The Biblical Definition Of Restoration (Job 42:10-12)
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. Therefore, when something is restored in Scripture, it always grows, multiplies or improves, so that its final condition is superior to its original state (see Joel 2:21-26). The main point is that someone or something is improved beyond measure. Unlike the regular dictionary meaning of “restoration” which is to return something back to its original condition, the biblical definition of the word has greater connotations that go above and beyond the typical everyday usage.
The Bible tells us it is “to replace; to renew or revive; to return.” Four slightly different yet equally powerful definitions. I love that God through Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit utilizes each of these definitions in restoring us, His people.
Replace: God replaces our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).
Renew: Through focusing on the Bible, we can renew our minds continually (Romans 12:2).
Revive: We are given new, everlasting life through the resurrection of Christ (Romans 6:4).
Return: Through the saving work of Jesus on the cross, we are reconciled to God (Romans 5:10).
When God restored Job after the terrible proofs to which he was submitted, he gave him double that which he had lost and blessed him more abundantly in his final days than at the beginning of his life (Job 42:10-12). Jesus told his disciples that everyone who left something to follow him would receive 100 times more (Mark 10:29,30).
God multiplies when he restores, and thus, to restore nowadays, God not only returns to the Church the glory that it reached in New Testament times, he wishes to make it more powerful, glorious and majestic, like nothing the world has ever seen.
Repeatedly throughout the Bible, God blesses people for their faith and hardships by making up for their losses and giving them more than they previously had before.
The divine hope is the stamp of quality of the work of the Holy Spirit. This eternal promise appears as part of the prophecy of Pentecost: “I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten” (Joel 2:25-27). The passage as a whole promise a total recovery: a basic characteristic of the age of the Holy Spirit. In a manner that characterizes the encouraging qualities of his ministry of world evangelization, the author of this study calls attention to the course of the promise that recurs throughout the Scripture, offering hope when all seems to contradict it, and promising restoration when its obvious that only God can supply it.
The Old and New Testaments use terms such as “restore” and “renew” to image God’s control of history and the believer’s spiritual life. Both terms, represented by a variety of Hebrew and Greek words, are used in literal and figurative contexts. It is the extension of the literal meaning into a figure for explaining God’s program or the nature of spiritual living that presents challenges for interpretation.
The literal meaning of these terms is clear and needs little comment. The usage pattern for the words translated “restore” is mostly a literal meaning. Life, land, property, health, and other tangible items are the subject of restoration ( Gen 42: 25; 1 Kings 20: 34; Job 20: 10; Ezek 18: 7; Mark 3:5 ; Luke 19:8 ). On the other hand, the “renew” pattern is predominantly figurative. Passages on literal renewal (to take something up again), such as kingdom renewal at Gilgal ( 1 Sam 11:14 ), are rare (cf. 2 Chron 15: 8; Job 10: 17; 29: 20; Psalm 103:5 ).
Restoration “In The Beginning” (Gen. 3:21)
The biblical theme of restoration is found in the beginning of all things: the book of Genesis. God created the human being in his own image, man and woman. The human being enjoys God’s image, his intimacy and an uninterrupted companionship with Him.
However, the human being decided to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. By doing so, he wanted to take his life in his own hands. Instead of depending on God’s wisdom, righteousness and resources, he would live by his own limited resources, according to his own opinion.
With this tragic decision, the human being lost his divine image, as well as the intimacy and companionship of the Lord, his Creator. But God’s restorative work began immediately. As the human being was already self-conscious, trying to cover his nakedness by his own hands, God provided him clothes made of animal skins. This revealed with complete clarity God’s redemptive and restorative plan for the fallen human. This first sacrifice, which provided him with clothes, pointed toward the final sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus himself.
The Anticipated Restoration (Gen. 41:42,43)
The outline of God’s restorative work is vividly demonstrated in Joseph’s life. Joseph was abandoned, falsely accused, forgotten. But he finally became favoured by God and restored to the role God assigned him.
