“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)

© Brian Labosier  July 15, 2022

God’s plans are far bigger and better than simply forgiving people for their sins and offenses against Him.  He isn’t in the business of simply wiping the slate clean by forgiving us for our past sins.  Instead, He wants to transform us in such a way that we will reflect His own character and glory.  After all, He created us in His own image and likeness (see Genesis 1 and 2) so that we could experience fellowship with Him, enjoy His grace and blessings, and rejoice in Him for all eternity. God is preparing new men and women for eternal relationships with Himself in a new and perfected world—a world that reflects His glory far more abundantly than this present one does.  He promises us, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

God’s final work of Restoration involves far more than restoring the Garden of Eden He originally created for humanity in Genesis 2.  Rather, He is in the process of bringing about something more wonderful than the original creation ever was.  His goal is to give human beings new resurrection bodies and place them in a new heaven and new earth.  God promises His people that the day is coming when “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).  As His people, we have a glorious future ahead of us.  Even now, Christ is both preparing “a place for [us]” (John 14:2) and preparing us for that place.

There are two phases in God’s work of restoring and perfecting His creation.  One begins here at the moment of our conversion and focuses on life in this present world.  The other takes place in the world to come.  The amazing truth is that God has already begun His work of restoration in this present life.  Paul describes the change we experience at the moment of conversion in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”  When we are born again, we are not only declared righteous, we are brought into a new relationship of being united with Christ.  Even now God is actively at work in our lives, perfecting us and making us into what we should be. 

Here we can think of at least three important truths about God’s work of restoration during our present earthly lives: sanctification, perseverance, and bearing fruit. 

(1) Sanctification.  The process of sanctification involves our growth in personal holiness.  Paul reminds us that this is what Jesus is doing at the present moment: He is preparing His church as a perfect bride, “so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27).  On another occasion, Paul describes this same process as God’s purpose for our lives, namely that we might increasingly be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29).  On still another occasion, Paul sums up this truth so that we won’t miss it: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

(2) Perseverance.  God is also preserving us as a part of His ongoing work in our lives as Christians.  God’s love and watch care over us are so complete that Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:30, “even the hairs of your head are all numbered,” and in Luke 21:18, “not a hair of your head will perish.”  Jesus was able to promise His disciples in John 10:28-29, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”  In all the ups and downs of life, we can have every confidence that God is watching over us for good.

Sometimes the phrase “eternal security” is used to describe this assurance of our salvation.  A far better term is “perseverance of the saints,” which reminds us that ultimately God is the One protecting and preserving those who are truly His even in the midst of all the trials, difficulties, and temptations of this present life.  If we have any security, it is only because of God and what He is presently doing in this world on behalf of His children.  Paul reminds us of the confidence we can have in God, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).  Assurance of our salvation is a special gift and blessing that God gives to those who are His—and this takes place right here in this present life as we walk by faith and trust in Him.

(3) Bearing fruit. A third aspect of God’s restorative work in our present earthly lives involves our bearing fruit for His own glory and good pleasure.  God has so designed life that He wants our lives to be meaningful and have purpose.  Our bearing fruit shows itself in two ways.  First of all, it involves personal growth in our own character through the Spirit’s presence deep, down inside us.  Here we immediately think of the fruit of the Spirit as tokens of God’s present, ongoing work in our lives: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).  The second area of bearing fruit involves our serving Christ in all the various ways He gives us opportunity.  Jesus describes this kind of fruit bearing in His story of the vine and the branches in John 15: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4). 

God promises that He has given each of us specific spiritual gifts we can use to serve Him and others around us.  Peter tells us in 1 Peter 4:10-11 how God has given each of us a spiritual gift “to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” and that these gifts come in two broad categories: speaking gifts and serving gifts.  Paul, on the other hand, provides a number of more specific lists of spiritual gifts: see Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians12:8-10; 12:28-31; and Ephesians 4:11-12.  Again, the purpose of these gifts is so that we might bear fruit as a part of our service to Him.

God’s work in the lives of His children here in this present life doesn’t stop; He continues His work after our death when He will wrap up and complete this process in our glorification.  Glorification is the name given to God’s completing His work of sanctification in our lives as well as His giving us new and perfect resurrection bodies.  In God’s new heaven and new earth, there will be no evil or sin, and we will never grow tired of delighting in Him and serving Him for all eternity. 

Pause and Reflect

(1) Do you see how knowing God as Restorer and Perfecter is built on knowing Him as Creator, Judge, and Redeemer?  We need to acknowledge at least something of these earlier truths (a) recognizing God’s greatness as our Creator, as well as (b) acknowledging His just claims on our lives as our Ruler and Judge, and then (c) knowing Him as our Savior as we receive Christ into our lives and begin to experience His redeeming and transforming power in our lives.

(2) What we think about eternity often reveals the content and desires of our own hearts.  What are your hopes—and fears—about life after death?

(3) How might knowing God’s plan of giving you a new resurrection body in the life to come impact how you live for Him now?