Last week we began discussing what the earth will be like when the kingdom has come and the earth has been restored. Certainly there is far more to this than we have covered, but since the Bible is quite general about this we will be the same. The Bible is general about such things because we do not need more information about this now. We only know that it will be fully restored to its original intended purpose and state—a paradise that man will rule over as he again walks daily with God. When this is done, the earth will also become the dwelling place of God because He wants to live with mankind.
We should also keep in mind that besides the restored earth, the Lord also brought forth a "new creation" that we have been born into in this age which greatly transcends the original creation. This new creation is to a heavenly, spiritual nature, which we will begin preparing for, and to at least some degree, ascending to in this life. We need to distinguish the promises to us as a "new creation" from the restored creation of the earth. It is the combining of these two that has brought a great deal of confusion about the kingdom of God on the earth, and why we were told to pray for His kingdom to come to the earth. We will cover these distinctions in some detail later.
Again, the prophetic Scriptures only give us a general view of the restored earth, and Peter gives us a general summary of the plan in Acts 3:19-21:
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.
Just as the biblical prophecies are very general in their description of what the earth will be like when it has been restored, it is likewise general in what the process of restoration will be like, but we are given hints. Here we see that Jesus will not return until "the period of restoration of all things." We know then that this will be a period of time. We know from other prophecies that this period is a one thousand-year rule of Christ and His church over the earth.
This is what His people are being prepared for in this life, to rule over the earth with Him in order to restore it. It was for the preparation of those who will rule with Him that He did not take authority over earth immediately after His resurrection, which He purchased by the cross. We need to understand how we are being prepared for this.
The main way that we are being prepared to rule with Christ during this period of restoration is by going through a process of restoration ourselves. When we are born again by faith in Christ and His atonement on the cross, we are not immediately made perfect, but the process of restoration begins. Those who go on to maturity continue in this process until it is complete, and they begin to work to help restore others. The Lord's own teachings indicate that those who are the most faithful in this will be given the most authority in the age to come, or rule over more cities, as we see in the parable of the talents.
It personally does not appeal to me to rule over cities or rule over people at all, but what does appeal to me is to see the Lord receive the reward of His sacrifice. I also love to see people renewed, changed, and restored. In fact, seeing one person healed, delivered, changed, and loving God is far better than any success I ever had in business or anything else. I also love animals and the environment, and can hardly wait to see the earth restored to the paradise it was created to be, and the harmony of all living things restored. This is worth working for! This is worth going through all of the training that we now are to be prepared for.
Understanding and growing effectively in the work of restoration is crucial for our spiritual development in this life. We must have a vision of having our minds renewed so that we do not think like fallen mankind, but from the perspective of the Holy Spirit whom we have been given to live in us. This is why, when we are born again, we can begin to see the kingdom of God or the restoration work of God. However, there is a difference between seeing and entering, and then another step to inheriting.
We began to study the process of restoration last year when we covered the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. We were made in the image of God. After the Fall, the hearts and minds of men were twisted into the image of Satan. The period of restoration is going to restore in mankind the image of God, renewing in us His mind and heart.
One thing we must grasp is the process. Many have the concept that as soon as the Lord returns, everything will be perfect. Certainly it will be better immediately, but far from perfect, just as we were immediately made better when we were born again, but were far from perfect. We also need to understand that the process of restoration is hard.
Any contractor will tell you that it is much easier to build from the beginning than it is to restore a building. However, as we have discussed in the past, something restored can have a much greater glory, which is why the restored temple was promised to have an even greater glory than the original. Restored mankind will in some ways be one of the greatest revelations of God's glory for eternity because of the depravity to which we have fallen, and the way that He did not discard us, but laid down His own life for us, and continued to work with us until all of mankind and the earth were completely restored. God's creation reveals a lot about Him, but this process of restoring the fallen reveals God's nature probably better than anything else ever will.
Again, restoration is hard. It is not easy to restore anyone or anything. The work before us in ruling with Christ to restore the earth will not be easy, just as our own restoration is not easy, but it is worth it for the glory that is to be revealed through it. It is worth it because every soul is precious to the Lord. Every parent who has had a child go astray knows the grief. Any loving parent would give just about anything for the restoration of a child who has gone awry, and there is possibly no greater joy than seeing a wayward child restored. This is the joy that the Lord went to the cross for, and it is the joy that we, too, must take up our crosses daily for—to see the Savior receive the reward of His sacrifice.
My point here is that the proclaiming of the kingdom and possessing of the kingdom is a work of restoration. If the Lord has called us to serve in a certain church, and if we are growing in our purpose, we will have a vision for and a devotion to seeing every person in that church restored to the image of Christ. Our church should have that same vision for the city to which we have been called to be a light. We are not here to abandon when the darkness or time of trouble comes—only the hirelings have such a mentality. Those who are true shepherds after the Lord's own heart will fight any lion and any bear that tries to attack those they have been given the care of.
The escape mentality that many now have is contrary to the heart of the Lord, and is not a biblical perspective. We have not been called to abandon the world, but to lay down our lives for its deliverance and restoration, to work for its restoration until it is completely reconciled to God, and restored to what He created it to be. For those who are going on to maturity, the theme of "restoration" will become central to their work. This includes reconciliation, redemption, and in some cases restitution, but a primary goal of the work of the Lord in this age, and the one to come, is restoration. So how does our present life line up with this purpose?