already arriving.
Proverbs 3:5-6 and Joshua 1:9 Proverbs 3:5-6 uses the Hebrew batach (trust/lean) and sha'an (lean/rest upon) in parallel—both implying the full weight of one's body pressed against something. This is not intellectual assent but existential reliance. Joshua 1:9's command (chazaq ve'ematz—"be strong and courageous") appears three times in Joshua 1 alone (vv. 6, 7, 9), suggesting God knew Joshua would need repeated reinforcement. The repetition is pastoral, not redundant.
Section 3: Historical & Cultural Context
Isaiah 43: The Babylonian Exile and the New Exodus
Isaiah 43 is situated within what scholars call the "Book of Consolation" (Isaiah 40-55), almost certainly addressed to Israel during or in anticipation of the Babylonian exile (597-538 BC). The people had lost everything: the Temple, the monarchy, the land—the three pillars of their theological identity. They were surrounded by Babylonian religion that mocked Yahweh's apparent defeat.
Into this devastation, God speaks the most audacious promise imaginable: I am doing something new. The "road in the wilderness" and "rivers in the desert" deliberately echo the first Exodus—water from the rock, the pillar of fire leading through the wilderness (Exodus 17; Numbers 20). God is saying: what I did through Moses was the preview. The main feature is still coming. For the original audience, this was not inspirational poetry—it was a survival lifeline.
Philippians 3: Paul's Greco-Roman Athletic World
Philippi was a Roman colony, and its citizens were intensely proud of Roman identity and athletic culture. The Isthmian Games (similar to the Olympics) were a cultural touchstone. Paul's running metaphor in Philippians 3:13-14 would have landed with immediate visceral force for his readers. Greek runners in the stadion race ran in a straight lane; looking back was not merely inefficient—it was grounds for disqualification in some events. Paul's audience would have felt the urgency in their bones.
Additionally, Paul's autobiographical disclosure in Philippians 3:4-11—his credentials as a Pharisee, his persecution of the church—is not false modesty. He is making the case that if anyone had reason to be trapped by their past (either boasting in it or drowning in guilt over it), it was him. His "forgetting" is therefore not cheap grace but hard-won theological conviction.
2 Corinthians 5:17: Jewish Eschatological Expectation
The concept of "new creation" was not Paul's invention. It draws on Isaiah 65:17 ("Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth") and was a live category in Second Temple Judaism. The Dead Sea Scrolls community at Qumran, for instance, expected a cosmic renewal at the end of the age. Paul's radical claim is that this renewal has already begun in the resurrection of Jesus and is applied to each believer at conversion. The prodigal son narrative fits perfectly here: the father's declaration "he was dead and is alive again" (Luke 15:24) is new-creation language applied to a human life.
Joshua 1:9: The Transition from Moses to Joshua
Joshua's commissioning comes at one of the most psychologically fraught moments in Israel's history. Moses—the only leader the nation had ever known, the mediator of the covenant, the man who spoke with God face to face—has just died. Joshua is not merely stepping into a leadership vacuum; he is stepping into a legend. God's threefold command to "be strong and courageous" acknowledges the weight of what Joshua faces. The promise "wherever you go" is geographically comprehensive and temporally unlimited—it does not expire when the terrain gets difficult.
Section 4: Word Studies
"New" (Hebrew, chadash, חָדָשׁ): From the root meaning to renew or to restore. This is not novelty for its own sake but covenantal newness—the kind of renewal that fulfills and surpasses what came before. The same root gives us the "new covenant" (berit chadashah) of Jeremiah 31:31. When God says "I will do a new thing" in Isaiah 43:19, he is not abandoning his story—he is writing the next and greater chapter of it. This word appears 53 times in the Old Testament and consistently carries the weight of divine initiative, not human achievement.
