Measure Upon Measure – Death – The Restoration Of God - Part 13 (Section 5) Series

MEASURE UPON MEASURE – DEATH – THE RESTORATION OF GOD - Part 13 (Section 5)

This is the last section on the dire consequence of Adam’s sin when Serenity was Ruined in the Garden in which God placed him to care for it. All was lost through disobedience and Adam was expelled from that place into a cursed world, separated from God in the fellowship he had known, and with sorrow and the curse his constant companions. I know it sounds miserable but that is what the world became and continues to be.

Jesus as the Lamb of God came to remedy all that and the Saviour’s Road was a heavy one as He identified with the sin of the Fall. He went to the cross to make reconciliation between God and man, to bring us a pure, redeemed, and saved people into God’s own personal family.

We saw last time what the Lord restored which is part of this study – THE RESTORATION OF GOD. We said there were three items of restoration Jesus accomplished through His death, and last time we did one of them – ACCEPTANCE. This time, to conclude the study of death’s consequence, we do the next two.

[B]. THE SECOND RESTORATION BLESSING – EVERLASTING LIFE

The other two concerns of restoration relate to “life”. We previously looked at death in its two aspects, physical and spiritual. Each aspect has been wonderfully addressed with the Lord’s death. Firstly we shall outline the restoration relative to spiritual death. Three verses shall reveal the truth in this regard. {{“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”}} (Romans 6:23) The verse outlines the contrast. Sin produces spiritual death but the gift resulting from the Lord’s efficacious sacrifice on Golgotha’s hill, is eternal life. That is what the Lord has restored. He has not given life as Adam knew it, but rather eternal life continually in His presence, united to Him in a deathless love. What a tragedy to know that the vast majority of this world’s people are not just spiritually dead but are on the brink of eternal death, meaning an eternity of separation from God.

I used the words “everlasting life” in the heading as does the AV found in John 3:16. Most translations use “eternal life” as do I sometimes, but I like to think that the words “everlasting life” are the better expression. I like to be exact in usage and Mathematics is an exact science. In linear geometry a line has no beginning or ending and in that sense it is eternal. Only God is eternal; He exists with eternal life. A line segment is what we might draw on a piece of paper and has a beginning and an end. That is like our life on earth. A ray has a beginning but no end. That is like everlasting life that has a start but does not end.

Our salvation is like a ray, having a beginning and no end. The beginning is when through faith we were born again but there is no end, for salvation is everlasting. Some may think that is being pedantic but I like the thought.

The next verse is John 3:16, the gospel in a nutshell as is sometimes said of the verse. {{“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”}}. This verse provides the operating motive for all God’s plans. The love of God which sent, and allowed the supreme sacrifice, has also mapped out to perfection our restoration blessings. The Lord took our death and has restored everlasting life in all the fullness of prepared blessing and revelation in the ages to come. Faith is understood to be the entrance key in the verse, the turning point in our direction, the blossoming of our salvation.

Our limited earthbound lives find it hard to grasp the ramifications of everlasting life. In a coming day we won’t need to grasp it. We will live it!

[C]. THE THIRD RESTORATION BLESSING – THE LIFE ABUNDANT

The third verse is a direct statement of the Lord’s as to why He came. {{“The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I come that they might have life, and have it ABUNDANTLY.”}} (John 10:10) This interesting verse speaks of spiritual life which is the reason why the Lord Jesus became flesh and tabernacled among us. It then speaks of an abundant spiritual life, which is a gracious gift and a privilege with responsibility, for us to tap into; to nurture and develop this spiritual life; to partake of it in the fullest measure. How often we fail in this particular area. Are we just satisfied merely with spiritual life, wonderful as it is, or do we enjoy the depths this new life affords?