By Bishop elect Charles Ffrench
To be restored is to bring back into existence, use or order to its original place, position or location
Gods plan to restore mankind form creation in Genesis 1; 26
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
Jesus is the perfect one to bring restoration to man through His death and resurrection.
Lets look at restoring, it is transforming something old or out of order and making it purposeful, workable and better. This same idea about restoration is also on God’s heart! . Sin corrupts and weakens us, and it even causes us to suffer loss and pain in many ways. God wants to bring people back to Himself, because He knows that the peace and joy that we all want for our lives can only be found in Him.
Jesus is about restoring people—physically, emotionally, and spiritually, the whole man. Whether we are sick or struggling emotionally or separated from God because of sin, He wants to bring us back into right relationship with Himself, so that our lives can be filled once again with purpose, destiny and contentment.
God does not want us to fail, as He is our most supportive advocate, and provider.
The bible is full of God trying to bring Israel back to Himself because of His promises towards them, Gods promises to mankind cause Him to pursue after us to be restored.
Psalm 23:3
“KNOWING that God is the one who restores our lives no matter what we face. God’s love for us is so strong that He not only leads us to places and times of quiet and rest, but He also then renews our soul”.
Psalm 51:12
King David was a man “after God’s own heart,” and yet he also experienced hardships and many battles in his life. Sometimes those difficulties were the result of outside forces and other times because of his own sin. But no matter what, David knew that only God could restore his hope, his joy, his peace and his life to him.
David asked God to help create in him a clean heart, to purify him, to renew a right spirit in him, and not to take away the Holy Spirit or God’s presence from him. He wants to feel God close to him and filling his life with the blessings only God can give. Renewing or “restoring” a right relationship with God alone would bring David back to the place of contentment and inner peace that he was seeking.
2 Corinthians 13:11
Paul’s final words of exhortation to the Corinthians.
He is encouraging them to work things out with one another and think more highly about others rather than of themselves. Paul wants them to live in peace and harmony, because then they will experience more fully God’s love and peace. By seeking restoration with their brothers and sisters in Christ, they would reap what they sowed and restoration with God as well.
Galatians 6:1
God is our sole source of restoration and hope. But God also wants us to bear one another’s burdens and help and encourage each other, especially when we make mistakes. No one is more spiritual than anyone else, as we all have been filled with the same gift of the Holy Spirit when we are saved. However, spending more time in the presence of the Lord and developing greater levels of gratitude will draw us closer to our God. Then we can be His vessels for loving, caring, and carrying our fellow brothers and sisters as needed. So when someone stumbles, as Christians we should all seek their rapid restoration as soon as possible. Simultaneously, we should also examine ourselves and make sure that we are not falling into temptation as well.
In CONCLUSION for now
Restoration is to see the changes and transformation that can take place in a person lives. We all have suffered losses in our lives, and, hopefully, we have all felt the joy of having something restored. This is what God is all about—He wants us all to have our health, emotions, physical and spiritual lives renewed to perfect harmony with Him. So when we leave the sheepfold and the other ninety nine sheep, He leaves them to go after us. God loves us so much, that He does not want anyone to perish (John 3:16). His desire is that we should all be restored back into a close relationship with Him and one day enjoy eternal life with Him.