Several of my readers picked the word restoration for their word for 2019. The key to restoration, is you can’t have restoration until something breaks and it needs repair. Usually that something is severely damaged. This illustration helps frame our devotion.

A few years ago, an angry man rushed through the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam until he reached Rembrandt’s famous painting “Nightwatch.” Then he took out a knife and slashed it repeatedly before they could stop him. A short time later, a distraught, hostile man slipped into St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome with a hammer and smashed Michelangelo’s beautiful sculpture The Pieta. Two cherished works of art were severely damaged. But what did officials do? Throw them out and forget about them? Absolutely not! Using the best experts, who worked with the utmost care and precision, they tried to restore the treasures.

One of the foundational grace passages of Scripture is Ephesians 2:8-9 “8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done so none of us can boast about it.” It is one of the most freeing passages. Paul states God restores fallen humanity by His grace and His grace alone. We play no role in this restoration it is a gift. Here is where the above illustration comes into play. When we ask why did God restore? Why does it even matter to an All-powerful Being? The often skipped following verse explains the mystery.

 “¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”We matter to the Creator because humanity is His crown jewel, His masterpiece. God cares because every one of us were uniquely created for a divine purpose. So, what do you do with something unique and valuable when it is broken?  You spare no expense to restore it. What did it cost God to restore His broken masterpieces? His one and only expert repairer, Jesus Christ. 

Dear Father,

Thank you, for loving us to so much that you sent Your son, Jesus Christ to restore the damage sin caused Your people. Paul reminds us of the repair work of our Savior. “18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.”2 Corinthians 5:18-19 Because of what Jesus did for us we are now also in the restoration business. Help us be Ambassadors of restoration. In the precious name of Jesus Christ. Amen.