Restoration is a return to a previous pristine state. We speak of restoration referring to the end result of cleaning and shining so that what has become dirty and in disrepair is brought back to its original luster and usefulness. Jesus is the Great Restorer who restores broken and rusted humans to a previous state of glimmer and intent.
As a concept, restoration makes sense, but it is the reality of its application that can be challenging. To say that God is our restorer means that He is the One who cleans, fixes, and restores us to a previous state of shimmer and worth. Implied in this is the fact that we are not in this state currently and we are in need of restoration. The first step to this is understanding what we are being restored to.
Creation was perfect. At creation, God deemed that everything was good. It was at the Fall (Gen. 3) when creation fell into less-than-perfect status. Before the Fall, mankind was in perfect relationship and communion with God, we were naked, free, and unashamed. The tragedy of the Fall has nothing to do with the benefits and blessings of Eden that were lost. No. The heartbreak of the Fall was that mankind, because of unfaithfulness and disobedience, was no longer able to have perfect relationship and communion with the Lord Almighty. This is what is restored.
Jesus is our restorer. It is through the torn veil of Jesus' flesh that our relationship is restored to its original state. For those who have tasted Christ, this is what continually draws us to Him. When Jesus bore the burden of our sin and guilt upon the cross, He restored our broken relationship with the Lord to its intended origins. By delivering us and saving us from our sin, He tore down the wall that separated man from God. Because of this, we can have the intended relationship of communion with the Lord.
When we are restored to a right relationship with the Lord because of the work of Jesus it is imperative that we maintain our restored state. This means sustaining our focus on the One who, by His Passion, restores. Our first state of disrepair and tarnish was as a result of Adam's sin. But Adam's sin was overcome by Christ's work on the cross, which is applied to humans by confessing with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9). However, once we become believers, it is our responsibility to prevent any corrosive element to enter in and rust our restored right relationship.
Because of our natural compulsion to entropy and towards corrosion, a constant and consistent awareness of the state-of-affairs in our relationship to God through Christ is essential and necessary. As Jesus is our restorer, if we ever find that we are not focused on Him and we fall into neglect, we can easily backslide into rust, disuse, and ruin. It is only when we remain focused on Jesus, our Great Restorer, that we will be able to maintain the right relationship that was intended at creation.
No comments:
Post a Comment