Jesus Restores All Things

We all know we live in a broken world. From Fallujah to Ferguson, Beirut to Baltimore, there’s too much hate, too much war, too much poverty, too much sorrow. Some religious folk just want to post a “condemned” sign and abandon the world. Their escapist fantasy is to fly off to some other world. But this is not the blessed hope. God still loves our beautiful and broken world, and the Carpenter of Nazareth came to restore it, not condemn it. The Hebrew prophets dreamed of a day when all things would be restored. Their poems speak of lions lying down with lambs, swords turning into plowshares, barren wastelands being healed, and every bitter tear wiped away. After Pentecost the apostles preached that Jesus is the hero of the poet’s dream. So this is our gospel: The world is broken because we are broken…but Jesus restores all things!
That God may send Jesus
The Christ appointed for you
Whom heaven must receive
Until the time
For the restoration
Of all things
-The Apostle Peter (Acts 3:20-21)