1. Abandoned. When Joseph revealed to his brothers that God had called him to rule over them, they reacted enviously, sending him as a slave to Egypt.
2. Falsely accused. God prospered Joseph, even as a slave, to the point that his master put him in charge of his belongings. But the master’s wife falsely accused him of assaulting her, and he was sent to prison.
3. Forgotten. Being in prison, Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharoah’s cupbearer and baker. The cupbearer rejoiced to know he would be freed, and Joseph asked him to intercede for him before Pharaoh. But, once out of prison, the cupbearer forgot about Joseph.
4. Favoured. God didn’t forget him, however. Two years later Pharaoh had a dream. The cupbearer remembered Joseph and spoke of him to Pharaoh. Joseph interpreted the dream, announcing seven years of famine to him. Pleased with the warning, Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all the riches of Egypt. not only was Joseph restored by this action, but when the drought came, he was in a position to save his people.
Restoration Of Intimacy With GOD (Rev. 19:7-9)
The Lord illustrates the restoration of intimacy with his people through the analogy of the husband and his bride. The passage in Revelation 19:7-9 describes the wedding of the Lamb, Jesus, when he calls his spouse, the Church, once she’s ready to be presented before Him. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul explains how the Wife is prepared; submitting herself to God and allowing him to cleanse her “in the washing of water by the Word” in order to present it before the Lord without “stain or wrinkle or any such thing” (Eph. 5:25-27).
When the Wife is prepared and Jesus returns for her, the tie, broken in Eden, will remain completely restored, and Christians will become one in Christ and God, as Jesus prayed in John 17. But as in the “first marriage”, the spouse will be bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh, that is, it should be like Him. The Lord will not return for an impure or defeated wife. In these days of restoration, God prepares the wife in beauty and power and his visible glory.
The Holy Spirit: Agent Of Restoration (Joel 2:28,29)
God’s work of restoration is a work of the Holy Spirit in and through the lives of those who have believed in Jesus and been born again from on high (John 3:3). The prophet Joel prophesied of when God would pour out his spirit “upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28,29). In this way, his power would be received by all and would not be limited to a special individual. This explains why Christ said to his disciples that it was necessary that he go to the Father (John 16:7) because then the spirit would be sent to dwell in them, to fill them and authorize them so that God’s wonders would be done through them.
Titus 3:5,6 reveals that even salvation – the regeneration of the Spirit dwelling in the human being and the cleansing that makes the new creature acceptable before God – is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, in Acts 1:8, Jesus tells the disciples that they may do nothing until the Holy Spirit comes. the Lord promises that they will receive power to testify about Him and to spread the good news to all the earth.
The Corruption And Restoration Of Leaders (Ezek 34:1-10)
Having chosen to listen to others in place of God, the people quickly began listening to liars (Jer. 9:3). Ezek. 34:1-10 exposes the weakness and depravity into which the Jewish leaders had fallen. They used their offices and ministries for personal gain, not to serve the people. They didn’t feed the flock, but themselves. In his wrath, God confronted these evil shepherds, warning them that he would take the sheep away from them and would put an end to their despised exploitation.
The analogy of the pastor is maintained in the promise of restoration that follows these sentences of divine censure, “behold I, myself will go seek my sheep…as the flock recognizes the shepherd…thus will I recognize my sheep” (verses 11.12). God, then and now, wishes that his people would relate directly with him, hear him, respond to him and have a more abundant life. The Lord has never turned away from his promise to restore the loving relationship that was lost in the Garden of Eden.
Repentance In The Restoration (Is. 58:1-14)
After judging and energetically disciplining the people for their apostasy, God offers them wonderful promises of restoration. He tells them that their salvation will soon be allowed to come to pass, that it will be “like a watered garden”. He will free them from their iniquities, will heal their apostasies, and will love them “out of pure grace” (see Is. 58; Jer. 31-33; Hosea 14).
Nevertheless, in his warning of justice and his promise of restoration, the prophets of God make an important exhortation, “Repent! It is indicated in Isaiah 58, “if you abandon your ritual fasting and practice true fasting”. The lamentation of Ephraim is heard in Jeremiah 31:19, “Because after I was turned away, I repented”. And it echoes in the plea of Hosea 14:1, “Return, oh Israel, to Jehovah your God”.
