There are people who talk about restoration of man's dominion over the earth or about the restoration of the earth to its state before it degenerated due to man's sin. But isn't it more important for us to understand and experience our full restoration to the original plan that God had for His relationship with man?
When Adam and Eve sinned, it was not a simple case of disobedience to God. The nature of the temptation to which Eve fell is very significant for us to understand what man lost in that failure. Before the Fall, they experienced an open and free relationship with God where God would be with them, and they felt no need because God provided everything for them. They would love and respect Him, and recognise their dependence on Him for their entire life. But the essence of the temptation to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil was that then they could have this knowledge for themselves, and that they would be self-sufficient, like God (Gen.3:5). This looked so attractive to Eve that she was willing to risk the consequence of 'death' - eternal separation from God.
Where are we now after the Fall? We feel alone, far from God, having to struggle for our survival, corrupted in our thoughts, filled with negative feelings and making wrong choices thinking they are right! That is what our independence from God has actually resulted in. Eve wanted to become like God, but as the consequence we came out of the covering and support of God. We learn to our despair that without God we can do nothing.
But the love of God for us whom He has created made a plan of salvation for us, to restore us to Him. Forgiveness of our sins and acceptance before Him are certainly what bring this salvation to us. But they are just the gates that open our way into this salvation, which is to restore us to what He originally intended for man. That means not just forgiving the past, but also restoring us to a life of constant fellowship with Him (1Jn.1:3). The more we actually leave the paths of darkness and walk in the light, the greater fellowship we can have with Him. This is not doctrinal gymnastics but a practical way of life.
When we seek to live in fellowship with God – in our thoughts and intentions and not merely in our actions – we find that we cannot manage that by ourselves, however sincerely we try. Then we learn to abide in Him and let His power seep into us, as from the tree to the branches (Jn.15:4). In other words, we learn to give up our independence and learn to live in total dependence on God in every way. We learn from God as we read His word, submit to Him, act according to His wisdom and seek for power daily to do His will. Then we find that as He gives us the desire to do His will, He also gives us the power to do it, and we are able to actually do His will in practical ways (Php.2:12,13).
Unlearning our independent ways and learning to depend on God daily take time and perseverance.