The God Who Restores

Outline

Intro: need of restoration, sewer line, artery,

Restoration is rare.

Restoration is hard to come by because in order for restoration to be actulaized the extent to which something is restored has to exceed the extent to which it’s been broken. And brokeness is much more prevelant than restoration.

Further, it is easy to break, to destroy, it is challenging to restore.

All of us are limited in our capcity to restore.

We actually need a power, a knowledge, a capcity that exceeds our own brokeness to experience restoration!

But when restoration occurs, it’s impactful and it’s beautiful.

All of us long for restoration -

reminded of this via Zae Zae crying for bannas

Broken leg, indicates that something is off, unatural, we long for restoration

Broken glass

God is a God who restores us

Ruth 4:13–17 NIV

13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” 16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Who was the one in need of restoration? Ruth or Naomi

Who was the restorer in this story?

Was it Boaz? It was the baby!

Ruth 4:14–15 NIV

14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

God is a God who restores

HIT GENOLOGY! Ruth 4:18-22 vs Matt 1:2-6,16

Psalm 51:12 (NIV)

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

1 Peter 5:10 (NIV)

10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Psalm 23:3 ESV

3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

God is a God who restores

We see it in the life of Boaz & Ruth

We see it in the story of Naomi and this baby

But God’s restoration is not reserved to a time of the past

I have experienced the restoration of God

Emily has experienced it

What did your life look like before you knew God?

What changed? How did you come to know Jesus?

How have you sen Him bring about restoration in your life?

Landing point Action Step;

Gospel message oppertunity

Restoration doesn’t happen through our effort but through faith. Through surrender, what’s something you need to bring to God in faith?

Ruth 4:18–22 NIV

18 This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, 19 Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, 20 Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 21 Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, 22 Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.

Parallel:

Matthew 1:2–6 NIV

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

Matthew 1:16 (NIV)

16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

Connection to Christmas - Christ is the redeemer and restorer

Yes this book is a love story, but not only of Boaz and Ruth, but moreso of God’s love for you!

Gospel from beginning to end

Ruth 1:20 ESV

20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

What is striking is that when Naomi said, “Call me Mara.” Even saying the name, “Mara” should have triggered her memory of the God who provides. Let me explain with an important backstory.

Several generations before the people moved into the land of Israel, they were slaves in Egypt.

God delivered them from Pharaoh through a series of miraculous events.

It was so clear and so obvious that God Himself had saved His people from Egypt and was now bringing them to the Promised Land, Israel.

But three days later, not a week later, not the next month, not three years later, three days later, the people are in the desert and they are thirsty.

Actually the book of Exodus, which records this story for us, says the people grumbled. That is like advanced complaining.

They grumbled because they came to a location that had water, but the water was bitter, too bitter to drink, so they named that place, Marah, which means bitter.

And yet, the way the Lord works on Israel’s behalf

Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink. Exodus 15:25

Exodus 15:25 NIV

25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink. There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test.

God has turned Marah into Namoi - Bitterness into that which is pleasant

Naomi is acting similar to her ancestors; instead of seeing all the ways in which God has provided in the past, she just sees her hardship and becomes bitter, like the waters at Marah. And like her ancestors she complained in a bitter way. But Naomi would have known the story of what happened at Marah. Here is what happens at Marah.

Exodus 15:22–24 NIV

22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”

Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink. Exodus 15:25 (NIV)

God miraculously provided for the people, again, even in the midst of their bitterness. God didn’t stop with the wood that makes the water better, He continued to lead them to a place called Elim and it was this wonderful spot that God had always been leading them towards:

Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water. Exodus 15:27 (NIV)

Just so you don’t miss the symbolism, twelve springs, one for each tribe of Israel, is no coincidence. God is providing for each tribe so everyone has their own spring to rest by and rehydrate. When Scripture uses the term seven it speaks of completion and reminds us of the seven days of creation in Genesis chapter one which reminds us of Eden. So seven times ten is seventy, this is a place which is ten times complete. In other words, this place was awesome!

They were so focused on the bitterness of the water in Marah they didn’t realize they were almost to paradise in Elim. In response to their bitter complaining God made the water at Marah fit to drink, in the midst of their bitterness and hardship God provided.

Often it is in the midst of our hardship, our suffering, and our misfortunes that God’s provision arrives. This is how God dealt with His people in the desert, it is how God deals with us, and it is how God dealt with Naomi. She was just so bitter, she couldn’t see the provision.

God did not leave you to die off - He restores

Boaz- Jesse - King David

King is coming to renew, to restore

If the King were to arrive how would your life change? What is in need of restoration?

Mara - Wood

Tstimony

Kyle’s Version

The God I Wish You Knew The God Who Restores Ruth 4:13-22

I love restored cars.

There is something inspiring in seeing how a car can be given new life through being restored.

But restored cars aren’t found looking like this; it takes a tremendous amount of work, care, resources, and commitment to restore a car. Many cars, maybe even some of these, were found discarded and in disrepair. There is a term for a classic car found in rough shape; they are called a “Barn Find.” That is because they are often found in barns, hidden under piles of junk, tires flat and falling off, body full of rust, mice have eaten away the electrical cords, dust and dirt everywhere. The car won’t run and seems like a lost cause.