"Forgetting" (Greek, epilanthanomai, ἐπιλανθάνομαι): A compound of epi (upon) and lanthano (to escape notice). The word does not mean cognitive erasure but ceasing to be controlled by—letting something fade from active influence. Interestingly, the same root word is used in Hebrews 13:2 ("Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers") and Hebrews 6:10 ("God is not unjust; he will not forget your work"). The contrast is instructive: Paul is not commanding spiritual amnesia about the past but a deliberate reorientation of attention toward what lies ahead. Theologian Gordon Fee notes that Paul's "forgetting" is "not a psychological achievement but a theological decision."
"New Creation" (Greek, kainē ktisis, καινὴ κτίσις): Kainos (new) is distinct from neos (also "new") in Greek. Neos means new in time—recently made. Kainos means new in quality—of a different and superior kind. Paul does not say the believer is a recently made creature but a qualitatively different one. This is the same word used in Revelation 21:5 ("Behold, I make all things new") and Revelation 21:1 ("a new heaven and a new earth"). The believer's conversion is a microcosm of the cosmic renewal God has promised. N.T. Wright argues compellingly that this verse is "one of the most theologically dense sentences in the entire Pauline corpus."
"Trust/Lean" (Hebrew, batach, בָּטַח): Appears over 150 times in the Old Testament and carries the sense of throwing oneself upon something for support—like leaning your full body weight against a wall. It is the opposite of self-sufficiency. The Psalms use this word repeatedly to describe the posture of the righteous person before God (Psalm 22:4-5; 37:3-5). In Proverbs 3:5, the command to not lean on your own understanding (binah—your own perception and reasoning) is paired with the positive command to batach in God. This is not anti-intellectualism; it is a call to place your deepest reliance on the One whose understanding is infinite.
"Strong and Courageous" (Hebrew, chazaq ve'ematz, חֲזַק וֶאֱמָץ): These two verbs appear together as a formulaic commissioning phrase in Deuteronomy and Joshua. Chazaq means to be firm, strong, resolute—often used of physical strength but here applied to moral and spiritual fortitude. Ematz means to be bold, courageous, daring—it implies action in the face of fear rather than the absence of fear. Notably, this same pairing appears in David's charge to Solomon (1 Chronicles 28:20) and in God's encouragement to Zerubbabel through the prophet Haggai (Haggai 2:4). It is a phrase God speaks at every major transition point in Israel's history—suggesting that courage is not a personality trait but a commanded response to divine presence.
Section 5: Cross-References & Biblical Theology
The sermon's central theme—releasing the past and moving forward in God's new work—is not an isolated pastoral encouragement. It is a major biblical-theological thread running from Genesis to Revelation.
Genesis 12:1 — God's first word to Abram is "Go"—a forward movement away from everything familiar. The entire story of redemption begins with a call to release the past and trust an unseen future.
Exodus 14:15 — At the Red Sea, God tells Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward." Even in impossible circumstances, the divine direction is always forward.
Isaiah 65:17 — "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind." The eschatological bookend to Isaiah 43—God's new creation so surpasses the old that even memory will be reoriented.
Jeremiah 29:11 — "For I know the plans I have for you...plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Spoken to exiles—people whose past had been catastrophically taken from them—as an anchor for forward movement.
Luke 15:20-24 — The father runs to the prodigal son. The Greek word for "ran" (trecho) implies undignified, urgent speed. The father does not wait for the son to complete his rehearsed speech. This is the New Testament portrait of God's response to returning sinners.
Luke 9:62 — "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." Jesus uses the same agricultural/directional metaphor as Isaiah—backward-looking disqualifies effective service.
Romans 8:1 — "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." The legal ground for releasing the past: the verdict has already been rendered in our favor.
Romans 8:28 — "All things work together for good"—the theological foundation for the sermon's puzzle metaphor. God's sovereign weaving of circumstances is not accidental but purposeful.
Hebrews 11:8 — Abraham "obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going." Forward faith does not require a complete map.
Hebrews 12:1-2 — "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus." The antidote to backward-looking is not self-discipline but fixing the gaze on Christ.
Revelation 21:5 — "Behold, I am making all things new." The final word of Scripture's story is kainos—qualitative newness. What God began in the believer at conversion, he will complete cosmically at the consummation.
