Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.
((Acts 3:21 NIV)
The relationship between God and humankind was disrupted in the Garden (Genesis 3). There were consequences related to that disruption, and steps have been taken by God to restore that relationship.
With much of what is taking place in the world today, natural disasters, earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars, political and national upheaval it is important that we know and understand what God is doing in the earth. The earth is groaning under the weight of sin. Darkness and evil have greatly increased. Humankind now call good evil and evil good. Yet, in the midst of these dark times, the glory of our God will rise upon His people.
The Lord has been releasing a work of restoration within the Body of Christ to restore righteousness to the earth.
The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry. (Psalm 34:15 RSV)
Who are the righteous and what is righteousness? As our verse above indicates, God sees and listens to the righteous so it would be in our best interest to have a biblical definition of righteousness.
What is righteousness?
Righteous is one of the chief attributes of God. The Hebrew words tsadiyq (Strong’s #6662) is translated as righteous, and yashar (Strong’s #3477) is translated as upright.
Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! (Psalm 32:11 RSV)
Righteousness is the fulfillment of all legal and moral obligations. It consists in doing what is just and right in all relationships; “…keep justice and do righteousness at all times” (Ps. 106:3; cf. Isa. 64:4; Jer. 22:3; Ezek. 18:19–27; Ps. 15:2).
In the Old Testament, a prophetic cry for justice went out against Israel, Judah, and the surrounding nations. The prophets conceive of the ideal society in terms of righteousness (Isa. 28:17; 60:21; Jer. 23:5–7; Hos. 10:12; Zech. 8:8; Ps. 7:10; 18:25; Dan. 9:24) and spoke out fervently calling the people back to a position of righteousness. I believe a similar prophetic call is being released today calling the people of God to return to righteousness.
Righteous acts result in social stability and ultimately in peace: And the work of righteousness shall be peace (Isa. 32:17; cf. Hos. 10:12).
In part 2, we’ll look at what the Holy One is doing to restore among His people so that they will be a display of His glory!
Blessings,
Dr. Francine
BEYOND CHURCH WALLS 