Acts 3: 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

The times of restitution of all things] The Greek word used here means to establish or settle anything. It is simply talking of the restoration of something that was once in a good state, but went bad, to be restored back to its original good state, it is a change from a bad state to that of a good state, that it has originally.

.For example, when in Acts 1:6, when the disciples asked ‘Christ, Wilt thou at this time restore again (apokayistaneiv) the kingdom to Israel?’ It was simply will you take the kingdom from the Romans and give back to the Jews? As it were the original owners of the kingdom.

Now, this restoration is connected to that “which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets”, it therefore means all the prophecies and promises as contained in the Old Testament relative to the kingdom of Christ upon the Earth is what is meant. Talking of the whole dimensions of the whole reign of GRACE, from Christ ascension to his appearing a second time .For all these things have the Holy Prophets spoken.

Now since the Grace of the Gospel was meant to destroy the reign of sin, the energy of Grace that it exacts on its recipient is represented as the restoration of all things. Destroying the bad state, and establishing the good state. In so doing, taking the kingdom out of the hand of the reign of sin and Satan and putting it into those of righteousness and truth.

It can be summarized in this one thing, that Jesus Christ comes to raise up man from a state of ruin, and restore to him the image of God, as he possessed it at the beginning, period!

Acts.3: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

John 1:17, The law was given by Moses by Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. It is through a person of Jesus that we are raised up again, rebuilt if you will to our formal glory as we receives Him, Grace – the person of Christ.

So we are told..

Acts.20: 32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

Grace= haris, khar’-ece =; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; ……

Grace builds you up to the place of becoming a son in relationship with the Father, like the case of the prodigal son who returned to the Father, unlike the senior brother who returned to the house, an institution, for only sons are qualified for inheritance. Adam in his original state was a son (Luke. 3:38) and had all things. Man lost dominion in Adam, but grace restores you to the place of formal dominion before the fall…’authority’.

This restoration is done in every believer, all things are restored to their original state and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keeps the heart and mind in the knowledge and love of God.

Now the love of God is fulfilled in the man and man can now live out the commandment which says, “And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself” Luke 10:27 .(KJV).

Here is the restored man panting after God like the Dear after the water brooks. The true love that enables him to keep the commandment of God is now in the heart of man, so he can walk in obedience to his commandments. God first loved us, now we love him by reason of this restoration as the hatred for truth is now destroyed by reason of grace working in our hearts. What killed Abel in Cain’s heart is taken away, by the force of Grace so now we can love our neighbor as ourselves.

Therefore we are told

“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us”. Rom. 5:5 (KJV) So we can see that all of our nature is being restored through Grace in God., spirit, soul, mind, will, strength and even loving our neighbour as ourselves.

Acts 3: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

Therefore we see that all the things of which the holy prophets have spoken since the world began, in relation to the salvation of any soul, are hereby accomplished. And when all these restoration becomes universal as the word says then all things will be restored in the fullest sense of the term., Because we found that the grand subject of all that the prophets ever spoke was the Christ and His ground work amongst men

The whole subject can be summarized in this one thing, that Jesus Christ comes to raise up man from a state of ruin, and restore to him the image of God, as he possessed it at the beginning, period.!

Here is the testimony of Prophet Jeremiah to this.

Jer.23: 5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

Dealing now with the Christ and moving away from Moses as it were

On, SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN. While ‘the world’ could stand for that which is complete and ever during existence or eternity, it basically denotes the whole course of any one period. Such as the Mosaic dispensation. Here then, it refers to that state of things from the giving of the law; this is so because Moses is mentioned in the next verse, and none before him

We can see this more clearly from the writings of Paul in Rom.16: 25 “Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began”. <chronos> <aionios>, ( chronos. – season, space, time(-s), (a) while. So it means ‘time-age’. ‘Kept secret since the Jewish order came into existence’. The Jews didn’t know that the gentiles will come into the faith to inherit that which was promised by God to the Fathers in Christ.

“And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” Gen.22:18. This seed is the Christ ..So “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” Gal.3:29.

This then is the restoration of all that the prophets spoke since the world – age came into existence. Therefore the restoration is ongoing as all things must be brought under His feet, and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of the Father.

Acts 3: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

Rom.1: 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son,….’