Lamentations 3:22-23 — "His mercies are new every morning." Even in the darkest book of the Bible—written in the smoking ruins of Jerusalem—the prophet finds grounds for forward movement in God's daily-renewed compassion.
Thematic Connection: These texts collectively articulate what biblical scholars call the New Exodus motif—the pattern in which God repeatedly does a new and greater version of his saving acts. Each "new beginning" in Scripture (Abraham's call, the Exodus, the return from exile, the Incarnation, conversion, resurrection, new creation) is both a fulfillment of what came before and a surpassing of it. The believer's personal experience of "new beginnings" is not a self-help narrative—it is participation in the grandest story ever told.
Section 6: Interpretive Considerations
Isaiah 43:18-19 — Does "Do Not Remember" Contradict the Bible's Emphasis on Memory?
The tension: The Old Testament is saturated with commands to remember—the Passover, the Sabbath, the covenant, God's mighty acts. How can God say "do not remember the former things"?
Three interpretive approaches:
Replacement view: God is literally replacing the old Exodus with a new one so superior that the old becomes irrelevant. (Supported by the parallel in Jeremiah 23:7-8.)
Prioritization view: God is not forbidding memory but forbidding fixation—the tendency to make the past the primary lens through which to evaluate the present. (Most common evangelical interpretation; supported by the immediate context of vv. 18-19 together.)
Eschatological view: This is forward-looking prophecy about the new creation age, when former sorrows will be so thoroughly healed that they will no longer dominate consciousness (cf. Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:4).
Why the sermon's reading works: The sermon correctly emphasizes the prioritization reading—the past can teach us but must not trap us. This is both exegetically sound and pastorally wise. It avoids the twin errors of historical amnesia (pretending the past didn't happen) and historical captivity (being unable to move beyond it).
Philippians 3:13-14 — Is Paul Talking About Forgetting Sins or Forgetting Achievements?
The immediate context (Philippians 3:4-11) reveals that Paul is primarily talking about achievements—his impressive religious credentials as a Pharisee. He is warning against trusting in past spiritual accomplishments. However, given his history as a persecutor of the church (Acts 8:1-3; 9:1-2), the principle almost certainly includes releasing guilt over past sins as well. Both pride in past achievements and paralysis over past failures are forms of backward-looking that hinder forward movement in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 — Is "New Creation" Individual or Cosmic?
Some translations render kainē ktisis as "a new creation" (individual), while others render it "there is a new creation" (cosmic). The grammatical ambiguity is real, and scholars debate it. The most satisfying reading, supported by scholars like N.T. Wright and Murray Harris, is that both are true simultaneously: the individual believer's transformation is an instance of the cosmic new creation already breaking in through Christ's resurrection. The personal and the cosmic are not competing interpretations—they are concentric circles.
Section 7: Theological Implications
The Doctrine of Regeneration
2 Corinthians 5:17 is one of the foundational texts for the doctrine of regeneration—the teaching that salvation involves not merely forgiveness but a genuine transformation of nature. The Westminster Confession of Faith (10.1) describes regeneration as God giving the elect "a new heart" and taking away "the heart of stone." This is not self-improvement, behavior modification, or religious performance—it is a new ontological status. The prodigal son did not clean himself up and then return; he returned in his rags and was clothed by his father (Luke 15:22).
The Doctrine of Providence
The sermon's puzzle metaphor is a pastoral expression of the theological doctrine of providence—God's sovereign, purposeful governance of all events toward his intended ends. Romans 8:28-30 provides the doctrinal framework: God works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. This does not mean all things are good in themselves, but that God's weaving of them together produces good. The story of Joseph (Genesis 37-50) is perhaps the clearest Old Testament illustration: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good" (Genesis 50:20).
The Character of God: The Running Father
The detail that the father ran to the prodigal son (Luke 15:20) is theologically loaded. In first-century Middle Eastern culture, a man of dignity and social standing did not run—it was considered undignified. Jesus is deliberately portraying God as one who abandons social propriety to rush toward the returning sinner. This is not a God who waits at a distance to see if repentance is genuine enough—this is a God whose love is disproportionate, undignified, and anticipatory. Theologian Henri Nouwen, in The Return of the Prodigal Son, argues that the father's posture of running reveals that God's love is not reactive (responding to our repentance) but proactive (already moving toward us before we fully turn).
