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.
