A Living Restoration

A Living Restoration – God’s plan for each and every one of us!

Every year at the Tulip Festival in Pella, Iowa, one of the events and displays during the celebration involves a car show and competition. There are always a large number of entries that are parked where the public can observe and enjoy all of these classic vehicles that have been restored to pristine condition. The owners of the cars are usually present to visit with people and accept the numerous compliments and questions that come from the hundreds of visitors. One year as I was taking photos, there was a particularly impressive white corvette convertible from the 1960’s whose owner shared with me a little of the ordeal he went through to get the car working again. Found in a barn where the mice and birds had nested in its crevices, and raccoons had soiled and shredded the upholstery, the old corvette had not run for decades. Its engine had seized up, and the tires had nearly rotted away. As the owner went through the story of restoration from taking the engine apart, searching for original replacement parts across the country and sanding and painting of the old car body, I was amazed at the time (5 years) and the effort (most of the work done personally) and money (thousands of dollars) he had invested to restore this vehicle back to its original working condition.

When it comes to the human heart, God has spared no expense in His process of restoration, which goes far beyond just getting us functioning properly. When we come to Christ we are in the same condition (spiritually) as that of the old car! However, God’s design is far more than the simple restoration of an old car. He desires to work in us a deep change of spiritual renewal that will bring us back to the innocence that sin destroyed in the beginning. God’s goal for heaven is to remove all vestiges of sin’s stain and curse from our existence, so that our fellowship with Him is real and complete. During our lives here on earth the work of the Spirit is to begin and proceed with the process of restoration/remaking that allows us to begin to function again like a vehicle that belongs to a different kingdom. It is exciting and encouraging to experience the small changes Jesus makes as we are remade, slowly and patiently, into what we should be.

How exciting to be His people,

Pastor David Vanderpool