Series 1 - Lesson 4 - Annotation 6
Explain the meaning of the word "restoration" as used in this lesson.
6. Man is created in the image of God. In his unenlightened efforts to manifest the image he failed to produce the likeness of God. Man was created a spiritual being; he was placed in an ideal environment, made dependent on God for the revelation of needed knowledge. By turning away from God, man became unconscious of himself as a spiritual being and only conscious of himself as a physical man dependent on knowledge gained from an external world through his five senses.
Restoration here means the process by which man comes again to his original inheritance, the high position that he had in the beginning, conscious of the omnipresence of God and of himself as a spiritual being. Every cell in his body must be regenerated and resurrected. All peoples on the earth must be freed from false beliefs in sickness, sin, poverty, and death. "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." -- Isa. 35:1.
As all creation suffered through man's "falling short," so through man's restoration to God consciousness all creation will be brought again to its original perfection.
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Preceding Entry: What is the purpose of the "church of Christ"?
Following Entry: What are the two phases of growth which the members of the "church of Christ" experience?
