And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:20-21, KJV)
There has been many schools of thought about the estate of the new man throughout the church of which the prevailing concept has been the Concept of Restoration. In the Concept of Restoration, the church has taught that the new man has been restored back to the Garden of Eden which was the estate of Adam. This is however not the truth of scripture- the rise of man is not unto the estate of Adam before he fell- we have never seen that in scripture.
Jesus, in one of his teachings, made a profound statement: "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy..." (John 10:10). This was and has always been the agenda of Satan and he uses deception to achieve this agenda. In the Garden of Eden he was seen as the serpent who caused man to fall by deceiving the woman. God had already said in Gen chapter 2 verse17 that Adam was going to die the day he ate of the forbidden fruit "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die". We then see Satan (whose agenda is to steal the glory that was given to man, to kill man, and in effect destroy the plan of God for his creation) in realizing what it was that could kill the man God had made, come as a serpent to deceive the woman to cause man to fall and lose his estate. God then lost his own creation to the fall.
Then came Jesus, who the bible says in Luke chapter 19 verse 10 came "...to seek and to save that which was lost", declaring his agenda saying "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). What a statement! He was speaking from a Jewish point of view- God had declared in the law that the thief of a man's sheep when he is caught will have to make full restitution of the sheep which he had stolen.
If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft (Exodus 22:1,3).
Restitution is higher than restoration; it includes all restoration is and goes further than that. Restitution means to constitute such that the original intent and composition is not lost. As we see in the verse above, restitution is in itself a restoration but not a restoration to a previous estate. It is a restoration to an original intent. The owner of the sheep rears the sheep with the intent of increasing their population so the thief who came to decrease the population when he is caught must not bring back the same number of sheep he stole, he must bring back more sheep so that the original intent of the owner would be gotten. If the thief was not able to do this, he was to be sold because by all means the owner had to have his sheep restituted to him.
This is the principle Jesus was speaking from in John chapter 10 verses 7 to 10; "Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
Before Jesus came the thief came to steal, kill and destroy his sheep but Jesus came that the sheep would have not just the life they had before but that they would have an even more abundant life- life greater than the life they had before- that is Restitution.
We have not been restored to the estate of Adam in the garden of Eden, in Christ Jesus we have been restituted to a higher estate- presently, we have been made to "sit together in heavenly places" (Ephesians 2:6)- we function from a higher realm than Adam. We function from the realm of Christ.
The new man in Christ was not made only to have life as the first Adam who was a living soul but is made to both have and give life as the last Adam (Christ) who was made a quickening spirit as it is written in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 45 "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." The differences between the estate of Adam and the New Man is strongly emphasized throughout scripture. The Apostle Paul made it very evident in his epistle to the Corinthian church.
"But that which is natural comes before that which is of the spirit. The first man is from the earth, and of the earth: the second man is from heaven. Those who are of the earth are like the man who was from the earth: and those who are of heaven are like the one from heaven. And in the same way as we have taken on us the image of the man from the earth, so we will take on us the image of the one from heaven." (1 Corinthians 15:46-48, BBE).
In Restitution, we no longer bear the nature of the earthly man, Adam (we have gone past that), we now bear the nature of the heavenly Man who is Christ. This was the agenda of Jesus when he came to join us in death that we as a result will join him in his resurrection. Our participation in his resurrection was the beginning of the Restitution of all things, and now, as we see in our opening scripture, He is locked up in heaven until restitution is complete. "And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:20-21). It is therefore incumbent upon the church to come to the knowledge of this truth of Restitution because Jesus will only appear a second time on earth when all things have been completely restored to the original intent of God, that is, when all things have been restituted to God. The knowledge of this truth opens a man up to walk in the reality and experience the awesomeness of the restitution.
Before Jesus came the thief came to steal, kill and destroy his sheep but Jesus came that the sheep would have not just the life they had before but that they would have an even more abundant life- life greater than the life they had before- that is Restitution.
We have not been restored to the estate of Adam in the garden of Eden, in Christ Jesus we have been restituted to a higher estate- presently, we have been made to "sit together in heavenly places" (Ephesians 2:6)- we function from a higher realm than Adam. We function from the realm of Christ.
The new man in Christ was not made only to have life as the first Adam who was a living soul but is made to both have and give life as the last Adam (Christ) who was made a quickening spirit as it is written in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 45 "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." The differences between the estate of Adam and the New Man is strongly emphasized throughout scripture. The Apostle Paul made it very evident in his epistle to the Corinthian church.
"But that which is natural comes before that which is of the spirit. The first man is from the earth, and of the earth: the second man is from heaven. Those who are of the earth are like the man who was from the earth: and those who are of heaven are like the one from heaven. And in the same way as we have taken on us the image of the man from the earth, so we will take on us the image of the one from heaven." (1 Corinthians 15:46-48, BBE).
In Restitution, we no longer bear the nature of the earthly man, Adam (we have gone past that), we now bear the nature of the heavenly Man who is Christ. This was the agenda of Jesus when he came to join us in death that we as a result will join him in his resurrection. Our participation in his resurrection was the beginning of the Restitution of all things, and now, as we see in our opening scripture, He is locked up in heaven until restitution is complete. "And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:20-21). It is therefore incumbent upon the church to come to the knowledge of this truth of Restitution because Jesus will only appear a second time on earth when all things have been completely restored to the original intent of God, that is, when all things have been restituted to God. The knowledge of this truth opens a man up to walk in the reality and experience the awesomeness of the restitution.
Beloved in Christ, know your place in Christ. Do not allow anyone to take you captive and rid you of your advantage in Christ as a new man through hollow and deceptive 'biblical philosophy' which do not stem from the word of truth. We are in the times of restitution where all grace is available to us to manifest and operate at a higher life and express God in a higher dimension than was before in the days of Adam. Walk in this reality. Shalom!
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