AN ABOVE-AND-BEYOND GOD
Pastor Sherri Drury
God isn’t in the “let’s replace it” business, He’s in the “let’s restore it!” business. Heaven, Chapter 4
In our reading this past week, we see that from the beginning God planned to restore His relationship with humanity, restore humanity to eternal life, restore humanity to Paradise, and restore Creation to its pre-sin state. And guess what, God is still on track with his plan.
I love the concept of Restoration so much. I could sit and think about it all day. It reminds me of the greatness of God and the fullness of His plan. Consider it with me — God really is an Above-and-Beyond kind of God.
Creating us and loving us,
Staying around after we choose our own paths.
Thinking us worthy of pursuit,
Rescuing us from our own waywardness.
This could be enough.
But random, piece-meal rescue isn’t enough for God.
He comes to us with a plan to cover all of our sin.
First, sending His Son to us to teach us about God —
so that we could understand.
That’s plenty.
But then His Son willingly and painfully dies in our place
Just so we could be in close relationship again,
an Adam-and-Eve type of relationship.
Reconciled.
It is enough, isn’t it?
But this great sacrifice does more . . .
It frees us from the enemy’s hold
And it erases our due punishment,
ultimately saving us from eventual death and separation.
— that is more than plenty!
Not just sent on our own way,
Instead, He redeems us.
So we are in the possession of our Owner-Creator again.
And we discover that with Him,
we just aren’t just justified,
we are declared innocent.
I can’t handle it.
He also extends an invitation — to be citizens of his kingdom.
But He doesn’t just want Heaven with us then,
He wants Heaven with us now as well–
sending a piece of Himself to reside with us
until that day we are together, face-to-face
He’s pushing the limits!
But he doesn’t just treat us like property or servants,
He adopts us into His Family–makes it official.
Being Almighty God, high in the sky isn’t good enough?
No, it’s not.
Then He shares his inheritance with us;
like we should be trusted with that!
Calls us co-heirs with Christ.
It’s too much!
And then . . . . HE RESTORES US!
So we aren’t just wiped clean,
we are made whole.
And in that Restoration we are gifted, called,
trusted to pray and serve and work in His name.
Truly, Above-and-Beyond!
The biblical meaning of the word “restoration” is to receive back more than has been lost to the point where the final state is greater than the original condition. Wow! With this Good News, Christians should be the most joyful, most grateful, most secure people in the world. But are we?
Let’s look forward to the day when Restoration will be full and complete inside us and all around us. But let’s also celebrate the work that God is doing in our lives right now. Restoration in us begins the day we chose to believe in Him as the Son of God, accept Him as our Savior, and follow Him as Lord.
How can we celebrate the Above-and-Beyond plan and love of our God this week?
