Jesus ran the restore disk...

1Pe 5:10  And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

We have a laptop which somehow got corrupted and after trying everything, the only option left was to restore it to its factory settings and start all over again.  However, before we could restore the laptop, the good files had to be removed in safe mode, otherwise they would be destroyed.  It's amazing the information that accumulates over the years.  Photos, music files, an archive of old sermons, all sorts of things.

While removing the data it got me thinking - humanity, yes all of us, are like the laptop. Although there are lots of good things, we have a fundamental problem and need restoration.

The bible talks about sin as falling short or missing the mark.  1 John 3v4 talks of sin being the transgression of the law.  Israel was given ten commandments in Exodus 20, and in Mark 12v30-31 Jesus boiled them down to two onto which they all hang - Love God & Love Your Neighbour.

You may be thinking that you're ok.  But in Matt 5 Jesus turned everything on its head by saying that if you even think about sinning you have done so in your heart so you are guilty.  Therefore everyone has a problem that needs fixing.

There are many good people in the world who do charitable things for others, however all are guilty of sin.  Rom 3:23-24 says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."

The laptop couldn't fix itself - it needed intervention to restore it.  No matter how many good photos and sermons were on it, unless the problem was removed the laptop was dead, and the same was true of humanity.

The good news is that God has solved the problem - Jesus Christ has intervened for us and has restored the relationship between humanity and God by paying the penalty for sin and therefore removing it from the system.

Eph 2:1-2  As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
Eph 2:4-5  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.

Through Jesus intervention we are new creations transformed by Grace.  We don't deserve life, but that is what God has given us.  The good news is that Jesus has  restored us so God sees only the good as the bad has been destroyed and we have the assurance that God's love is greater than our sin.
Prayer

Thank you God for restoring us through Jesus and giving us new life.