The "Restoration of All Things"[i]

Stephen Terry

 

Commentary for the July 2, 2016 Sabbath School Lesson

 

"Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up." Psalm 71:20, NIV

Restoration seems to be a popular theme these days. Reality television is filled with programs that deal with the topic. “Property Brothers,” with brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott, broadcast on HGTV, is one such example. Drew, who is a real estate agent, assists people in finding properties that are potential restoration projects. Once a property has been selected, Jonathan, who is a contractor, takes charge of the restoration. The program is a summary documentation of the high points of the restoration process from beginning to end. Other programs with restoration as a theme include “Love It or List It?” with Hilary Farr and David Visentin, also on HGTV. A&E has offerings like “Flipping Vegas,” with Scott and Amie Yancey, “Flipping Boston,” with Peter Souhleris and Dave Seymour, and “Flipping Miami,” with Carolina and Chris Balsamo. DIY has offerings like “Barnwood Builders,” with Mark Bowe. There are also automobile restoration shows on Velocity Channel like “Garage Squad,” with Heather Storm, Joe Zolper, and Bruno Massel. Perhaps one of the best known of these from years past was “Overhaulin’” with Chip Foose, who would secretly collect cars needing restoration with the help of insiders like a spouse or other family member and then return the restored car at a surprise reveal. These represent only a partial sample of the restoration programs being broadcast and the selection varies by network and day of the week as well as season of the year.

Apparently, judging by the success of all of these offerings, we like to see things restored, especially things with an interesting backstory. However, part of what makes these programs popular is the stress and tension that goes with unexpected surprises during the course of the restoration. There may be crumbling foundations, inadequate structural support, broken plumbing, or improperly done electrical work as well as a host of other problems. In almost every case, these “surprises” have not been budgeted for and sacrifices have to be made to complete the restoration. This also happens with the automotive restorations when unexpected rust is discovered, a part is no longer available, or subcontracted work cannot be completed on time prior to a delivery to a customer or for a major show.

One thing these shows all seem to have in common besides the tension though is the end result always seems to be stunning. The show “Love It or List It?” takes the tension one step further. After the dramatic reveal, the homeowners are asked if they like the restoration well enough to keep the home, or do they want to sell it and make an offer on another home? Everyone watching tries to guess what they will do over the commercial break. Then once the choice is revealed, we all ask ourselves what we would have done. Would we make the same choice or would we have done the opposite?

In order to have a successful restoration, the person doing the project has to be able to determine if the item being restored has enough intrinsic value to be worth the cost and effort. How much value might that be? Enough to cover the cost of the materials and labor for restoration if the item were to be sold once the restoration was completed. With narrower margins, this can be more difficult to accomplish with automobiles than with houses. A thousand dollars here or there can easily make a car restoration unprofitable, but houses can often absorb such costs as long as it does not go into the tens of thousands. All that being said, our lesson this week deals with the most costly restoration of all time – the restoration of humanity.

Mankind had a high intrinsic value derived from the special circumstances of his creation. Today, we often fail to recognize that value because man has become commonplace on the Earth, running to well over seven billion individuals. As a result, some value their fellow man and woman no more than one would value a shopping bag that gets tossed after it has served its purpose for carting the groceries home. This is deplorable, for it overlooks what gave man the high intrinsic value at Creation – his potential. Sadly, slave owners of the Old South may have given more value to their slaves than some do to their fellowman today. This is because the slave master saw a monetary value to each man, woman and child he or she owned. As horrible as slavery was, some today would shoot down their fellow man on the street with little regard for who he or she was or the family that might love and miss them. This disregard for one another isn’t right, and it not only devalues each of us, it also devalues the One who created us. It makes the creation worthless and implies a similar value for the Creator.

Man was not only created unique among all the creatures of Creation,[ii] he was also created in the image of God.[iii] What does that mean? First of all, if God is Creator, then man must have been endowed at some level with a certain amount of creativity. We can see evidence of this all around us, from the homes we live in and the vehicles we rely on to get to and from our travel destinations to the monumental architecture of our world wonders. We see it in art and fashion, music and literature, and many other small or grand discoveries we share with one another. Mankind is definitely creative. A great deal of good has come from his creativity; unfortunately a great deal of evil has as well.

