A Radical Restoration – Chapter 2 -THE PURCHASE CONTRACT (Part 2)

Getting the keys to my first home was an experience I’ll never forget. The notion of owning a home was so far removed from my thoughts when I was growing up in Jersey City. As a teenager I would look through the pages of Apartment Life Magazine, and dream of the day I would have my very own apartment.

Growing up in small apartments with five kids meant I never even had my own room. When I eventually did get an apartment, it was with my sister. I was seventeen and she was eighteen. We rented a small one bedroom third floor walk-up and I still had to share a room! We then upgraded to a one and a half bedroom second floor apartment. You’ve heard of half baths, I’m suppose, but you probably have never heard of a half bedroom. It was actually a closet with a window. It was big enough for a twin bed and a small dresser. The other bedroom was huge, but I so desperately wanted a room of my own. It was so convenient, too. With the closet pole just above my bed, I could choose my wardrobe for the day before I even got up. I loved that little closet room!

Somehow in the next few years I had been transformed into a wife and a mother, and here I stood, holding the keys to my first home. The symbolic transferring of the keys at the real estate closing is a bit like the groom carrying his bride over the threshold. Just like that – poof – I was transformed into a homeowner!

Putting the key into the lock and turning it for the first time is a feeling which is hard to describe. It’s the culmination of years of scrimping and saving, months of searching, weeks of losing sleep over applications, inspections, surveys, title searches, paper signing. When I turned that key and walked through the door, all that was now in the past, and a new chapter of life began.

Setting foot into that first house for the first time, I saw the most beautiful home I could imagine. I didn’t see the peeling wallpaper, or the water stained ceilings, or the cracked plaster walls. I only saw the beauty, which was hidden from other people but would one day be revealed. It wouldn’t be like one of those hour long TV episode reveals. This would be a real life, hard work, painstaking process. Much of the old stuff would have to be ripped out. Some things would have to be rebuilt from the ground up. But, oh what a reveal it would be when it was complete!

And that, my friend, is exactly how God sees us! When He purchases us in our state of disrepair, our messy lives don’t scare Him a bit because He can clearly see His finished work!

Purchased At A Price Means A Change in Ownership

Just as a property changes ownership at the moment of purchase, so do we, after being purchased out of our sinful state. When we receive forgiveness for our sins, we are purchased at a price. That price was the life of Jesus, which He willingly sacrificed for us.

When I spoke that simple prayer years ago, accepting the gift of God’s forgiveness of my sins, I handed the keys over to Him and granted Him rightful ownership of my life. I was a mess. I was like that old wreck of a house that others saw, but God saw only His completed work. If I was ever going to become what He saw in me, I would have to be willing to hand the keys over to him and allow Him to do His Radical Restoration on me. And it wouldn’t be like one of those TV reveals. It would be a real life, hard work, painstaking process. Many of my old habits would have to be ripped out, and some things would have to be rebuilt from the ground up. But, oh what a reveal it will be one day when it is complete!

It Is Finished: Paid In Full

When Jesus prayed in the garden the night He was betrayed, He said, “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ” (John 17: 4)

With Easter just around the corner, this is a timely message. As we observe Good Friday, we should remember these words, which were the last words Jesus spoke before His death.

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” (John 19: 28-30)

It is Finished! (A Look at the Greek)

When Jesus cries out “it is finished” on the cross, the Greek word used is “tetelestai” which means to bring to a close, to complete, to fulfill. In an article on The Columbia International University website, the tenses of the Greek word is studied more closely. It says this, “In conclusion, in Jesus’ statement “It is finished” we have a declaration of salvation that is both momentary and eternal, Aorist and Present, linear and punctiliar. We are saved at a specific point in time, “it is finished”, our debt is paid, we are ransomed from the kingdom of darkness, and then we confidently rest in the reality that “it will continue to be finished” because we are in a position of grace and stand justified for all time before God. One Greek word, tetelestai, spoken in the perfect tense, by Jesus on the cross, and it was finished at that moment, and for all time.”

Jesus’ death was intentional. As Oswald Chambers puts it, “The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr. His death was not something that happened to Him— something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.”

God has already done His part. Now, it’s up to you. The deal is on the table. The offer is there and always has been. It’s up to you if you will accept the terms and conditions. It’s up to you if you will hand over the keys to the rightful owner, and allow Him to transform you into what He always knew you could become. Now, it’s up to you.

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How To Be Born Again by Billy Graham

NEXT POST: Chapter 3 – THE HOME INSPECTION