God’s Plan – Restoration at the Heart
Posted: Monday, August 27, 2007
by Dennis Hill
Sagacity LLC & Boundless Partners, Inc.
The word restoration has many meanings. For some Christians it is seen as a biblical principle pertaining to closure in discipline, while all of the faithful view restoration as being plucked from the brink of death and given a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17). For the sick, restoration is equated with good health, and for incarcerated persons, it is the hope of regaining freedom and assimilating back into society. In each case, restoration suggests a return to how things were originally intended, and more importantly, as intended by God. Peter tells us:
And so we learn that God restores, confirms, strengthens and establishes us. As children of Adam, our fallen nature was inherited, having lived by our willful desires and not as God originally intended for us. Even now, we struggle with doing things according to our own understanding and by our own means, fending for ourselves sometimes at the expense of others. Let’s examine Old and New Testament Scriptures to see God’s instruction on this topic since every one of us will experience restoration if we haven’t already…
Beginning with several Old Testament References (ESV and NKJV), the psalmist writes in Psalm 80:
3 Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
In God’s shining face reflected in the person of Jesus Christ who revealed our Father to us, we are restored. Only through Christ are we saved. God’s restorative power is hailed in Psalm 68:
9 Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
you restored your inheritance as it languished;
10 your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness,
O God, you provided for the needy.
Your translation may say establish or confirm, but the meaning is the same - God restores, establishes and confirms as He intends, according to His plan. We need only look at the emergence of Israel in the past century to see the promises revisited upon His people, confirming God’s desire to restore (1) you, i.e. God’s people (Jer 15:19), (2) fortunes (Jer 30:18, Hos 6:11, Nahum 2:2, Zeph 3:20), and (3) my soul (Psalm 23:3). Try to exercise yourself by searching other restoration passages - there are many more.
Turning to the New Testament, Paul writes to the Galatians about restoring an offender to fellowship:
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For each one shall bear his own load.
He also writes about the restoration of an assembly in division to the Corinthians:
9 For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for.
And among the many passages about the Lord restoring ability to see, capacity to walk, and even life, itself, Peter speaks about the future restoration of all things in Christ, as recorded in Acts:
9 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets long ago.
In the passage from Galatians, Paul is not emphasizing the trespass, but the body-building work as spiritual people to restore one who has been overtaken or caught (ESV) in an offense. Paul is ever-mindful that our condition is pitiful in the flesh, and he notes that everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). We also should be guarded and gentle in our approach to one another, just as we would want to be approached. It is not an oversight that such gentleness and reliance on the Lord and the Spirit of
God should be evident when dealing with either saved or unsaved offenders. Paul states "if a man," indicating the broader application to both groups of people. If God desires to restore everyone through the blood of Christ, we are exhorted to do likewise as we live with one another. James confirms that it is a good work to turn a saint from his or her sin by stating, "if anyone among you..."
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). Proverbially, we tend to be quicker to correct those who are closest to us, the ones we love, than with those who are not. Sometimes this is taken as contempt, a spirit of meanness, or sharp harshness, and it may be so, but as we allow the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of believers, we also understand that correction and instruction are critical components in restoring one to Christ...
23 Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor, And for lack of justice there is waste. 24 He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly. 25 The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul, But the stomach of the wicked shall be in want.
Before coming to the Lord, few of us wanted or enjoyed being instructed or disciplined (the word is used identically between NKJV and ESV translations). Some readers of this newsletter may be, or have been, in prison because they rebelled against instruction. Some believers who struggle with being teachable continue to resent instruction – again, Proverbs tells us:
12 …“How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction! 13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
As for God’s divine instruction, Job declares:
17 “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. 18 For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole.
And returning to Proverbs one final time…
11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction; 12 For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.
Know that God loves you like none other. His will, not our will, shall be accomplished in His way and time. As we submit to His will, God's plan will be achieved because He is in control of all circumstances, events, and incidents. He makes all things work together for His purposes, whether they are good, evil, or circumstantial. There are no accidents or luck in the world, nor are we victims of injustice if we choose rebellion against God’s Word. The conforming work of God in making us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, is a life change and not just a superficial masquerade. It is a complete transformation of our entire person through and through.
A closing passage from Paul…
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Till our next time together, may we each rejoice in the blessings of peace and comfort that come from recognizing the hand of God in every aspect of our lives. dph
Footnotes to References
1 1 Peter 5:10.
2 Psalms 80:3.
3 Psalms 68:9-10.
4 Galatians 6:1-5
5 2 Corinthinians 13:9.
6 Acts 3:19-21.
7 James 5:19-20
8 Proverbs 13:23-25.
9 Proverbs 5:12-13.
10 Job 5:17-18.
11 Proverbs 3:11-12.
12 Romans 8:28-30
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Thanks Dennis. This is a very helpful and uplifting article.
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