Apostle Paul is here comparing the true current worship of the Father as opposed to the external, carnal worship of the Jewish religion.

He is simply saying, mine is not a religion of ceremonies, but one in which the life and power of the eternal Spirit are acknowledged and experienced. Besides, he calls this, the GOSPEL OF HIS SON.

Now, this is very significant, for Jesus Himself defined this for us with the woman at the well. Hear this.;

John.4: 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

Clearly put, this is telling the woman the era of external worship is over and that he is the first to start the new season of true worship of the Father. For in everything he must have the preeminence. Meaning he must have the first place in everything we must experience in the restoration of all things. He is to show the example for us to follow.

This lifestyle of his that he is bringing us into is called the Gospel of the son as opposed to the ritualistic worship of the Jews, and not just that, the Gospel of the son is the fulfillment of the GOSPEL OF GOD which was the promise of the son by God himself

“FROM PAUL, a bond servant of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) called to be an apostle, (a special messenger) set apart to [preach] the Gospel (good news) of and from God,

2 Which He promised in advance [long ago] through His prophets in the sacred Scriptures — 3 [The Gospel] regarding His Son,…” Rom 1:1-3. AMP

Meaning the Gospel of God is what he said or promised long ago in the Mouth of Holy Prophets and the scriptures. The Gospel of God is his plan for the redemption and restoration of humanity through his Son. And we are told by Apostle Luke,

Luke 1: 69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;

70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;

73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

{Since the world began} in verse 70, is <aion>: properly, an age; specially (Jewish) a Messianic period (present or future):–age, course. Meaning, the raising up of the horn of salvation, the Christ is beginning of the new age of the messiah as promised and spoken by the prophets as opposed to the old order of the law.

What was the oath to Abraham, simply that,

“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed”. Gen. 12: 3 kjv.

How is this going to be? Through the released of the Christ .Therefore the restitution of all things is simply the restoration of all that the prophets spoke and are written down in the Holy Scriptures. And that is the Gospel of God that He preached to Father Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. While the Gospel of the son, is the true worship in spirit as he establishes his kingdom in the Earth.

Acts 3: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

2Ti 1:9 (of) Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,.

Before the world began = <chronos> <aionios>, means ,since the time of the Jewish age.

Chronos (5550. of uncertain derivation; a space of time (in general and thus properly distinguished from Kairos-(2540), which designates a fixed or special occasion; .Kairos.= of uncertain affinity; an occasion, i.e. set or proper time , opportunity,

Here again we see the Gospel of God coming into reality, which is God’s purpose and Grace and all is found in Christ which is manifested in due season within the Jewish period

Gal.4: 4 But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Listen again to Prophet Isaiah like Jeremiah as he declares the Gospel of God, the restitution of all things as spoken by the Mouth of his Prophets

Msg.Isa 11:1 A green Shoot will sprout from Jesse’s stump, from his roots a budding Branch. 2 The life-giving Spirit of God will hover over him, the Spirit that brings wisdom and understanding,

The Spirit that gives direction and builds strength, the Spirit that instills knowledge and Fear-of-God. 3 Fear-of-God will be all his joy and delight. He won’t judge by appearances,won’t decide on the basis of hearsay. 4 He’ll judge the needy by what is right, render decisions on earth’s poor with justice. His words will bring everyone to awed attention. A mere breath from his lips will topple the wicked.

5 Each morning he’ll pull on sturdy work clothes and boots, and build righteousness and faithfulness in the land.

A Living Knowledge of God

Isa 11: 6 The wolf will romp with the lamb, the leopard sleep with the kid. Calf and lion will eat from the same trough, and a little child will tend them.

7 Cow and bear will graze the same pasture, their calves and cubs grow up together, and the lion eat straw like the ox.

8 The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens, the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent.

9 Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill on my holy mountain. The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive, a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.

Here then we see the restoration of all things in creation and the inhabitants therefore been restored to the place of true harmony and enmity taken out. The very same state that Eden was before the fall of man. This also speaks of mans’ whole being, spirit, Soul and body being restored to the place of complete harmony within himself. No more schizophrenic lifestyle of the of flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh.

Then the Prayer of Paul should have been fully realized.” And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thes.5: 23

(c) 2015 – Dr. David O. Ogaga