When we first met Ruth and Naomi their lives looked like a barn find. Naomi had fled from Israel to a land called Moab during a famine with her husband and two sons. Moab was an enemy of Israel and while there, Naomi’s husband died, her two sons die and she has nothing. She leaves Moab to go back home and one of her Moabite daughter-in-laws comes with her, a woman named Ruth. These women have nothing. Their lives have fallen apart, they have no hope, no future. Naomi summarizes her condition and her feelings well at the end of chapter one by saying her new name should be bitter because God has made her life very bitter.

Many of us can relate to those feelings. Relationships fall apart, finances run out, the job falls through, we are mistreated, misunderstood, and forgotten. We may as well be a Barn Find. Our lives feel covered by piles of junk, some of it our own, some of it from others. The pain we’ve experienced has dried up our soul, and life has eaten away at the cords to our heart.

But if you are restoring cars, you love a Barn Find, because you know what a Barn Find can become.

Our God is a God who loves to restore.

So when He found Ruth and Naomi in their distressed state, He did what He does. He started to restore. Just like He does for you and me. But the restoration process isn’t easy.

§ First He welcomed these women home. It isn’t easy getting a Barn Find home, it won’t run. But if you love the car, you go and get it. That is what God did for them and what God does for us. He is a God who welcomes us back to Him if we have walked away and He welcomes us to Him even if we have been an outsider.

§ Then He provided for and protected them. Just like He does for us, even when we don’t realize it. To restore a car you need to stop the rust from growing and that can involve a lot of sanding, scraping and buffing. It is hard work, but God keeps working on us.

§ He also is a God who redeems, willing to pay whatever the cost is to complete the restoration project of our lives.

§ And this is not something God does out of a sense of obligation. He loves it because He loves us. He loves us so much that He was willing to commit to our restoration at a great cost to Himself.

Throughout this story we have seen the nature and the character of God be revealed through the ordinary, everyday people in the story of Ruth. Now today, we finally come to the conclusion of the story. It is like the moment at the end of a restoration show when the restored home or vehicle is revealed.

In the revealing of the restored Ruth and Naomi we see that actually this story has been a much bigger story. It has been about a much larger restoration project God was doing. This story actually happened thousands of years ago, but these events took place because God was preparing for another restoration project. Ours.

[Cut video, back live]

To see God’s restoration project for our lives, please open to Ruth chapter four, verse 13. Page 377 in the pew Bible.

If you are just joining us, last week we left off at a scene of celebration when Ruth and Boaz got married. I mentioned last week the praise of the people in town was significant and by placing Ruth alongside other famous women from Israel’s history, their words were prophetic. As we come to verse 13 we see why. Here is how the story of Ruth concludes.

Ruth 4:13-15

Ruth had been married for possibly up to ten years while in Moab and she never had a child, which would have been a difficult thing in the culture of that day. But now, she has a child, not only has God been working to restore Naomi, He has restored Ruth as well.

The women in town join in the celebration of this child, giving praise to God. But something surprising is mentioned in their praise, did you catch it? When Boaz married Ruth he became the guardian-redeemer of the family. So when these women give praise for the Guardian-Redeemer, we initially think they are praising Boaz. “May he become famous…he will renew your life and sustain you in your old age…” but then the twist, “for your daughter-in-law…has given birth to him.” Wait, the baby is the Guardian-Redeemer? How can that be?

Women in this culture married young so it is possible that by the time this child grows up and reaches his teenage years he could physically provide for both Ruth and Naomi. But we get the sense there is something deeper going on in this story. Last week I mentioned there was this ancient prophecy that a leader would come from Judah. Here it is:

The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. Genesis 49:10 (NIV)

This spoke of a great ruler, a great king who would come from the people of Judah. Could this child be more than just the joy of a new baby?

Ruth 4:16-17

David, as in King David, the second and great king of Israel. As in David and Goliath. David the author of many of the psalms. The man after God’s own heart. The one to whom God promised that a descendant of his will forever be on the throne.

Ruth is David’s great grandmother. Wow! What a story. This has been a backstory for King David. But Ruth doesn’t end there. It keeps expanding out and we realize the story is even bigger. It does with a section that, honestly, most people skip over. The genealogical record.

Ruth 4:18-22

If you are reading this you likely skip the genealogy because it feels like reading someone else’s family tree on Ancestry.com. But this genealogy is actually very relevant to you and me. It connects to the genealogy of another baby boy born in Bethlehem. A baby who also was born a Guardian-Redeemer and the one who would bring restoration to all of us. Jesus.

In describing the birth of Jesus, the historian Luke records another genealogy for us in Luke 3:23-38. Turn briefly there and let’s look at that record. If you want to turn in one of the Bibles we have in the pew back this is found on page 1563. The record here starts with Joseph, but Luke says, “or so it was thought” and he traces the line of Jesus through Mary, not Joseph, which is why Matthew and Luke have slightly different names in their genealogy of Jesus.