Another attribute of God that we should be able to see in man is the expression of love. “God is love,” the Apostle John tells us.[iv] We seem to have a very deep well of love to draw from, so it must be very basic to whom we are. Having worked for two decades for the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, I have seen horrific cases of spousal abuse, and when I have asked why the victimized spouse continues to return to further brutalization when she or he has been given opportunity to leave, the response has almost always been because they cannot stop loving the one abusing them. While it is good to have this ability to love even when it is difficult, after all God gave us that ability, some will use that against us as a gateway to further abuse. They will say things like, “If you were a real Christian, you would forgive me and come back home.” However, they have no repentance in their hearts for what they have done and are only using the love in a Christian’s heart to manipulate them back under their control. In spite of this, we must be able to find a way to keep on loving, knowing that there are those who would use that against us and being on guard for manipulative behavior. Watch out for the person who would try to take the place of the Holy Spirit in your life. Their agenda is too often self-serving.

A third attribute is an outgrowth of the second. If we are loving, as God intended us to be, we will be compassionate as well. This is because God is not only loving, He is compassionate also.[v] While love and compassion should not lead us to be willing targets for victimization, it should lead us to seek healing and intervention for those who are prone to victimize others. It should also give us empathy for those who have been victimized either aggressively or passively by others. It means we will not only seek shelter for the homeless, meals for the hungry, healing for the sick and justice for the oppressed, we will also ask why these things are happening in the first place and work to prevent as much of the suffering we see around us as we can.

Unfortunately, this often means war.[vi] We have three principle adversaries in this war who are opposed to everything we were created to be. First and foremost is the Devil who made war against God himself and was cast from heaven as a result.[vii] Popular literature and art depicts him as a fiery red being with horns, pointed ears, hooves, a tail and a pitchfork. Nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps he delights in this bit of misdirection for it allows him to get away with so much more. In reality, he is a beautiful being, an angel of light.[viii] This may be why he is sometimes called Lucifer in some Bible translations,[ix] which means Morning Star. It is no accident perhaps that Hollywood has used beauty and celebrity to pour all manner of evil desires into our hearts since these tools are used by Satan. For much of mankind’s history, glamour has been considered a dark art, veiling the natural beauty of what God has created.[x] Unfortunately, we have been inculcated with its desirability since we were small children. How difficult it is then to resist the things the Devil wants us to desire when they are so presented as to agree with the standards of beauty we have all been taught to seek. We are taught to follow our desires through the wiles of Satan, and we succumb.[xi]

The second adversary we face is the legions of fallen angels who to one degree or another serve their master, Satan. The Bible tells us that one third of the angels fell in line behind him and now they assist his work here on earth.[xii] To be sure, this is a formidable host we face, but we should remember for every angel on the side of Satan, two are on the side of our God and Creator. They have been cast from heave. They cannot excel beyond the limits set by their loss and the victory obtained at the cross by Jesus. Neither these demons nor their master Lucifer can overcome in the end for the victory is already determined. We should not fear to resist them.[xiii]

Our third adversary is perhaps the most challenging but also presents the greatest opportunity. They also often appear as a great host. These are those among our fellow human beings who are so enslaved to the desires they have been taught to have that they serve Satan faithfully for fear of losing the things they desire. They can be intransigent and creative in their debauchery and cruelty, but at the same time they present us with the opportunity to deliver them from those chains of desire and restore them to the image of God that would set them free from slavery to their evil master. Perhaps because we are so familiar with the many ways in which God’s image is effaced in mankind, we are uniquely situated to accomplish this work. This may be why we have been given the privilege of participating in the Gospel commission to educate the world about these things.[xiv] God has demonstrated through the death of Jesus how much He is invested in the restoration project that is ongoing for the human race. Perhaps it is time we should be invested in restoration work as well.



[i] The Sabbath School Quarterly authors are here quoting from Acts 3:21 in the NKJV.

[ii] Genesis 2:20

[iii] Genesis 1:27

[iv] 1 John 4:8

[v] Exodus 22:27

[vi] Ephesians 6:10-12

[vii] Revelation 12:7-12

[viii] 2 Corinthians 11:14

[ix] Isaiah 14:12

[x] Glamour (Presentation), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glamour_(presentation)

[xi] Genesis 3:9

[xii] Revelation 12:3-4

[xiii] 1 Peter 5:8-9

[xiv] Matthew 28:18-20

 

 

 

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