It's not any surprise to me that HGTV's fixer-upper shows are wildly successful. We love a good home remodel and some surprise shiplap (it's not a surprise anymore, guys...)! Some of my favorites are Fixer Upper and Home Town, in which the renovation teams are focusing on taking old homes [usually] and restoring them - taking them back to and beyond their former glory and making them into something totally old and new mixed together. It's beautiful and satisfying. To 'restore' means to return or repair someone or something to a former condition. When I think about the word restoration, I think of HGTV, but I also reflect on my own restoration through Jesus, a yet-ongoing daily process in my life that I am so thankful for. I also think of the scriptures, which tell a cohesive story about a grand restoration project: God's restoration of His created world. The Bible makes lots of claims about the reality we experience, but first and foremost we read that in the beginning, God created a very good world (Gen. 1 and 2). This might seem like a well-known tidbit of information, but it's especially important for our conversation here. Why? Because the question that's often asked in home restoration projects (I should know, we're in the middle of a big one!) is whether or not it makes sense to restore or to just completely start over. In some cases, it honestly makes more sense to just bulldoze a home and start from scratch. But in most cases of home renovation, there are other motivators that step into the conversation: likely, love or commitment. If you have an attachment or commitment to what's been built (i.e. - a childhood home), you're especially prone to choosing restoration. Have you ever wondered why God didn't just 'scrap the whole thing' and start anew? It's for this reason - love and commitment - that God instead chooses restoration for His world. He intends to restore things back to their original condition of flourishing and blessing. After all, God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to save it (John 3:16-17). If I tell you I'm going to save something - perhaps my old Bible with a tattered and torn cover - you probably understand that I don't mean I'm about to throw it in the trash. You would understand that I mean I'm going to rescue it: perhaps by having it rebound or getting it a new cover. This seems simple, and yet, Christians so often have a view of the world that involves not salvation and restoration, but fiery destruction. And of course, there are some passages in the Bible that could be read this way, but in view of scripture's larger redemptive story, that interpretation doesn't make much sense (I'm not going to flesh those passages out here, but Dr. J. Richard Middleton has some great insights on his blog). One of the primary claims of the Bible is that God is at work restoring and healing His good Creation. This was in part accomplished by Jesus, who inaugurated a new kingdom and a new way of living, which we can see breaking out around us in different ways. Indeed, "the Kingdom is near" and we can experience renewal and restoration now because of Jesus. And yet, we also know that this time of universal restoration is, in part, still to come. Peter put it this way in one of his sermons: "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets." -Acts 3:17-21 NIV Though the world is fallen, God intends to restore and reconcile all things in heaven and on earth to Himself (Colossians 1:19-20). In Revelation 21, we see the final picture of a new heaven and a new earth that have been so beautifully restored that it seems like the old heaven and earth have totally passed away - and God's dwelling place is not somewhere else in the clouds, but it's now here, among His creation (Rev. 21:1-4). God's people are to be 'restoration people' because we have been restored - we can now experience the blessing that comes from a right relationship with God and others. And additionally, we have much restoration work to do in this world. Taking part in God's restorative work takes many forms, but we could perhaps start with Jesus' very tangible ideas in Luke 4: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19 God is at work restoring the world. May we be His restoration people working in tune with Him, saving the world from all that impedes blessing, flourishing, and abundant life.
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