The Bible tells us that the Lord brings restoration. We understand how things are restored in the natural. Recently my daughter purchased a home that needed to be restored after years of neglect. After several months of work the home was renovated and looked almost new.
When we live apart form Jesus our lives become tattered. A life apart from the Lord is usually one of selfishness where we try to fill our life with the things of this world. When a person comes to faith, they realize only God can fill the empty hole inside of them.
Throughout the Bible is a theme of restoration. When Adam and Eve fell into sin, the Lord had a plan to restore them and their descendants by sending His Son Jesus into the world. John 3:16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.[1]
Nehemiah Intervenes to Bring Restoration
As Nehemiah worked on restoring the walls of Jerusalem there was a famine in the land creating a food shortage. The wealthy then took this opportunity to oppress the poor. This caused some people to sell their children as slaves, mortgage their fields and vineyards to pay taxes and to put food on the table.
Nehemiah heard of this injustice and acted to bring restoration by speaking to those taking advantage of the poor. Nehemiah 5:11 You must restore their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes to them this very day. And repay the interest you charged when you lent them money, grain, new wine, and olive oil.” 12 They replied, “We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the nobles and officials swear to do what they had promised. [2] In a similar but greater way, it took Jesus’s divine intervention on the cross to bring restoration to our lives.
The Lord Brings Restoration to Our Lives
Jesus restores amid our brokenness, failures, sin, and hurts that we experience in this lifetime. “The biblical meaning of the word “restoration” is to receive back more than has been lost to the point where the final state is greater than the original condition.”[3] The mercy and grace of God resulted in Jesus dying for our sins. It is because Jesus paid the price for our sins that we can be forgiven and our relationship with the Lord restored.
You are never too far from God to be come to faith and be restored. Bring your brokenness and weariness to the cross of Jesus and be restored. God loves you and enjoys restoring and transforming you. Isaiah 1:18Come now, let’s settle this,”says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”[4]
To hear how the Lord brings restoration, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/rebuilding-unfinished-hope-economic-hardship
[1,2.4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[3] http://newcalvarydeliverance.org/pdf/Biblical%20Meaning%20of%20Restoration.pdf