Redemption, Recovery, and Restoration

Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Luke 24:27

Level setting is a common term for ensuring that all of us have a common understanding of some activity or subject. It doesn’t mean we all have to agree with the concepts. It just means that we understand what is intended by the author. In this chapter, we are doing a bit of level-setting. We will look into some verses where we may not have expected to find Jesus.

Redemption

The redemption of remnants is a continually recurring theme throughout God’s work with the descendants of Adam. Noah and his family were a tiny remnant of all humanity. Abraham was a small remnant of all humankind, Jacob was a remnant of Abraham’s tribe, and the children of Israel that entered the promised land were a remnant of the Jews that left Egypt. The list goes on. Elijah thought he was the only remaining prophet, but God told him that He had 7,000 more (1 Kings 19:18); God had a remnant.

Recovery

To understand the recovery of all that Adam lost, we first need to know what happened when Adam sinned. Adam was the administrator of God’s creation. He was the heir of God’s creation because he was the first man, a type of the firstborn son. Or, perhaps, I should say that first born sons are a type of Adam. Isaac’s son, Esau, provides us with an insight into what happened to Adam.

See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done. – Hebrews 12:16-17

Adam’s act of rebellion gave all that God had vested in him to Satan; Satan gained the place of master over Adam and all Adam’s progeny. This is why it states in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—“

Then the end will come, when he [Jesus] hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. – 1 Corinthians 15:24

Restoration

Heaven and Earth have been subjected to rebellion. In Luke 10:18, Jesus says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” So, God will restore all holiness to His creation. We find God’s solution in Revelation 21:1, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” God’s act of restoration was prophesied by Isaiah in Isaiah 65:17.

Redemption, recovery, and restoration are hallmarks of God. We will see many of these as we continue our quest to find Christ in Christianity.

Photo credit: Timothy Valentine on Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-SA

You may like:
https://rockexcavationservice.org/2019/07/12/then-jesus-showed-up/