THE GOSPEL OF GOD



THE LORD’S RESTORING LOVE

(Zephaniah 2: 4-7)

SUBJECT: God’s love.

F.C.F: What kind of restoration can we hope for?

PROPOSITION: Since God will restore all things only in the age to come, we must hope in that coming restoration.

INTRODUCTION:

A. We are told that electronic communication, texting and email, have revolutionized the way we talk to one another. It has also created a serious dent in the budget of the time-honored US Postal Service. Who bothers with letters anymore when we can send our thoughts instantaneously and for free? But there is one aspect of the mail service that endures. We still cannot send packages electronically. It may be by UPS, DHL, Fedex, or even Priority Mail, but packages still have to be delivered the old fashioned way. And we tend to enjoy receiving packages.

Several years ago I was a UPS driver for a Christmas rush season. It gave me an appreciation for the work they do. But one day I was a bit ahead of schedule and in the neighborhood of my friend’s house, so I thought I would drop by. His wife saw me walking up to the house and ran to meet me with a broad smile…that suddenly dimmed. At first she only recognized the truck and the uniform and thought I was delivering a package. When she saw that it was just me and no package, well, let’s just say that she was a bit less enthusiastic.

B. We love receiving packages, opening them up, exploring the treasures within. And last time we came to grips with the astonishing love of God. Even after all our sin and rebellion, our repeated missteps, transgressions, trespasses, and rejections of him, even after all of this, he loved his people in Christ! The prophet helps us open up this most marvelous gift of the love of God. And so we want to dig in, tearing off the paper, cutting the sealing tape, lifting the lid and shifting the padding to explore what’s inside. The first thing Zephaniah shows us, the first aspect of this treasure is that God’s love is a restoring love. I think we are all quite aware that things are not well, that something has gone terribly wrong. A good creation has been brutally broken, fractured, and is in fact terminal. And the good news is that God will restore what was ruined in the fall. All that was lost will be replaced, and even better. So let’s look into this cheering aspect of God’s great love, his restoring love.

I. WE MUST LOOK FOR THE RESTORATION.

A. This is really good news, and we must try to understand it fully if we are to internalize and appropriate for ourselves the great strength of the love of God.

“ 4 For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted. 5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites!” God is referring to the remnants of the ancient enemies who still resided within the borders of the land God had promised to them. Israel was supposed to have driven out all of the peoples and take full possession of the land long ago, but they never finished the task.

It’s clear that God has this in mind because he mentions the ancient name of the land, Canaan, and he reports that he will finish the work they had left undone. “The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.”

And the result would be God restoring what he had originally promised to his people. “6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, with meadows for shepherds and folds for flocks. 7 The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the LORD their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes.”

B. Why was it necessary that the Lord “restore their fortunes”? Obviously it was because they had forfeited their fortunes by their unfaithfulness. God rescued them out of slavery and extermination in Egypt and settled them in this good land, the Promised Land. He pledged to them complete safety and unending prosperity there as long as they remained faithful to him. If they would believe in him, forsaking all other gods, and keeping his commandments, God would continually forgive their sins and dwell in their midst, their perfect source of life and peace. But, of course, they were repeatedly unfaithful to him, and so God sent the prophets like Zephaniah to warn them that his chastening was coming. Eventually, they would go back into captivity like that from which God had rescued them before, and then would bring them back to the land, restoring their fortunes, finally purging the land of evil and enemies.

C. And you rightly say, “What does that have to do with me? That’s ancient history a couple of continents away from here.” But the truth is that this has everything to do with you and me because this “Promised Land” was only a picture of the true land of promise that God offers to us in Christ.

The whole Old Testament was merely a type or shadow of the greater reality to come in Jesus Christ. This is one of the great keys to understanding the Bible. The Old Testament was a mere warm up to the main event which was to come in Christ. The promised restoration, this marvelous aspect of God’s love has not been fully realized. But the promise in Zephaniah gives us a clue as to what we are to look for in the restoration.

