The Restoration of All Things

“That He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things, about which God spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets from ancient times.” (Acts 3:20,21).

It is very important for us to understand what the Holy Spirit was declaring through Peter in the verses above.  If “heaven must receive (Jesus) until the restoration of all things”, then He will not return until certain events have come to pass.  To gain a proper understanding of this statement, we must keep it in context, otherwise, “all things” can suggest many different things. I recently heard one teacher quote this passage as saying, “the restoration of all things created”.  Adding the word “created” to this Scripture opens it up to all types of interpretations, some of which can be quite destructive.  If we keep the verse in context, we see that the Lord was not talking about “all things created”, but “all things, about which God spoke by the mouths of the holy prophets”.  God indeed will make all things new (Rev. 21:5), but not until what is evil has been removed. Not all things “created” will be restored to their original state; some things are reserved for destruction.  Fallen angels and evil doers will be cast into the lake of fire to be tormented night and day forever (Rev. 20:10-15). 

Jesus mentioned the restoration of all things while speaking of John the Baptist.  “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.” (Matt. 17:11,12).  This was a reference to the words of Malachi concerning the coming of the spirit of Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord (Mal. 4:5).  In speaking to the father of John the Baptist (Lu. 1:17), the angel linked this prophecy to Isaiah’s prophecy of a voice in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord.  Isaiah was prophesying the restoration of Israel.  “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” (Isa. 40:1-3). Although John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah, there is still a coming of Elijah in the last days.  In the same way that John came to “turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God” (Lu. 1:16), the last days ministry of the spirit of Elijah is to complete the restoration of the Church and of Israel. 

The Church has an important role in the restoration of Israel, but it must first be restored to the life and power of the New Testament church.  Then it must go further and do the “greater works” that Jesus talked about (Jn. 14:12).  The Jews missed their day of visitation when Jesus first came to the earth, and they will not receive Him in these last days unless God does something different.  The days we are entering are very different than what the world has seen to date.  The events of the last days will have a great deal to do with the restoration of all things.  It will be a time of great darkness, but it will also be a time for the Church to reflect the glory of God.  Rather than looking to escape the time of the end, we should be seeking to understand what the Lord is doing, and work with Him to accomplish it. 

God is doing a new thing.  “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it will spring forth; shall you not know it?  I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.  The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen.” (Isa. 43:19,20).  The Lord will use the Church to provide drink to returning Jews.  The river of God flows out of believers.  Since Jesus is the Way, and we are in Him, we also are the highway in the wilderness.  The redeemed among the Gentiles are meant to help the Jews return to Zion.   “Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem…” (Isa. 66:20).  The Church is to help direct the Jews to the Lord by the preaching of the gospel with signs following.    

There is an order to the restoration of all things.  First the Gentiles, then the Jews, then the resurrection.  Paul tells us in Romans that “blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel will be saved…” (Rom. 11:25,26).  “For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Rom. 11:15).  Jesus is in heaven, bringing all things under His feet.  He is making one new man of both Gentiles and Jews (Eph. 2:14-16).  But “the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called but few chosen.” (Matt. 20:16).  God’s plans will be completed; what remains to be seen is who will be a part of them. 

As we enter the end times, we can expect things to change in the spiritual realm as well as in the natural realm.  The Church will walk in greater authority.  God will do things through the Church that we have never seen before.  The sad thing is that some will not accept the new move of God because it will not fit their expectations.  Even more concerning to them, it will threaten the religious systems they have come accustomed to.  These religious traditions offer a false sense of security.  Without repentance there is no forgiveness, and without holiness no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).

The message for today is still the same as when Peter preached his sermon on the restoration of all things.  “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19).