Restore the Land
Oslochurch is called to restore the lives of individuals and families, and also to restore the foundations of Norway and Oslo that have been lost, or that have to be laid for the first time. Our legitimacy is that we help people regain their God-given wholeness, dignity and destiny, and serve people of all cultures and circumstances through the difficult challenges of life.
This was the message and reality that Jesus Christ brought, but also the message that the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah had spoken forcefully, bringing hope and future to countless human beings throughout history.
Jesus brought the message and reality of RESTORATION. This was clearly stated by apostle Peter in Acts 3:18-21:
«But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago»
Note than Jesus emphasized repentance first. So often we want restoration without repentance, but that is simply impossible.
The New Testament was written in Greek, and the Greek noun «apokatastasis» is found only in Acts 3:21, while the corresponding verb is used three times in the sense of a final restoration
The idea goes back to the great prophets of the Old Testament. They foresaw the Exile, but they also prophesied that God would restore his people to their own land (Jeremiah 27:22; Daniel 9:25 etc.). When this took place, conditions in Judah were far from ideal, and thus men looked and longed for a further restoration, a restoration of prosperity and blessing.
In time this came to be associated with the Messiah. The Jews as a whole understood this restoration in terms of material prosperity, but Jesus saw it in the work of John the Baptist, who fulfilled the prophecy of Malachi 4:5. (Matthew 17:11; Mark 9:12). Here, as elsewhere, he reinterpreted the Messianic category which had become distorted among the Jews.
The message had already been spoken by the prophet in Jeremiah 30:18-22:
«Thus says Yahweh: ‘Look, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob, and I will have compassion on his dwellings, and the city will be rebuilt upon its mound, and the citadel fortress will stand on its rightful site. And thanksgiving and the sound of merrymakers will come out from them, and I will make them numerous, and they will not be few. And I will make them honored, and they will not be lowly. And their children will be as of old, and their community will be established ⌊before me⌋. And I will punish all their oppressors. And their noble will be from them, and their ruler will come out from their midst. And I will bring him near and he will approach me. For who is he that would pledge his heart to approach me?’ ⌊declares⌋ Yahweh. ‘And you will be to me a people».
And powerfully in Isaiah 58:6-14:
«Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.«If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations, you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. «If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.» For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.»
Restoration is not a theory, but it brings life back to its original design and intent.
