God's Testimony of All

All the holy prophets have spoken of the restitution of all things: "And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, but who hath been crucified, and hath ascended unto heaven, and] 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" (Acts 3:20, 21). This is an important passage of Scripture. This "restitution of all things" is to take place, when Jesus comes down from the heavens, in the sense in which He had ascended into heaven. He had ascended into heaven bodily; the heavens would contain Him until the times of the restitution; and then He would bodily visit the earth again. Now when shall He visit the earth again bodily? Answer, at the resurrection of the dead. See Acts 1:10, 11, and 1Thess. 4:16. We conclude from this, that the restitution of all things is to commence at the resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. The Bible does not say that the restitution shall not begin at all until that time, but that it shall then begin its completion, so that it may be said that all things are becoming restored. This is begun in part in this life; but it will be seen to be continued at the resurrection. What is this restitution? It is the putting of things back into their original condition. Man was originally created in God's image; but the divine image has been obscured by SIN, so that men now bear the image of God with earthly perversions. But at the resurrection, when Christ shall appear, the restitution of all things shall commence into its final eon, and then mankind will become restored to the pure and clean image of God again. The Apostle Paul said that at the resurrection, mankind shall be changed from the earthly to the heavenly image. (1 Cor. 15:49)