Restoring God's Masterpiece Series

OPEN: One of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings was called “The Last Supper.” It was painted on the wall of the Sistine Chapel, and Da Vinci was sure that the unique painting style he used would create a masterpiece that would last forever. It didn’t quite work out that way. The painting began to crumble - even during da Vinci’s own lifetime - and over the centuries more and more damage occurred that nearly destroyed the painting he’d worked so hard to create. For example, over the years, the building was used as a stable for horses, a prison, and it even suffered the results of flood damage. During the French revolution, French soldiers threw stones at the painting and climbed ladders to scratch out the eyes of the Apostles. Perhaps the worst catastrophe occurred when an Allied bomb fell on the building in 1943 and caused the roof and one wall to collapse. The painting survived, but it was exposed to elements for months before the space was rebuilt.

In 1979, Italy commissioned their #1 art restorer (Pinin Brambilla Barcilon) to bring the painting back to life. She spent the next 20 years removing the deposits of dirt and mold and the clumsy efforts of past restoration efforts. This famous art restorer explained that retouching the painting was “extremely simple. You just scratch until you reach the real Leonardo.” The only difficulty laid in knowing exactly when to stop. (https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,818411,00.html)

But even after 20 years of skillful efforts the results were met with mixed reviews. Some praised her work… but others didn’t. Many felt that she’d gone too far - took too many liberties, and many experts were highly disappointed with what was done. Some went so far as to say that – the final product had little (if any) resemblance to the work that Da Vinci had completed in 1497.

Now as I read about all this, it occurred to me that even the finest restorer couldn’t bring this painting back to its full vibrancy. Only the Master could restore the masterpiece to its original beauty. Only Da Vinci could do… what others could not.

(PAUSE) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form and void. And over the next 6 days God filled that void with beauty and grandeur. And every day, when God finished that part of His creation for the day, He’d say: “That’s GOOD”. But then God completed His masterpiece by making man in His own image. Male and female He created them, and He didn’t say “that’s good.” He said “IT IS VERY GOOD!” And for days and perhaps weeks afterward, God walked in the garden and spent time with his masterpiece and it was all… “very good.”

But then (PAUSE) disaster struck. Adam and Eve did the unthinkable and suddenly the most beautiful thing that God had ever created became marred and disfigured… almost beyond recognition. And when the dust cleared, God gave Adam and Eve the damage report. “To the woman he said, ‘I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.’ And to Adam he said, ‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’” Genesis 3:16-19

The masterpiece that God had created had once been a canvas filled with Hope, Peace, Satisfaction and Life. But now it was filled with Brokenness, Emptiness, Despair… and Death. The final product bore little (if any) resemblance to what God had created.

(PAUSE) Now (at this point) - as I was preparing the sermon – I started to get frustrated, because – the theme of this sermon series is “Reversing The Curse”. But I struggled with… this question: When did God reverse the curse? … or … HAS He reversed the curse? And the more I thought about it the more I began to realize - God hadn’t!!! The curse was still in place. The curse still exists! Women still experience pain in childbirth; Folks still earn their living by the sweat of their brow; Men and Women still struggle in their relationships; and people still get sick… and DIE.

This world is filled with trouble, and Jesus said as much: “In THIS WORLD you will have trouble….” (John 16:33). THIS WORLD that we live in, is a fallen world. And as long as we live in this world we WILL experience pain and sorrow, and heartaches and grief, and disease … and even death - just like everyone else.