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First Love Restoration

One of the greatest forces on the planet is the power of forgiveness. Jesus' ultimate earthly mission is redemption through forgiveness of sins. We have the privilege of drinking from the same cup of forgiveness, but sometimes the drink tastes more like a bitter pill than a soothing balm. 


Today I was reminded that God not only forgives but He also restores. A spirit of penitence can befall us if we think we have to start at the beginning everytime we wander from the righteous path. We can feel a need to punish ourselves to feel acceptable again. Contrary to this belief, God offers forgiveness and restoration freely but not forcibly. If we only take Him up on His offer of forgiveness, He will not force His restoration on us. 


Forgiveness comes through confession. How does God's restoration manifest?


Let's look to John 21 for the answer.

Peter has denied Jesus three times (as prophesied) while Jesus was crucified but Jesus has already started to reveal Himself as the Risen Savior. A little further in the backstory, we find Peter is a fisherman whom Jesus transforms into a fisher of men.


In John 21 Peter's denial of Christ causes him to go back to his old identity, as a fisherman, but he is not successful. Jesus in familiar fashion appears and tells Peter to throw the nets on the other side of the boat. Peter obeys and everything changes! As soon as Peter realized the stranger's identity, he dressed and jumped in the water to swim to Jesus.


The scene is similar to Luke 5. Peter and Jesus have just met when Jesus wants to go fishing together. Again, Peter has not caught any fish but obeys Jesus and is abundantly successful. Peter falls at Jesus' feet and says, "Go away from me Lord for I am a sinful man!"


At first glance it may appear that once Peter has denied Christ, he has to go back to the first moment of salvation but notice the differences. When Peter's eyes are first opened to his sin he is ashamed and is uncomfortable standing in the presence of God. After denying Jesus, he is aware of his sin but runs (or swims) to Jesus. 


God was not just working on making Peter a fisher of men but He was primarily making Peter a disciple. By the time of Peter's denial, Peter and Jesus had enjoyed a real relationship with each other. Peter had learned the lesson of pushing past the sting of failure and into the healing arms of Jesus.


In chapter 21, Jesus invites Peter to breakfast and gets busy with the task of restoring Peter's identity as both a disciple and fisher of men from a foundation of love, but also as a God glorifying martyr. 


Jesus wants to forgive and restore all of His disciples from the place of love and identity. He does not want to just be King but He desires to be our first love. 

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