II. WE MUST ANTICIPATE THE RESTORATION.

A. Here’s the other great key to understanding the Bible. This restoration, when God mends all that was broken and rebuilds that which has fallen, will only be fully realized in the world that is yet to come. As the Old Testament was the shadow of the greater reality coming in Christ, so this whole age is still the shadow world. Are you aware of this? Is this in the forefront of your day to day thinking? It surely should be. You cannot live wisely unless you have a firm grasp of what’s really going on. This world and everything in it is passing away. This is what we read in 1 John 2:15-17: “15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” It doesn’t get any simpler or plainer than this. I’m sure that there are many who wish that there was some way to make this mean something else, but I haven’t found one.

B. This world is passing away, but God’s people are not passing away. I don’t know when we ever started talking about someone’s death as their “passing away,” but you can see that this is a dreadful statement according to the Bible. If we say that someone “passed away,” then we are really saying that they are lost, a part of this broken creation which is also passing away!

This world is broken, terminal. It has been fatally wounded by the entrance of sin and death into it, and so the only thing that we can look forward to is a new world, a second creation that will endure unto the ages.

This is the Bible’s consistent message. So we read in Hebrews 12: “25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.”

The Apostle Peter agrees: (2 Peter 3:1-13) “10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

The book of Revelation pictures this new age or new world as a New Jerusalem descending from heaven (21:1-5a) “1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 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.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

C. Beloved in the Lord, this is the shadow world! This is the world that is fading away, passing away, along with everything in it.

Several years ago, Hollywood produced an unnerving film about a mother and her two small children living in a large house which they feared was haunted. People would appear periodically and move their things around. Eventually the people would go away, but others would take their place. As the film progressed, it suddenly became apparent that the mother and her children were the ghosts, but didn’t know it. They had been haunting the house unaware. They were the shadows living in the shadow world.

D. We are all shadows living in this shadow world which is withering, dying, fading away. I cannot say this with too much urgency, for if you do not realize this then all your planning and calculations will be dreadfully mistaken. You will be putting your stock and your hopes in this world, and it will all collapse, all will be lost. In fact, if you are tied to this world, then you will be lost with it. Paul’s words are sharp and sobering in 1 Timothy 6:6-10: “6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

Paul’s financial counsel? It’s a bit later in the same chapter: “17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

Really? Really.

III. WE MUST HOPE IN THE RESTORATION.

A. This restoration brings great hope amid the trials and heartaches of life. The fact is that we should expect this broken, terminal, shadow world to be messed up. We should expect this world to be utterly disappointing, unsatisfying, unfulfilling, and inconsequential.

B. And so we should forsake this world as holding any hope for us. We should reject any possibility of finding satisfaction and fulfillment in this world. We must set our hope fully on the age to come. Paul explains why this world is unsatisfying in Romans 8: “20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” This creation is broken and can afford no lasting significance or hope.

C. In Romans 8, Paul goes on to offer great comfort in the unfailing love of God in Christ. But this comfort is not for those who are still hoping in this broken and fading creation, disappointed when it cannot deliver. This comfort is for those who have rejected all that and are, as a result, suffering for the sake of Christ. Listen: “35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

D. This comfort is for those who are, for Christ’s sake, suffering “tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger,” and the threat of the “sword.” They have rejected all hope in this world and are hard pressed by the enemy as a result. This comfort is not for those who are merely frustrated because they cannot afford the car they want or the house they want or the vacation they want. Quite honestly, it seems a bit of a mockery to try to claim this comfort for disappointments that come from hoping in this fallen world. I don’t think Paul was talking about that.

CONCLUSION

God’s love is far better than this. God promises full satisfaction and complete restoration in the age to come, in the true Promised Land which is coming in its fullness in Christ. Beloved, you are setting your hopes too low and settling for far less, if you are simply aiming for a comfortable life now. And you will be disappointed.

Rather, throw yourself on the love of God, and throw away any hope in this broken and fading world. Set your aim higher. Set your sights farther. Set your hopes in the infinitely deeper and richer age to come. God’s love is a restoring love. Everything that was lost in the fall will be retrieved for the people of God—in Christ, in the age to come, where it counts, and where it will last forever.

(

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download