Redemption in a Rubik’s Cube

I had finished my six-month dental checkup and was walking back to the waiting room at the dentist’s office. To pass the time before my appointment, I had brought my Rubik’s cube. I’d been practicing with it, and I had solved two sides that day as I waited to get my teeth cleaned. I didn’t want to bring it into the exam room with me, so I left it on a small table in the dentist’s waiting area. I planned to grab it on my way out after the checkup was finished.

To my surprise, the Rubik’s cube I discovered after my appointment looked far different from the one I’d left in the waiting room. No longer were the two sides I’d solved gleaming in their bright, uniform colors. Somebody had come in after me and jumbled all the squares. What I had worked to create, someone had undone in the short time I’d spent having my teeth cleaned.

In a similar way, because of our sin, we’ve jumbled the lives God created and gave to us. On our own, we could never solve the mess we’ve made with our sin. But God has plans to restore and redeem.

Christ’s death in our place—paying the penalty and punishment for our sin— gives us the opportunity to begin a relationship with our Heavenly Father as forgiven new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). When we turn to Christ and entrust our lives to Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the restoration begins! We won’t remain mixed up and jumbled like that Rubik’s cube I left in the dentist’s waiting room.

God is faithfully working out His plans to restore us as His people and to one day make all things new—free from sin and death (Philippians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11, 23-24; Revelation 21:1-8). As we walk with Him day by day, He is fulfilling His good purposes in our lives (Romans 8:28-30). •
Allison Wilson Lee

• No matter how big of a mess sin has created in your life, God can redeem that mess. To learn more about how Jesus restores and redeems, check out our “Know Jesus” page.

• As Christians, how can remembering the restoration God is accomplishing encourage us when we struggle with sin (Ephesians 2:1-10)? How does belonging to Him move our identity away from the things we do and to the things He has done (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21)?

For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:13 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Philippians 2:12-16