Above is a photograph of a 1939 Buick Roadmaster Formal Sedan. When it first rolled off the assembly line it was quite a magnificent automobile. However, at the time this photograph was shot, years of neglect and the corrosive elements of nature, had taken its toll. It remained only a broken, worn out, hardly recognizable image of its original state.
Sadly, our lives are corrupted from their originally created state, of which God said was "Very Good." (Genesis 1:31) The effects of time, and the often corrosive events of our lives, wear heavily on us and take their toll. Our bodies age. We suffer from numerous sicknesses and ailments. We suffer from accident and injury. We endure hardships and heartaches. We despair over things that seem so hopeless. We get to the point of feeling totally alone, of no use to anyone, abandoned. Then, perhaps, hardest of all, we must endure the loss of life, the life of loved ones and friends and eventually our own life. When faced with so many things that work at wearing us out, physically, emotionally and spiritually, we might feel exactly as the prophet Jeremiah in the book of "Lamentations." We long to be restored and renewed, as we lament over the condition our lives are in.
With enough time, patience, money, and hard work, the automobile pictured above could be restored to a "like new" condition. It could, once more, be as it was originally intended. Yet, no amount of time, patience, money or hard work can ever restore us to our original condition.
For, it is not time and circumstances, alone, which destroy our lives. Every single person is affected by sin's destruction, young or old, weak or strong, well-known or unknown. We are restored only through faith, faith in the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through faith, God's restoration is immediate and comes to everyone at no cost.In God's Word, the prophet Isaiah declares the promise of God to restore all who faithfully look to Him:
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV)
Psalm 51 gives us a beautiful prayer, a prayer of faith in all the Lord God has promised:
"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." Psalm 51:10-12 (NIV)
Through faith, the promise, of which Psalm 51 speaks, is given personally to everyone who believes in the work of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul put it this way:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
In Jesus, alone, our lives are renewed. We are forgiven of our sin. We are created again with a life that is eternally restored with God, as He originally intended. In addition, we are given God's promise that He is with us throughout our life, always present to lift us up, to refresh and renew us in the face of the destroying forces we must endure.
The prophet, Hosea urged: "Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." Hosea 6:3 (NIV)
The Lord, Jesus, has come to us, restoring our broken worn-out lives. To all who
acknowledge him, Jesus has promised: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be
no more death or mourning or crying in pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Revelation 21:4 (NIV)
The answer God gives to Jeremiah's cry of Lamentations 5:21
