TOTAL RESTORATION

Life is full of ups and downs, challenges, unforeseen circumstances, the good, the bad and the ugly. The Holy writ has this to say: “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue”.

(Job 14: 1–2). However, God created the world and everything perfect, hence He declared that “It was very good” (Gen. 1: 31).

The perfect world God created could not continue because of man’s disobedience to keep the perfect commandments, laws, statutes and ordinances of God. The fall of man as recorded in Genesis Chapter 3 altered God’s beautiful and perfect plan for the world and humanity. Since then humanity has been in dire need of total restoration to the original state God made everything to be.

The man after God’s heart. David, alongside his companions, lost their entire families, their belongings, their houses, and all they had laboured for all their life to the raiding bands of the Amalekites. The loss was so much that his companions were so despaired to the point of stoning him to death. However, David called on God and He assured him of total restoration, and indeed, He restored not just all, but much more such that David gave to the people of his tribe of the booty (1st Samuel 30: 1 – end).

Job, blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil; the greatest of all the people of the East, lost oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels, servants, sons and daughters, lastly, he lost his health. His condition was hopeless such that his wife persuaded him to curse God and die.” His friends mocked him and all forsook him, but he held firmly to God such that the Bible says: “And the LORD restored Job’s losses; indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before (Job 1; 2; 42: 10).

The valley of dry bones as we have in Ezekiel Chapter 37: 1- 10 is another picture of hopelessness, absence of restoration, irreparable loss, just as the prophet confessed, but before God all hope was not lost, hence He commanded him to speak life into those bones and they came back to life.

The institution of the Lord’s Supper as we have in 1st Corinthians 11: 23 – 24, is highly reassuring, reinvigorating, full of hope, therapeutic and full of life, but only for those who believe in the vicarious death of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It assures us of total restoration.