The Full Restoration
The restoration of man back into the image of God

Man was made in the image of God. The acceptance or rejection of this truth will affect everything in our lives and the lives of those who are near us. 

All the material here is based on the Bible being the God-breathed Word of God. It reveals God's plan for mankind, a plan more amazing than any other known 

We are made in the image of God and were meant to rule over the physical realm as His representatives. Instead, we were corrupted by sin and separated from God.

The Serpent promised Eve she would become as God by knowing good and evil. Instead of becoming like God, by knowing good and evil, they became evil and were separated from the God who is Holy, Holy, Holy (Isa. 6:3, Rev. 4:8). Adam and Eve didn’t just learn about evil, they became evil by rejecting God's will for their lives.  

We now have a problem with sin in our hearts. God is holy and pure. In Him there is no darkness at all (1Jo. 1:5). Inside of us are “evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness” (Mk. 7:21-22). No one can fully comprehend how corrupt we are on the inside, especially in comparison to God (Jer. 17:9).

We are sin-sick inside and too often resemble the devil instead of God.  Jesus does much more than save us from our sins. He came to completely heal us from the damage of sin and restore us back into the image of God. 

When a crippled man was lowered through a roof to Jesus because of all the crowds, Jesus told him the best news that crippled man could ever hear in his life, 

     “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you” (Mat.9:2). 

What difference did it make whether he walked or not? If Jesus forgives him, he gets to live forever in the presence of God! Every cripple on earth can have the hope of having a body like the glorious body of Christ for eternity (Phil. 3:21). That's much greater news than having crippled arms and legs being restored for the short time we have on earth. 

Jesus did not come to save us from all our physical problems. He came to heal us from our sins. His miraculous physical healings proved He is the one who can heal us on the inside. Jesus healed the man so “you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” (Matt 9:6). We continue to pray for our physical problems in this life, knowing God still heals, but our true, eternal home is in heaven. 

Jesus completely paid the penalty of sin every one of us deserve. This is why He had to be the God/man. He had to be man to die for us and take our place. He had to be the infinite God to pay the infinite penalty mankind owed because of all our sin. Whatever happened during those three hours of darkness on the cross, Jesus paid it all. “By His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5, 1Pe. 2:24). To heal is to restore back into the original condition. We were originally created in the image of God. When Jesus heals us, He restores us back into the image of God through forgiveness of sin. 

Jesus is completely unique. He was a man walking on earth, but anyone who saw Him saw God. They didn’t see God’s full glory but they saw God with His glory hidden by dwelling in a body of flesh. 

• Jesus “is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15).
• Jesus is “the express image” of God (Heb. 1:3).
• Jesus told the Jews, "He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me" (Joh. 12:45).
• Jesus told Philip, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (Joh. 14:9).

Jesus conducted Himself the same way God the Father would act if He could be seen on earth. We are called to learn from Jesus so we can become like Him. Jesus is the perfect Son of God who shows us how we ought to be living as children of God. 

Jesus said, "It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master" (Mat. 10:25). When we become like Jesus it is enough. We are not called to be better than Jesus. It is enough if we become like Him. Until then, we have to keep working on it.

Do we appreciate how good the good news of the gospel really is? We are called by the gospel “for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2Th. 2:14). I freely admit I do not know what all the glory of our Lord Jesus includes, but I do know enough that if the glory of Jesus is obtainable, it is very good news and I want it.

Why do we know all things work together for good for those who love the Lord? (Rom. 8:28). The next verse tells us (Rom. 8:29). It starts with “for” – from the Greek “gar” – which is often translated “because.”  All things work together for good because God, in His foreknowledge, has already predestined us to be conformed into the image of His Son! (Rom 8:29).

If our destiny is to be conformed to the image of Jesus, then whatever we have to experience in this life will eventually work for good. This knowledge helps us as we are trained by the chastening of the Lord (2Co. 4:17). God promised He will finish the work he began in us (Phil. 1:6). His work is the restoration of us back into His image.

We are in a spiritual war in which Satan blinds people so they do not see “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2Co. 4:3–4). Is there any better news than the good news that we can receive the glory of Christ? Satan will twist anything he can to distract people from the true purpose of the church. God did not establish the church so we could be fed, entertained and have every physical desire fulfilled. The church was established to bring us to the fullness of God (Eph. 1:23). When the church is what it ought to be, when people look at us, they should be seeing God living in us. 

We currently bear the image of the man of dust (1Co. 15:49). What about the promise that “we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven?” What does that mean? The man of heaven is Jesus, the only begotten Son of God who He Himself is God. We become children of God by adoption, Jesus is the only begotten Son who is God. Jesus is the Creator. He is the upholder of all things. He is the King of kings, Lord of lords, the First and Last and Alpha and Omega. He is the judge of all to whom every knee shall bow. He is the bright and morning star. Jesus is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem and He invites us to be transformed into His image and share in His glory and sit with Him on His throne as He sat on the Father’s throne (Rev. 3:21).

Can anyone begin to comprehend the greatness of the promise to become like Him? If Jesus is the light of heaven, and we shine forth as the sun when we become like Him, what will we look like in heaven? (Rev. 21:23, Matt. 13:43).

How good is the news that we can be joint heirs with Christ and be glorified together with Him? (Rom. 8:17). When our bodies are “conformed to His glorious body” (Phil. 3:20-21) we will receive a body raised in incorruption, glory and power. What is this heavenly, spiritual body that is waiting for us? 

We need to pray for our understanding to be enlightened, “that you may know what is the hope of His calling" (Eph, 1:18). Do we understand the hope of His calling when we are called by the gospel to receive the glory of Christ (2Th. 2:14)? The hope of our calling is the "hope of the glory of God" (Rom. 5:2). Whether you consider receiving the glory of God the Father or of Christy, is that anything you are interested in? 

Only by learning the greatness of our hope can we begin to learn how to obey the command to “rejoice always” (Phil. 4:4. 1Th. 5:16). Rejoicing always is difficult when life can hurt so much and in so many ways. The more we learn of our destiny in heaven, the more we will rejoice in this life in spite of all the pain.

Forgiveness is just the beginning of our journey back into the image of God. Once we are cleansed from sin, we are newborn babies with much to learn. If we don't desire the milk of the Word we will be diagnosed with FTT (Failure to Thrive) (1Pe. 2:2). We have too many emaciated infants in the church in need of a spiritual NICU. 

As God's beloved children, we must learn how “perfect love casts out fear” (1Jo. 4:18). We learn to draw close to the Father and pray “Abba, Father” like the perfect Son (Mk 14:36, Rom. 8:15, Gal. 4:6). How often do we think of ourselves as a beloved child of God?  If we meditated on this truth more often, we might find ourselves having a stronger desire to imitate our Father whom we love (Eph. 5:1). 

The Full Restoration is simply emphasizing what the Bible emphasizes. It is Christianity 101, the foundation on which the temple is built. Jesus is the chief cornerstone. We also become stones in the Temple to become a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:21-22). 

We are to examine ourselves to see if we are really in the faith. Is Jesus in us? (2Co. 13:5) Or does our behavior reveal that we are children of God or is our father the devil?  (Joh. 8:44)

Just as when Philip looked at Jesus, he saw the Father (Jn. 14:9), when the world looks at us, they should see Jesus. If they see something else, we have missed the purpose of the church and need to fix it. 

We have no excuse. The mystery has been revealed to us. 

The revealed mystery: 

     "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27).

If Christ is in us, we have hope of unimaginable glory.

If Christ is not in us, we have no hope at all.  

Any other doctrinal position we may hold will never change this truth. 

Questions? Comments?