RESURRECTION!

R is for redemption.

E is for eternal life.

S is for the Spirit of God.

U is for unity.

R is for restored and reconciled.

What does it mean to be restored?

Jesus illustrated this many times during the three years of His earthly ministry, as He traveled through villages and towns performing miracles.

He restored a withered hand (Matthew 12:13).

He restored crippled legs (Matthew 15:31).

He restored blind eyes (Mark 8:25).

He restored sanity to the demon-possessed (Mark 5:15).

He restored physical life (John 11).

The many physical miracles of restoration were accomplished by Jesus to give witness to His power to accomplish the spiritual miracle of restoration. After Jesus’ ascension and return to heaven, the apostles also performed miracles, proving they were credible and trustworthy witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus. In one encounter, Peter clearly tells us that physical restoration is simply a picture of a future and final restoration to come.

Peter and John were on their way to pray at the temple. A man lame from birth was begging for alms from those who passed by. Peter recognized he needed more than a few coins. He reached out and took the man by the hand, raising him up while boldly proclaiming healing in the name of Jesus. Immediately, the man’s feet and ankles were restored back to full strength, and he began leaping and walking and praising God.

Listen to what Peter said in response to the people’s amazement.

Acts 3:11-21 – While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

The word “restoration” is the Greek apokatastasis, from apo, “back, again,” and kathistemi, “to set in order.” It’s only used once in the New Testament and is also translated as “restitution.” When Peter uses this word, he’s not only talking about physical restoration but a spiritual restoration or setting all things right in the relationship between God and man – a return to the perfect theocratic system that God initiated in the Garden of Eden.

Do you remember how life began? How God always intended us to live?

God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good (Genesis 1:31). Man and woman dwelled in a perfect environment that was created especially for them. They had abundant food that perfectly fueled their bodies. They lived in perfect harmony with all the animals. There was no fear, no death, no pain, no sorrow, no shame, no sin. There was morning, and there was evening, and every day was spent in perfect unity and companionship with one another and in perfect fellowship with their Creator, who would walk with them in the cool of the day.

Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we are now spiritually “set in order again” in relationship with our Creator. All the hostility caused by our sin has been removed, and we are once again, in Christ, in perfect fellowship with God.

Psalm 23:3 – He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

Colossians 2:13-14 – When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Hallelujah, one day, God will restore all things physically – back to the way they were always meant to be.

Revelation 21:1-5 – Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

Paul uses a different word than restoration to describe what the resurrection accomplished, but the meaning is very similar: reconciliation. Here, the word is the Greek katallagē and describes a “restoration to favor” – the favor of God that Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden of Eden.

2 Corinthians 5:17-18 – Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

The whole world is crying out to be restored. We groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling in heaven … so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life (2 Corinthians 5:2-4). All people know there is something missing – something wrong – something not quite right about this life, and we seek to be restored, but without the resurrection, it is impossible. Our enemy offers only death and destruction – He seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. If you don’t believe me, look at the condition of the world, and the absolute desperation in the souls around you.

Jesus rose from the dead so that we could be restored. Not back to our own image, but to the image of God, to that perfect relationship that began in the Garden.

Has your soul been restored? Praise God, you have been reconciled, and can look forward to the restoration of all things!

Is your soul empty, longing to be reconciled to your Creator? Look to the empty tomb, where restoration begins.

Psalm 80:19 – O Lord God of hosts, restore us; cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.