September 17
September 17
No one is so far gone that he is beyond the reach of God’s powerful, restoring grace.
The prophecy of Amos, which announces God’s judgment on people who have forsaken his ways, perverted his commands, and twisted his justice, ends not with sadness and loss, but with a beautiful picture of the zeal of God’s restoring grace:
“In that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name,”
declares the Lord who does this.
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
I will plant them on their land,
and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land that I have given them,”
says the Lord your God. (Amos 9:11–15)
God’s promise is firm and sure: “I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel.” Embedded in this Old Testament promise is hope for humanity. God will not just forgive his people; he will finally and completely restore them. But there is more. He will not just restore his people, but he will restore every single thing that sin has damaged, until everything is made new again. In his restorative promise is the surety that someday the burden of sin, sorrow, and suffering, which the world has carried since the fall of Adam and Eve, will finally be lifted. Peace and righteousness will then reign forever and ever.
The surety of this Old Testament promise of restoration, appearing at the end of a book of judgment, reminds us that no one has been pulled down so far into the pit of iniquity that he or she is beyond the reach of God’s restorative grace. No addict, rebellious child, or adulterer is beyond restoration. No troubled marriage is beyond God’s restorative power. No thief is beyond restorative grace. No proud person is beyond the humbling power of God’s restorative grace. No one is beyond the reach of God’s restoration.
If your Lord can restore rebellious Israel, then he can restore you and everything in your life that has been broken, damaged, or destroyed by sin. God’s final work for his people is not judgment; it is restoration. He renews what we have no power to renew.
I don’t know about you, but God’s promise of restoration is one of the things that gets me out of bed in the morning. Although I awake to a world damaged by sin and to my own struggle with it, there is hope. Jesus was sent into this broken-down world as the ultimate restorer. His grace is our hope.