Chapter 8

Restoration of the All

Restoration means "reinstatement; a putting or bringing back into a former, normal, or unimpaired state or condition."

Restore means "to give back (something taken away, lost, etc.); make restitution; to bring back to a former or normal condition, as by repairing, rebuilding, altering, etc.; to put a person back in a place, position, rank, etc.: as, restore a king; to bring back to health, strength, etc.; to reestablish something that has passed away, as a custom, system of government, etc."

God began to work on the ground of restoration starting in Genesis 1:2. The earth was a waste place, formless and void, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the waters. We are not told how the earth got to be a waste place, but obviously something happened in between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. So, right from the start, we see the principle of restoration coming into view.

(1) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (2) The earth was barren, with no form of life; it was under a roaring ocean covered with darkness. But the Spirit of God was moving over the water. (Genesis 1:1-2 CEV)

In Scripture, the Hebrew word translated as restore is shub, a primitive root word that means "to turn back (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point), to retreat."

He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore [shub] the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth." (Isaiah 49:6 NASB; see Jeremiah 27:22)

Truly, spiritual Israel, which is the body of conquerors, is a New Creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) that will be a light to all the nations during the Tabernacles Age and beyond.

It is interesting that the Hebrew meaning includes the possibility that something could be restored to a condition or state other than the original.

Given this, it would appear that the word restore provides for the possibility that something is brought into a better condition or state, such as something entirely new. In this respect, the word restore or restoration comes the closest to the all new of God. The fact of the matter is that some look at it in this way and consider the restoration of all things as God's purpose.

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However, I see it as God's plan for mankind and His creation, not His ultimate purpose. His plan is to make His creation all new, starting with the New Creation in Christ that, according to Paul, is the one new man. His ultimate purpose remains: So that God may be all in all new. The emphasis shifts from the creation to the Creator.

Now, the Greek word for restore is apokathistemi, which means "to reconstitute (in health, home, or organization)," and the word for restoration is apokatastasis, which means "reconstitution, restitution."

(19) "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; (20) and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, (21) whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration [apokatastasis] of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time." (Acts 3:19-21 NASB; also see Acts 1:6)

Restoration was definitely a word spoken through the prophets, and it was on the minds of Jesus' disciples as well. Clearly, there is a period of restoration of all things that will commence once heaven releases the Lord Jesus to return to this earth to establish the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ through His glorified, immortal body of conquerors, the true, spiritual Israel.

In other words, the Father must send His Son back to this earth in order for the period of the restoration of all things to commence. This earth and the nations of the earth need the presence of the Lord, for all things must be restored to the One who is Creator of all, the One who is the Firstborn of all creation and the Firstborn from among the dead (Colossians 1:15, 18).

God is definitely in the business of restoration, and this will kick into high gear in the oncoming eons, which refers not only to the Millennial Kingdom of Christ [Tabernacles Age, the Lord's Day] but also to God's Day [Day of God (2 Peter 3:12)] that follows. It appears that it will take all of the next two eons for the Lord to restore all things.

Some people might think that once the reign of the heavens (Matthew 7:21 YLT) comes to this earth everything is restored or changed in an instant, but this cannot be so. Christ must head up or sum up all things in the heavens and on the earth as He subjects all things to Himself (Ephesians 1:10; 1 Corinthians 15:25-27). This will not occur as if by passing a magic wand over the earth and creation and, "poof," it is all changed; and all of it will not occur in the next age either.

As grand as the Millennial Kingdom will be, it will not bring about the full restoration of all things. At the end of the Kingdom Age, the old serpent must be released to deceive the nations one last time (Revelation 20:7-10). Following this period is the general (or, second) resurrection of the vast majority of mankind and the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15) in which some will enter life, saved, yet so as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:15), and others will

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experience a second type of death (of works) with a view to their full restoration and restitution by the consummation of the ages [eons] (1 Corinthians 10:11; 15:24).

By the way, the first death is the death of our corrupt bodies, and the second death is the death of works. At the consummation of the next age, the first death is abolished, but it is at the consummation of all the ages that the second death is abolished. Since all death is destined to be abolished and the second death is the lake of fire, it only follows that the lake of fire is destined to be abolished as well; all to the glory of the God of ALL NEW.

The second death or the lake of fire is God's means to restore all the unbelievers and to bring about restitution or to right the wrongs they committed during their life on earth. Essentially, just as the nations learned righteousness in the previous eon, so will the resurrected that are cast into the lake of fire, which refers to the fiery law of God, learn righteousness. Thus, they too will be restored, for God wills that all mankind be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4)!

In reference to the coming Day of God (God's Day), Peter declared that we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13), and so this too will be to the glory of God.

Today, the righteousness of God is lost in the sea of the self-righteousness of mankind. In the next age on earth, the nations will learn righteousness through the conquerors of Christ. But, in the Day of God, righteousness will dwell. Through this dwelling, all things will be restored to the righteousness of God through Christ, the Son of Righteousness.

Consider this fact: When the new heaven and the new earth come into view in God's Day, there will be a people who will not be allowed to enter (i.e., to become) New Jerusalem. Nothing unclean will ever enter New Jerusalem. Outside will be the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Revelation 21:8).

Fire and brimstone are for purification, cleansing, and healing; not for destruction or annihilation. Brimstone, which is sulfur, is likened to the sulfur drugs used today to combat diseases. In other words, fire and brimstone are part of the work of restoration and restitution. The unclean must be cleaned up (actually changed) if they are to ever enter New Jerusalem as a holy temple in the Lord, the dwelling of God in spirit (Ephesians 2:21-22). If they are not restored, then God's will to save all mankind and to restore all things cannot and will not be accomplished, and the cross of Calvary will have been a miserable failure.

Thus, the restoration of all things is a progressive plan that commences when the Father sends His Son to this earth a second time to be manifested in the sons of God, the sons of the first resurrection, and continues throughout the next two ages, and possibly beyond, until all things in the heavens and on the earth have been subjected to the Son. It is only at this point that it will be declared that the period of the restoration of all things has been accomplished. This will

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bring about the consummation of the ages when Christ is not only all in all but God the Father is all in all in all new.

It seems that the Millennial Kingdom of Christ, as it relates to the earth and the nations of the earth, will be a time of pure restoration. However, the age (perhaps, ages) that follows, which is the Day of God, is not only a time of restoration but also a time of making all new. Restoration will progressively give way to all new. As good and wonderful as restoration will be in the next age, it is not the endpoint that God seeks or the ultimate purpose of God.

The end result is not a restoration or return to the way things were or were meant to be but to something gloriously and entirely new. In that day, the last enemy, death, will be abolished forever (1 Corinthians 15:26), and all of creation and all of mankind will be set free into the all new of God.

No more sin, no more pain, no more suffering, no more chastisement, no more death!

The hallmark of all creation will be LOVE, through and through! This is glory!

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