Jesus, the King: The Resurrection StorySample

“... I will restore them because of my compassion.” - Zechariah 10:6 NLT

In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth. He created man and woman, or Adam and Eve, as we know them. He designed it and them with intention. That everything and every person would reflect the glory of God.

Adam and Eve were given the garden of Eden. Imagine it like an oasis. They were given the authority to watch over His creation and name it. To enjoy it.

Genesis 1:28 says, “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

They were blessed. They had the best of the best. They had the ability to rule over every creature. Imagine that. They had authority, dignity, purpose, and opportunity.

Later, Scripture tells us in Genesis 2:15-17, ”The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

They could eat anything except for one thing. Life was perfect for them. What could go wrong?

Sin. Sin would enter the story causing a mess (Genesis 3), and God’s creation was now out of order. The world that we live in is fallen and broken. We inherited a problem that man cannot fix. Our world needs help.

The chaos must be put back into order. The brokenness must be restored.

We find hope for restoration in the book of Zechariah. This book is filled with prophecies that foreshadow what is to come. Zechariah shared how God will be restored to the people of Judah who were once exiled. This is the foreshadowing of the second coming of Jesus and how He will restore His people to God once and for all.

What Jesus does on the cross is the good news of the Gospel. Christ arose from the tomb, declared defeat over sin, and God began his restorative work in humans and in the world.

This is our hope.