God's Relationship to Time and New Beginnings
The repeated biblical pattern of new beginnings suggests something profound about God's character: he is not merely a God of preservation but a God of renewal. He does not simply maintain what is—he creates what shall be. This is rooted in his nature as Creator (bara', the unique Hebrew verb for divine creation used in Genesis 1:1) and finds its ultimate expression in the resurrection of Jesus, which is the prototype of the new creation already begun.
Section 8: Practical Application
How This Scholarship Informs Living
Understanding that Isaiah 43's "new thing" is part of a larger New Exodus pattern means that your personal experience of God doing something new in your life is not isolated or accidental—it is your participation in the oldest and grandest story in existence. You are not merely "turning over a new leaf." You are joining the movement of God's redemptive history.
Understanding that Paul's "forgetting" is a theological decision rather than a psychological achievement liberates us from the frustration of trying to simply stop thinking about painful things. We are not commanded to achieve amnesia. We are commanded to redirect our active focus toward Christ and the future he is building. This is something we can do even when memories remain vivid.
Specific Applications
For those paralyzed by past failures: The doctrine of regeneration means your identity is not determined by your worst moments. You are a kainē ktisis—a qualitatively new kind of being. Practically, this means when accusatory thoughts about the past arise, the response is not self-justification or self-flagellation, but theological declaration: "There is therefore now no condemnation" (Romans 8:1).
For those living on past spiritual glory: Paul's warning is equally directed at those who rest on past achievements—a powerful conversion experience, years of faithful service, impressive religious credentials. These are skubala (Paul's shockingly strong word in Philippians 3:8, often translated "rubbish" but more literally something quite unpleasant) compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ now and pressing toward what lies ahead.
For those facing major life transitions: Joshua's commissioning applies directly to anyone stepping into an uncertain future—retirement, job loss, relocation, the death of a loved one, a new season of ministry. The command "be strong and courageous" is not a personality requirement but a faith response grounded in the promise "the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." The courage is not self-generated; it flows from the presence.
For those who struggle to trust God's plan: The puzzle metaphor, grounded theologically in Romans 8:28, invites a practical discipline: when a "puzzle piece" of your life makes no sense, rather than forcing it into a place it doesn't fit or discarding it in frustration, practice laying it down in trust. Keep a journal of "puzzle pieces I don't understand yet" and periodically review it to see how God has placed them.
Section 9: Discussion Questions
Observational
In Isaiah 43:18-19, what specific images does God use to describe the "new thing" he will do? What do "road in the wilderness" and "rivers in the desert" communicate about the nature of God's new work?
In Philippians 3:4-14, what specific things from his past does Paul mention? How does he categorize them by the end of the passage?
Interpretive
The sermon distinguishes between the past teaching us and the past trapping us. What is the difference? Can you think of a biblical character who exemplifies each?
Why do you think God commands Israel in Isaiah 43 not to dwell on the Exodus—an event he himself commanded them to remember in Exodus 12? What does this tension reveal about the nature of God's new work?
Paul uses the word epilanthanomai (forgetting) to describe his relationship to the past, but he clearly still remembers his past (he writes about it in detail in Philippians 3:4-6 and 1 Timothy 1:13-15). What, then, does "forgetting" actually mean for Paul in practice?
Theological
The sermon says "salvation is not self-improvement; it's transformation." What is the practical difference between these two things in a person's daily life? How would each show up differently in how someone approaches their failures?
The running father in Luke 15 abandons social dignity to rush toward his son. What does this detail reveal about God's character that a more reserved, dignified father figure would not?
If God is truly sovereign over all the "puzzle pieces" of our lives (Romans 8:28), how do we hold that together with the reality of genuine human suffering and tragedy? Does the puzzle metaphor have limits?
