For the last few weeks we have been examining what has been the basic purpose of God for nearly six thousand years, which is restoration. God is going to restore man and the earth from all of the consequences of the fall. Understanding this is basic to understanding the purpose of God in anything. Understanding God's purpose for this will give us hope for anything - any relationship, any church, and any problem. Then, as we see Him restore, we will grow in faith for bigger needs and bigger problems. By the end, His people will believe Him for the nations.

Redemption and restoration will continue to be God's most basic purpose on the earth until it is fully accomplished. Therefore, as members of His body on the earth, this should be a fundamental purpose of our life - helping to restore the creation, fallen and marred, back to its original purpose and condition. For this reason our first response to seeing problems or something wrong in others, should be to seek to restore them to their purpose in Christ, as the apostle Paul related in Colossians 1:28,29:

Think about this. Paul's goal was to present every man complete in Christ. As outrageous as this may seem, Paul was serious about it, and we should be, too. Until every soul has been redeemed and restored, our work is not finished. How can we stop as long as a single soul is in jeopardy?

The Power to Restore
Of course, all restoration is accomplished by the power of the cross of Jesus Christ. The cross alone is the atonement and sacrifice which is able to redeem man and the earth. It is through the cross that we are reconciled to God, but it is also through the power of the cross that the grace of God is extended to us to change and restore us. It is the power of the cross which kills our old self, and resurrects us to newness of life.

Every Christian must settle once and for all that there will forever only be one atonement for our redemption - the cross of Jesus Christ. However, we are commanded to take up our crosses daily. Why, if the cross of Jesus was enough? Taking up our crosses daily is neither in any way for us to try to pay for our own sins or the sins of others, nor thinking that His cross was enough. As members of His body, and as members of Him, we are commanded to live as Jesus did, laying down our own lives for the sake of reconciling others to God, and restoring them to their purpose in Him.

Therefore, we do not live for ourselves, but for Him, doing all things for the sake of His gospel. Having a heart for restoration is fundamental to being united with the Lord and His purposes, and it is especially fundamental to understanding His purposes at the end of this age. Why?

After my personal conversion, I became a carpenter. In this trade I learned quickly that it is far easier to build something new than to restore or remodel. This caused me to wonder, just as many new believers do, why didn't the Lord just destroy man after the fall, and start all over? It sure would have been much easier for Him, as He would not have had to become a man and go to the cross - still an incomprehensible thing for God Almighty to submit Himself to. Why would He do this? Because He loved man so much.

Even as flawed and depraved as man became, the Lord was determined, not only to redeem, but to restore man, and the creation he had been given as his domain, to its former glory. This is an unfathomable love, but the Lord went even further. He determined He would even enable this so deeply and tragically flawed creation of His to become “a new creation” which greatly transcends the original creation. He would not only make man a special part of His creation, one He could relate to, but He would allow those from among mankind who had proved themselves in the most difficult of times, to become His own sons and daughters, fellow heirs with Him.

We recently showed a clip of Mel Gibson's upcoming movie, The Passion, at our Harvest Fest Conference. It portrays the crucifixion in a most graphic way. When I heard that my own eleven-year old son began to cry almost uncontrollably after seeing the clips, I was naturally concerned. When asked what was wrong, he just replied, “I can't believe that God would do that for me!”

I think this movie is going to be important for all of God's people to see. It may be one of the most powerful movies of our times, which is probably why it has been met with so much controversy. Whether it is through a movie, or in any other way, we are in desperate need of beholding the cross. We are in desperate need of beholding His great love for us, which was demonstrated on the cross like nothing else ever will be.

When we truly behold the love of God, we cannot help but love Him. If we truly love Him we will live for Him. If we truly love Him, we will also lay down our lives for Him and for those He went to the cross to save. Many believe that the cross is elementary and we need to go on to maturity, but there is a reason why Jesus is forever referred to as “the Lamb” in heaven. The cross is actually the greatest and highest revelation of the glory of God that there will ever be. If we ever think we are too mature to behold the glory of the cross, then we have somehow departed from the very power of God, which is the cross (see Romans 1:16).

