Luke records God’s plan in Acts 3:19-21:
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the
presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before
was preached unto you: Who 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.”
Restoration is the act of restoring to the rightful owner something
that has been taken away, lost or stolen. The word “restitution” in
this Scripture comes from the Greek word apokatastasis, meaning “to
return this Earth back to its perfect state before the fall.” God
has been working to restore the Earth to its perfect state and to
restore man’s kingship for thousands of years.
In the beginning, we know that God created Adam in His own image, in
His likeness and with His nature (Genesis 1:26). The Word says that
“God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed life (not
air) into his nostrils and man became a living soul with purpose –
to fellowship with God and have dominion over this Earth (Genesis
2:7; 1:26).
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In
the original creation Adam was perfect. He lived out of his spirit.
He communed with God out of his spirit. He was connected to God
through his spirit. He named the animals from his spirit. He tended
the garden from his spirit. He exercised his kingship, or dominion,
over the Earth from his spirit.
Scripture tells us that God put Adam in the Garden of Eden to dress
it and to keep it. He also gave Adam a command: “Of every tree of
the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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” (Genesis 2). Of course, Adam
did not immediately die when he ate of the fruit. He lived to be 930
years old. God was talking about a spiritual death.
Some time after this we read the testimony of Eve’s deception by the
serpent. That old serpent told Eve that the reason God didn’t want
her to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was because
her eyes would be opened and she would be like God (Genesis 3:5).
The reality was that Adam and Eve were already like God. They were
created with the very nature of God, in the image of God, blessed by
God, and given dominion over the Earth by God.
We all know the sad conclusion, Eve partook and Adam did, too. Sin
entered the Earth and Adam’s spirit died because the wages of sin is
death (Romans 6:23). Adam’s disobedience caused a communal
disconnect between his spirit and the Spirit of God. Adam and Eve
began to live out of their souls instead of their spirits. (Your
soul is your mind, will, intellect, reasoning, imaginations and
emotions.) They were led by their five senses – touch, hearing,
sight, smell and taste – instead of their spirits. Before the fall
they simply knew what they needed to know. They could draw any
knowledge they needed directly from God’s Spirit. Their fall was the
genesis of soulish education.
When God came into the garden to fellowship with Adam, he heard the
Lord’s voice and tried to hide among the trees. God called out to
Adam, asking “Where art thou?” Adam replied, “I heard thy voice in
the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself”
(Genesis 2:8-10). Of course, God knew where Adam was all along. God
is all knowing. He didn’t ask because He didn’t know. God knew where
Adam was physically but He couldn’t find Adam in His Spirit. For the
first time Adam was not connected to God through his spirit.
From that moment on, God determined to restore mankind back to
Himself. I can almost hear God saying, “Adam, I’m coming to get
you!” In order to work this out to the counsel of His will, God had
to send the Second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God that
taketh away the sin of the world.
What we need to understand here is that Adam didn’t fall from
heaven. He fell from grace. Our ultimate destination as born-again
believers is not heaven, but Earth. Even the rapture only takes us
to heaven for a short time. We will eventually return to this Earth
to rule and reign with Christ. We don’t need incorruptible
resurrected bodies to live in heaven. We need them for life on
Earth.
Adam did not understand his purpose. Not understanding our purpose
is the foundation of all failure. God’s original intent for man has
always been to fellowship with Him. We were designed from the
beginning to take dominion over this Earth that God has created. We
can never see our original intent restored until we are first born
again and subsequently learn to live out of our born- again spirits.
Scripture says that the Holy Spirit is our Teacher who will lead us
and guide us in all truth. He is the One who is actively involved in
the restitution of all things. Friend, the Spirit-led life is the
answer to walking out your kingship. The Apostle Peter said we are a
priesthood of kings (1 Peter 2:9). Jesus said it is the Father’s
good pleasure to give us the Kingdom (Luke 12:32). Scripture
declares that all creation is waiting for the manifestation of the
sons of God (Romans 8:19).
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How can we manifest as sons? By exercising our kingship authority as
believers and walking out the restored biblical truths of our
generation. Every “movement” throughout history has resulted in some
form of truth being restored to the Body of Christ. After the
resurrection of Jesus, religious spirits attacked the Church and we
plunged into the Dark Ages. Yet the seed of the Kingdom of God had
already been planted and was destined to outgrow everything (Mark
4:31).
Consider this. It took over 2,000 years for the Church to be
prepared for the restoration of this “kingship of every believer”
truth. What we do with this revelation of kingship, as the original
intent is up to us.
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