“I daresay we’ve heard a bit about original sin, but not nearly enough about original glory, which comes before sin and is deeper to our nature.”

– John Eldredge in “Waking the Dead”

As a landscape architect, I’ve sometimes worked on restoration projects. A few years ago, I worked on restoring an old rundown industrial site along the river in Shanghai.  These types of projects are a lot of work. Knowing ahead of time how much time and effort goes into such a project, I’d want to set a pretty high price on doing such a project. I’d want the client to pay me a lot to do it.

Would I ever pay to do such a project?

If the client came back to me and said “Actually, I do want you to do that project, but as for the price you quoted me…I want you to pay that price yourself.” I think I would be pretty baffled. That seems backwards.

In order for me to not only take on that restoration project, but to pay the price myself, my motivation to see that place restored would have to be astronomical. Doing it for free? I can maybe stretch my mind to see how that could happen. But to do it and pay a huge amount to do it? I can’t really imagine it. At that cost, let the fallow land remain fallow. I’ll go on and do something else that benefits me personally.

But what about the original glory of that fallow land? What about the potential future glory of that fallow land? Could it possibly be that good? Could it possibly be worth it?

God seems to think so.

When it comes to the restoration of you and I, to the world, he “put his money where his mouth is”, he “paid the highest price”. He doesn’t just restore, but he foots the bill. An astronomical bill. What an incredibly good and gracious father. How incredibly valuable we must be to him.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to SOZO (Greek word that means to restore, save, make well, heal, deliver, rescue) the world through him.

– John 3: 16-17