Planted by Water

Well I didn’t expect to be writing quite so much about the principles of Restoration from Jeremiah. But here’s the last few.

• Hear….O Nations (31:10) - I wrote about the remnant yesterday. Belief in a radical remnant does not mean that I think there is just going to be a faithful few, a small but insignificant band of brothers soldiering on to the bitter end. I believe that the message of the Kingdom is going to be preached to all nations, and that this Kingdom is going to fill the whole earth! Multitudes will respond to the gospel and people from every tribe, tongue and nation will worship before the throne of God.
• Abundance (31:14) - the remnant of Restorers will not only be characterised by being a people of the Spirit, but they will be charactersied by enjoying abundant life. Thank God that in his restoring he set many of us free from religion which robs you of life, and brought us into the fullness of life that Jesus came to bring us. Praise God - we are meant to enjoy life!!
• Covenant (31:31f) - God has shown again and again that he is a God of covenant. Everything he does, he does through covenant. God has bound himself to us, and is totally faithful to his word and his commitment. He is also teaching us to be the same, to be a covenant community.
• Grace, not Law (31:33-34) - I once heard Bryn Jones say that one of the best things he felt God had restored to the church in his generation (and he was at the forefront of it) was an understanding of grace. Religion had taught people to live by all kinds of laws, rules and regulations; and made them miserable and bound up at the same time! The wonderful news of the new covenant is that God enables us to desire and to do his will from the work of grace within, rather than by following outward laws. I still believe that this is a crucial message to get across in our generation. The work of grace is not about license, or about legalism - it is about life!
• A Holy City (31:38-40) - at the heart of God’s programme of restoration is to see the church, the city of God, established as the praise of all the earth. True restorers cannot rest until they have seen her righteousness shine out to the whole world. Again, I believe a key message for our generation is about holiness (that is a work of grace and not law, but is definitely radical righteousness and clear purity) and the church being a holy city, that is relevant but radical, full of life and purity.

These are just some of the principles I have thought about as I have been looking at these chapters from Jeremiah. There are many things that I could have noted about what God has been restoring in recent years- like the role of Ephesians 4 Ministries, especially that of apostle and prophet - but these are the ones that have sprung out at me from these chapters. I must read the rest of Jeremiah now!