Applicational
The sermon mentions people who are "trapped" in their past—whether by guilt, grief, or nostalgia for "the good old days." Which of these three backward-looking patterns is most tempting for you personally, and what would "forgetting" look like in that specific area?
Joshua received the command "be strong and courageous" three times in one chapter. What does the repetition suggest about how God works with human fear? Is there a "Joshua moment" in your own life right now where you need to hear this command?
Investigative (For Further Study)
Read the full context of Isaiah 43 (verses 1-21). How does the surrounding passage change or deepen your understanding of verses 18-19? What does God say about himself in the surrounding verses that grounds the command not to dwell on the past?
Compare the prodigal son parable (Luke 15:11-32) with the elder brother's response (vv. 25-32). The elder brother is also trapped by the past—but in a different way than the younger brother. How does his backward-looking differ, and what does Jesus' silence about the elder brother's response invite us to consider?
Section 10: Recommended Resources
Commentaries
Accessible Level:
John Oswalt, The NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah 40-66 — Excellent balance of scholarly rigor and pastoral application. Oswalt is one of the foremost evangelical Isaiah scholars, and his treatment of Isaiah 43 is both historically grounded and devotionally rich.
Gordon Fee, Paul's Letter to the Philippians (NICNT) — Fee writes with unusual warmth for a technical commentary. His treatment of Philippians 3:13-14 is definitive for evangelical scholarship and surprisingly readable.
Intermediate Level:
John Goldingay, Isaiah for Everyone — Part of the Westminster Bible Companion series. Goldingay brings decades of Old Testament scholarship to bear in a format designed for serious lay readers.
Murray Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC) — For those who want the deepest possible engagement with 2 Corinthians 5:17. Technical but rewarding.
Books on Themes
Accessible:
Henri Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son — A profound meditation on Rembrandt's famous painting and the parable behind it. Nouwen's exploration of the running father is spiritually transformative and directly relevant to this sermon's themes.
Jerry Bridges, Transforming Grace — Accessible exploration of how grace actually changes us rather than merely excusing us. Directly addresses the "transformation vs. self-improvement" distinction.
Intermediate:
N.T. Wright, Paul and the Faithfulness of God (abridged in Paul: A Biography) — For those who want to understand Paul's "new creation" theology in its full Jewish and Greco-Roman context. Wright's biography is more accessible than the magnum opus.
Tremper Longman III, How to Read the Psalms — Helps develop the literary and theological tools to read Hebrew poetry (like Isaiah) with greater depth. Foundational for understanding the kind of texts this sermon engages.
Online Resources
The Bible Project (bibleproject.com) — Free, visually excellent video overviews of Isaiah, Philippians, and the theme of "New Creation." Ideal for visual learners and as preparation before deeper study.
Logos Bible Software (free tier available at logos.com) — Access to original language tools, commentaries, and cross-reference databases. Even the free version provides significant depth for word studies.
Precept Austin (preceptaustin.org) — Free verse-by-verse commentary notes with extensive word studies in Greek and Hebrew. Particularly strong on Philippians 3 and 2 Corinthians 5.
A Closing Devotional Thought
The sermon ended with an image that deserves to linger: a little girl, about to compete in gymnastics, praying that Jesus would calm her fears on a four-inch beam. And a child telling her mother, "God's got it covered."
There is a reason Jesus said the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (Matthew 18:3). It is not that children are theologically sophisticated. It is that they have not yet learned to complicate trust. They have not yet accumulated enough past to be trapped by it. They lean—batach—with their full weight.
All of this study—the Hebrew, the Greek, the historical context, the theological categories—is ultimately in service of that. Not so that we can impress anyone with our knowledge of kainē ktisis, but so that when God says "Behold, I am doing a new thing," we might recognize his voice, trust his character, and take the next step forward.
The puzzle is not finished. The garden is not done growing. The Father is already running toward you.
Release what's behind you. Trust God for what is ahead. Step forward in obedience today.
This study guide was prepared for congregational use at The Father's House, Columbus, Indiana. All Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted. Greek and Hebrew references draw from the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Nestle-Aland 28th edition, and standard lexical resources including BDAG, HALOT, and BDB.