Look at these names. They are totally obscure, just like our lives. Some day we will simply be a list of names on a genealogy record, but when we get to verse 31 we see a familiar name, David! Then Jesse, then Obed, then Boaz…then Perez…then Judah…then Jacob, Isaac and Abraham. But it doesn’t stop there. Noah…then “the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”

When God chose to be born on this earth in order to restore us, He chose to be born into the family of Ruth, Naomi, Boaz, Obed, and David. The same town where this story has been playing out is the same town where God Himself would be born 1,200 years after the events we have been reading.

What does this all mean for us?

The God I wish you knew is The God who restores. We can become so focused on our problems, challenges, hurt, sin, the mess of our lives at times that it seems like we are that old car stuck in a barn. It seems like restoration isn’t even possible. But God. Naomi’s life seemed beyond restoration, but God. His restoration is so much bigger than we realize.

If God is the God who restores the natural question is to ask, how can I be restored?

Here is the good news. Restoration is God’s work, not ours.

Old cars stuck in the barn don’t restore themselves. They can’t even run, how could they possible restore themselves? The same is true for us. We, as people, love DIY. We believe we can fix our lives ourselves, we believe it is up to us to build our own lives so it is natural for us to try and approach our relationship with God, or our spiritual lives, in the same way. But we can’t, and when we try to do it ourselves it leads to nothing more than a waste of time and effort.

A few years ago the car I was driving at the time had some weird electrical issues. The door locking system on one of the rear doors went out. I got a quote to fix it at a car repair shop and it was expensive, so I did what all great car mechanics do. I googled it. And there was YouTube. The video made the fix seem simple so I ordered the part online and got to work. Eight hours later, I had the entire door apart and now back together…and I’m still not sure how. But I had done it. New part was in. I shut the door. Hit the button and success, it worked! But then I pulled the door handle to open the door and it didn’t open. I tried a few times but it was like the door handle wasn’t engaging. At which point in my hungry, tired and cold stage I thought, “It must be the child safety lock.” I opened the door from the inside of the car, flipped the child safety lock and gave the door a push shut. As the door is swinging shut, my brain reengages. Child safety locks prevent the door from opening from the inside, not outside. When I flipped the child safety lock I disengaged the inside handle and when I put the door back together I neglected to hook up the exterior handle. So neither handle worked. I now had a three door sedan! I spent all day working on this project and all I did was make the car worse.

Our spiritual lives are similar. The reason we can’t fix ourselves is because of sin. The Apostle Paul explaining this to us writes this in Colossians:

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14 (NLT)

Paul says we are spiritually dead before we accept Jesus. Let me ask you, what do dead people do? Not much. This is why you have been trying so hard to figure out your spiritual life. You thought going to church or being religious might do it, but it didn’t. You thought finding a sense of purpose or significance might do it. You thought if you found the right relationship it might do it. You might have even thought if you could just find your own true sense of identity that would do it. But none of it has worked. It has been so much work, so much effort, so much stress, so much pressure, but all of it feels a waste. In fact, you may have even tried to rebuild your life and you ended up like my car, far worse than it was before.

The reason we can’t fix ourselves is because of our sinful nature and sinful state. I know for many of us sin can be a loaded word and it carries all this religious weight. But sin is serious because it is sin which separates us from God who gives us life. Just like you’ll never start your car if it is disconnected from the battery, you and I can’t have a spiritual life apart from God.

But here is the good news. This is actually great news. God doesn’t ask us to solve our own problem. He offers to restore us, but we must let Him. That is my story, I’m confident that is your story, and I know that is Bethany’s story. She attends this church and shared her story with us.

[Video Faith Story]

Jesus offers us New Life because He lived the perfect human life, the life we could not live and then He went to the cross and was crucified on our behalf. Jesus died the death we should have died because of sin. After He died on the cross, He was dead and in the grave for three days. But on the third day, He rose from the grave, because He was fully God and you can’t kill God. When He rose He made a way for any human who chooses to accept Him to have their sin forgiven. Paul says to us in Romans, If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

It doesn’t stop there. Jesus has given us New Life. Just like so many of those restored cars aren’t just brought back to factory specks, but they are actually improved on, when we accept Jesus not only does He forgive us our sins, He promises to give us His Spirit. So we become a different type of person. A person who God’s Holy Spirit lives within.

God’s Spirit continue to work, day in and day out, in our lives restoring us and making us look more and more like Jesus. He forgives our sin. He peels off our shame. He works to remove our worry. He scrapes away our anxiety. He cleans out our heart that is full of selfishness and sinful desires, and gives us a clean heart. He changes us into the people He created us and desires us to be.

Many of us are mid-way in the restoration process. This side of eternity, God continues to work on us and in us. Just because you might be in a season where God is scraping off the paint, don’t assume He has abandoned you; He isn’t finished with you yet. The book of Ruth reminds us to trust God and keep looking for the fullness of His restoration to come into our lives.

There are yet some here today or some listening to this message who are like that old car still in the barn. You might be here today and you are in need of restoration, maybe you have been like Bethany or like me and tried to do it on your own and it is time to let God restore you. I’m here to tell you, God has found you. He wants to restore you. But He won’t do it without your permission. Will say “Yes” to Him today?

I Said Yes Moment.