“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2).

Many people think that a miracle is some sort of break in the natural order. It’s when God reaches into his world and does something mind-blowing that isn’t usually done.

That’s certainly how I’ve thought about it.

Until recently.

That’s when I read an insight by theologian Jurgen Moltmann: “Miracles are not an interruption of the natural order but the restoration of the natural order.”*

In other words, when Jesus performs a miracle he is restoring something or someone. It’s as if he is looking back to the paradise of Eden, and forward to the paradise of the new heavens and the new earth as described in Revelation 21-22, and doing something in the here and now to show us life as it was originally intended to be.

When Jesus heals a leper—that’s restoration of the true order of things and a foretaste of a world without illness. 

When Jesus feeds thousands of people with five loaves and two fish—that’s restoration of the true order of things and a foretaste of a world without lack.

When Jesus raises the dead—that’s restoration of the true order of things and a foretaste of a world without death.

Several years ago we had a flood in our basement. During an ice storm when we were away from the house our sump pump malfunctioned. We needed a restoration company to come clean up the mess.

Jesus is in the restoration business. But instead of restoring basements, he’s restoring people, his creation, and the hope that each and every one of us so desperately needs. 

As we strive to follow Jesus, we too can be people of grace and truth in a world where both are endangered. When we do, we will help others peek over the fence to see how glorious it will one day be for the people of God.

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Notes and extra content:

—NEW ARTICLE: “Recovering the lost art of porch-sitting and the evening constitutional.” This is an article about wellness I wrote with therapist Sarah Joy Covey. Here are two restorative practices after a weary day (or year). Click here.

–“Eden isn’t just in the past.” Sermon. September 22, 2024. Click here.

–*As quoted in: Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly (Wheaton: Crossway, 2020), 31.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.