The Restoration of All Things

Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” He said to them, “Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt?” (Mark 9:11-12)

These words reveal one of the most exciting aspects of the gospel: the restoration of all things. John the Baptist did fulfill, during his lifetime, the ministry of Elijah in the hearts of the people longing for a Redeemer.1 The people who regarded John as a prophet were prepared for the first advent, the first coming of Messiah.

If the words of Messiah in Mark 9:11-12 are to have any meaning, then Jesus was prophesying of some future time and not of the ministry of John the Baptist that immediately preceded His. Otherwise, “all things” would have already been restored and His words were meaningless when spoken. Jesus was speaking of the second advent (His return) when He said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things.”

At that time, many people will once again be prepared for His coming. Then all that was fallen and lost in Israel of old will be restored. The Church of the New Covenant was to fulfill, or bring about, all these things for the natural descendants of Abraham in the first century,2 but they too fell away. Overcome by the cares and worries of this life, they stopped loving as their Savior loved, stopped living together and sharing all things in common. They no longer had the Spirit of love in their midst.

Therefore, the restoration of all things includes the promises of the gospel made to all who would follow Him, beginning with the gift of the Holy Spirit. Following Him has a cost: obeying Him. Acts 5:32 says this is the prerequisite to receiving the Holy Spirit. Eternal life is promised to those who do obey Him. Nothing is promised to those who don’t, who don’t forsake all they have for His sake and the gospel’s sake:

Yahshua said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age — houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions — and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)

How well each of these words stood out to His apostles… with the hundredfold return on what is given up, came persecutions and eternal life! What is given up, houses, brothers, and sisters, mothers and children — in a word, family — is regained in the Community of the Redeemed. This was seen in Acts 2 and 4 in the Bible, and continues to be seen wherever this gospel is preached. It is the new family of those not only willing, but who do the will of God:

Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:31-35)

What is the Will of God for my Life?

This is one of the most commonly asked questions about one’s relationship with God. By asking it people make it obvious that they are not a part of His new family. “Whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother” — is My family. Those who do the will of God abide forever.3

For those who believe in Him trust Him, and those who trust Him obey Him, and those who obey Him are those who love Him. And He and the Father love them in return:

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him… If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. (John 14:21,23)

The first-century church was a community established on the Rock our Master spoke of in Matthew 7:21-24 and Luke 6:46-49. This solid rock is obedience to His commands, as Mark 3:31-35 and John 14:21,23 speak of. The Community of the Redeemed is the new family of God. It too is an essential part of the restoration of all things. Like any family, this new family lives together! All who have taken up their cross and followed Him live together.4 Like His own disciples did, they follow Him together, and Acts 2:44 is no longer merely an historical account. No longer is it in the past tense, for once again, in the restoration of all things, “all who believe are together and share all things in common.”5

And like any new family formed by a covenant, they live separate and apart from their old families, no longer under their authority.6 Before this new Israel could begin then (at Pentecost), or before it can be entered into now, the “many other words” have to be made clear, so that all who are cut to the heart can realize what they must do.

The multitudes at Pentecost asked the same question as the rich young ruler did in Mark 10, “What must I do to be saved?” and as the fruit of the Community in Jerusalem shows in Acts 2 and 4, they received the same answer from the apostles that he received from the Son of God.

This was their exodus from the old, fallen Israel, to the new Israel of God, just as their forefathers had been called to cross the line many years ago to stand with Moses — when all the rest were worshipping the golden calf.7 The choice and the consequences are just as stark today, and like then, the influence of family and friends who are not immersed into Messiah by baptism into His Body must be cut off.

Who Then Can Be Saved?

After the rich young ruler walked away sad, the disciples asked this question of the Savior in Luke 18:26-27, “Who then can be saved?”