Restoration part 4
One of the biggest things Jesus came to do was to restore things. To bring it--all of creation, including you and me--back to how it was originally intended to be. He did so by dying, and rising again. The Messianic rebirth of the world. The new birth of a New Man. And when that New Man (the Son(s) of God) manfiests, all of creation will stop groaning and everything will be revealed to be in Divine Order. And I didn't say everything will be PUT into Divine Order. Because that already happened. That's a done deal. God established His Kingdom of Love when He gave us His only begotten Son. When He gave us the King of kings. Look at 2 Peter 1:4 in the NLT, "And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires." The KJV says, "partake of the divine nature." And I think that's the key. I think that's so important. Because the truth of the matter is: We HAVE the divine nature. The new nature of love that goes along with being a new creature in Christ. But it's the old idea of LETTING the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us. It's the idea of RECEIVING the gift we've been given by RELEASING the gift. By giving it away. By sharing it. When God restored us--and everything else--He gave us everything we would ever need to be whole. Remember the man with the withered hand? His hand was restored. God didn't just hit a reset button and say, "You screwed up last time, better luck this time." No... He gave us His Son. We don't live Jesus' life by trying really hard to act like what our culture thinks a "good Christian" should act like. We live Jesus' life by letting HIM live it in us, and through us, and as us. A life of works and labor (which don't work) was replaced by a life of rest. Back to the way it was supposed to be when God put man in the midst of the garden (a finished work), and told him to keep the garden. Because, remember now, rest is NOT inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. Rest is what's inside coming out. Naturally. As you fill yourself with it and it flows out. That's why it's so important that we understand how God loves us, instead of always focusing on how we love Him. We love Him (by loving each other) because He FIRST loved us. His love is our first love. And we may have left our first love, but He brought us back to it. Back to Himself. He was lifted up from the earth on the cross, and He drew us all into Himself. God was in Christ reconciling us to Himself. Restoring what (we thought) was missing. That's what the Holy Spirit is all about. The Holy Spirit doesn't tell us what's wrong with us. He tells us what's RIGHT with us, by telling us what's right with Jesus! Who we are in Christ is who Christ is in us. So when we're talking about restoration, it's not something that needs to HAPPEN. It's something we need to partake of. Jesus prepared a table for us in the midst of our enemies. A six-course meal called the Six Steps to the Throne. And the Spirit and the bride say come and get it. Jesus stands at the door and knocks. He has given us everything we need. He has given us Himself. He has redeemed us. And restored us!