Neil T Anderson - Restored : experience life with Jesus

Restored

Experience Life with Jesus

Dr. Neil T. Anderson

Praise for Restored - Experience Life with Jesus

Countless people have found genuine freedom in Christ through the insights God has given Neil Anderson.

- Kay Arthur

Executive Vice-President, Precept Ministries Intl

"Neil Andersons Restored is filled with simple, clear Biblical principles that can lead anyone to spiritual freedom. The Holy Spirit ministered to me as I read. This is a wonderful book to share with others. I commend it to you!"

- Dr. Paul Cedar

Chairman, Mission America Coalition

Restored is an indispensable tool for all who desire to live a life of freedom from unhealthy habits and painful pasts.

- Hui Lin Chen

Director, Campus Crusade Asia Limited Media

I am so encouraged that the lives of many thousands of people have been profoundly changed through the ministry of Neil Anderson. what impresses me about him is his love of Christ, his deep knowledge of Gods word, and his compassion for people.

- Steve Douglass

President, Campus Crusade For Christ

After living more than 50 years as a Christian, and teaching more than 25 years as a professor of Bible and theology, I took about two hours to work carefully through Anderson's Steps to Freedom in Christ (The basis for Restored), God used that process to impart to me a wonderfully refreshing sense of freedom, peace, joy and fellowship with Himself.1

- Dr. Wayne Grudem

Professor of Theology, Phoenix Seminary

Neil Anderson represents Jesus as the champion of the broken. Restored is a full-dimensioned message of redeeming and regenerating grace that provides a future unfolding full restoration and recovery.

- Jack W. Hayford

President, International Foursquare Churches Chancellor, The Kings College and Seminary

1. Anderson, Neil, Praying By The Power of the Holy Spirit, Regal Books, Ventura, California, 2003.

Contents

I dedicate this book to the memory of

Dr. Stephen King

This humble man was a missionary doctor, psychiatrist, devoted family man, and board member of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He believed in the message of this book and the restoring work of the Wonderful Counselor and Great Physician. Stephen is now in the presence of God, along with thousands of people he led to the Lord, doctored, and counseled . His devoted wife, Judy, and the rest of us who have been touched by Stephen's life will join him in eternity.

Thank you, Dr. Stephen King, for your exemplary life of Christian service.

If Christ had been too proud to die, he could not have helped us whose basic sin is pride. So Paul and others argue that by giving Himself up without pride, Christ makes up for Adams sin of arrogance. If all this is true it comprises certainly the most momentous fact of human existence. Christ the free therapist for humanity, bringing salvation as a gift of grace-that indeed is a daring postulate.

- Rollo May

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel .1

- Jesus

You have just made the greatest decision of your life, or maybe you are still considering what becoming a Christian really means. The moment you decide to trust in the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ, you become a new creation in Him ,2 and you will be spiritually transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of God,3 and enter into eternal life. Although you may not immediately feel like any great change has taken place, your life and destiny have changed forever.

Countless millions of people before you have made the same decision and have become a part of Gods unfolding plan to restore a fallen humanity. God has known you and loved you before you were even born. He has prepared a place for you in His kingdom, and He has a plan just for you.4 If you receive Him as your Lord and Savior, you will discover the eternal purpose and meaning of life.

Salvation is so much more than knowing why we are here. If you are willing to repent and believe the Gospel you will discover that Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor and the Great Physician. He came to set captives free and bind up the broken hearted. Jesus is the free therapist for humanity, and the purpose of this book is to establish you alive and free in Christ through genuine repentance and faith in God. Jesus loves you and wants you to fulfill your destiny as a liberated child of God.

We have learned from history that most people havent learned much from history. Those who dont learn are doomed to repeat the same failures over and over again. Those who have learned the truth from their forefathers know that history is His-story of unfolding grace and love for all humanity. In order to understand what His plan is for you, we need to start at the beginning of human history.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,5 are the first words in the Bible. God is a Spirit and is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His wisdom, power and holiness. He existed when the physical world was just an idea. There was a beginning in time when He created all physical matter and all living creatures. Then

God created Adam in His image, and together with Eve they were to rule over the birds of the sky, the beasts of the field, and the fish of the sea.6 They had dominion over the rest of creation and were to be fruitful in order to multiply and fill the earth. They were physically alive, which means their souls were in union with their bodies. They were spiritually alive; therefore their souls were in union with God. Because they were created in the image of God, they could think, feel, and make choices, unlike all the other creatures that are physically alive, which function by divine instinct.

Adam and Eve were safe, secure, and significant. They had a sense of belonging to God and to each other. They were naked and unashamed because they had nothing to hide and therefore no need to cover up. Adam and Eve were welcomed to eat from the Tree of Life and live forever by remaining in union with God.

Prior to the creation of humanity, a magnificent angel named Lucifer rebelled against the Creator God and fell from heaven, taking a third of the angels with him. Lucifer means light bearer, but he no longer reflected the glory of God. He became Satan, or the devil, and ruled over his brood of fallen angels, known in the Bible as demons. Jealous for the significant position Adam and Eve were given, Satan tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. She in turn persuaded Adam to do so, and together they sinned by rebelling against God.

The consequences were immediate. Adam and Eve died spiritually. Sin had separated them from God. Their souls were no longer in union with their Heavenly Father. They remained physically alive, but physical death would be a consequence of their sin as well.

Adam and Eve were left to make a name for themselves and to find their purpose and meaning in life independent of their Heavenly Father. They had to rely on their own strength and resources because the life of God was no longer within them. They were like cars without gas and struggled to find purpose and meaning in life in their natural state, which is still true to this day for those who dont have a relationship with God.