“Repent” doesn’t mean to redouble your efforts to please God by keeping the Law or achieving good works. The calling has always been to simply return to God to allow Him to cleanse and restore the sinner.
Significance Of Restoration For The Individual (John 10:10)
The restoration of humankind. We, humans, are indeed broken and shattered by sin. In Psalm 8:4-8, we get the picture of what God originally intended for us
Perhaps the best way to sum up all that the restoration means to the individual believer should be to call on a simple word used so much in the Old Testament as in the New: life. In Deuteronomy 30:20, Moses says of the Lord, “He is life for you”. In Colossians 3:4, Paul speaks of “Christ, our life”. And Jesus says, “I have come to give them life, and so that they may have it in abundance” (John 10:10).
Restoration, for the individual, means to replace spiritual death with spiritual life. Ezek. 36:25-28 graphically describes that substitution. But we not only receive a new type and quality of life, but we should also grow in it. In many verses, we see this process of growth reflected as a work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:23; 17:22; Rom. 8:13; Phil. 1:6; 2:13; Col. 1:27). Through the Holy spirit, God continues and perfects the work that began with our salvation.
Significance Of Restoration For The Church (John 13:34,35)
For the church, as a whole, restoration signifies something more than being converted into a duplicate of the New Testament church. Remember that Restoration means the creation of something that surpasses the original.
In the first place, restoration means that the Church will deploy the type of love that Jesus manifested during his ministry on earth. Jesus said that people would know his disciples by their love (John 13:34,35). Restoration also means the manifestation of God’s unlimited power through his church. It should occur when the gifts of the spirit flow through the people of God and work without limitations and restrictions under the direction of the Holy Spirit of divine love.
Through the full manifestation of the gifts and ministries marked out by God, and working according to the love essential to his divine nature, the Church will reach a level of maturity that can only be measured in terms of the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). While the Church is converted into a holy temple (Eph. 2:21, inhabited by a consecrated priesthood which offers acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ (I Pet. 2:5), all people are drawn to the Lord, and the world will finally see God’s glory through this restored Church.
Paul clearly stated that restoration must be done by the qualified—those who are spiritual. If it isn’t done from a spiritual heart of gentleness and wisdom, the one who’s seeking to restore can harm the one being helped and be pulled into temptation himself.
To find restoration or to restore someone spiritually, you need to understand what being spiritual is.
“Spiritual” in this context means seeking God’s assessment of the problem, allowing God both to define the problem and to provide the solution.
A spiritual solution comes when the Holy Spirit illuminates God’s truth from His Word in your heart, your mind and your life.
How to Find Spiritual Restoration
Is this magnificent, multi-faceted work of restoration done overnight? Certainly not, despite our anxious urgency to be made fully sanctified. The renewing of our individual hearts and wounds, our turning from sin and returning to God, and the restoration of broken families, marriages and physical bodies are all continual, painstaking work. The process is much like what happens when a mechanic restores old vehicles: the cars are taken apart to be rebuilt – slowly, with diligence and great care. Restored vehicles are often more beautiful in their renewed state than in their original condition.
Many times we want to help people out of a circumstance without identifying the spiritual root of the problem. But if the spirit is the cause, the spiritual must be the cure.
A snare is always rooted in a spiritual cause because the root of any snare is Satan, our flesh or both.
When we seek to restore one another, we must seek to address the spiritual cause of the snare because only then can we set the person free. Healing is restored by addressing the source, not the symptoms. To get to the source, we need to have a spiritual approach to restoration.
Today we need our souls restored (Psa. 23:3); we need God to restore unto us the joy of our salvation (Psa. 51:12). We need to pray like the grief-stricken Jeremiah prayed long ago in Lamentations 5:21, “Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old.”
Prophet Charles Adeshola Wusu
Shepherd in Charge
CCC New Glory Parish