What does this have to do with the end times? The cross is, and always will be, the central issue of the times. At the end the ultimate selfishness of man will meet the ultimate love of God. This love will not just be revealed in words, but it will be demonstrated through His people. At the end the church will not only have been redeemed by the cross, but it will have been restored by it as well. The church will also be in such unity of purpose with God that we too will gladly lay down our lives for others to know His love. At the end, the church will have to truly take up its cross, daily.

As we have previously discussed, Satan has boasted before the throne of God and still continues to this day. The boast is that God may be able to forgive man, but He really does not have the power to change man. He boasts that even mankind, God's crowning creation, loves sin more than righteousness, and loves his, Satan's, ways more than God's ways. Presently, Satan can even point to the church, and declare that even the redeemed really love sin more than righteousness. However, before the end there will be a church that is without spot or wrinkle, who stands in great glory as proof forever of the power of the cross not only to redeem, but to change and restore.

Because of my experience as a carpenter, to this day whenever I see a restored home or building I am far more impressed with it than I am with a new building. That is why the Lord said through Haggai, that the glory of His restored temple would be greater than that of the former temple. This is why man restored to His former purpose, will be an even greater glory.

It is for this reason that the restored nation of Israel is such a witness to the world, and such an important part of God's message at this time.

One of the greatest miracles of all will be how the Lord took His bride, who has played the harlot with almost every earthly evil, and changed her into a pure, spotless, chaste virgin, again.

Man was an impressive creation before the fall. However, when he is restored, along with the earth which was given as his domain, it will be a witness to the creation for all time of the love of God, and the glory of His character, as well as the power of light over darkness and of the truth over every lie.

As His sons and daughters, this is something which must become such a part of us that we do not give up on other people or situations, but are always looking for ways to apply the power of the cross to redeem and restore. This should include our relatives, our churches, our cities, our nations, and the world itself.

When man sinned and rebelled the Lord did not give up on us - He laid down His life for us. We must have the same attitude toward others if we are going to be His representatives on the earth. Because the depravity of man is going to get worse and worse as we approach the end, we are going to have to walk in even more of the power of the cross to redeem and restore. We are going to have to walk in even more love and forgiveness.

This is not to imply that the power of the cross is increasing - it has always been as powerful as it has needed to be, sufficient for any need. Neither is this to imply that we are better than those who walked in the first century, or even during any previous period. However, where sin increases so does the grace increase even more (see Romans 5:20). As bad as the transgression will get at the end, God will still have the grace to forgive, and the power to change all who will come to Him. This also means that we are going to have to grow in this grace to forgive others.

For this reason one of the most important and basic things God is doing in the life of every one of His people is to teach us to love, which is demonstrated by forgiveness and a willingness to restore. One of the ways that the Lord is preparing His people for these times is by allowing them to endure greater attacks, more slander, worse betrayals, etc. These are all opportunities to grow in grace, to grow in the love of God, and to demonstrate it.

Every single trial in our life is for this purpose - to change us more and more into His image. As we are told in II Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” The greatest glory of God that we will ever see, and which rent the veil as a testimony of how such veils are removed, is the cross. For this reason consider these Scriptures:

The Lord made it clear in His Word that if we are going to partake of His life, we must also partake of His death. Any other teaching is a false gospel and an enemy of the cross. Death separates the things that are natural from the things that are spiritual. To have a resurrection there must first be a death. If we want to walk in the resurrection life of Jesus, we must be willing to lay down our lives for Him.

That is the gospel truth, and the gospel we must live. One of the greatest signs that we are truly at the end of the age will be a church that is living what it preaches, and demonstrating the power of the cross not only to redeem us, but to change us.

Next week I want to share with you one of the most heroic stories of restoration that I have ever heard. We are dwelling on this issue for a bit because the goal of this study is not just to know what is going to happen, but to be prepared for it. We are seeking to drive deeper and deeper into our hearts, God's heart for restoration. This is fundamental if we are going to be a people after God's own heart.