Story of the Two Lost Sons (Finale)

God's Amazing Love!

“His father said to him, ‘.... We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”   Luke 15:31-32 (NLT)

Thank you for journeying with me in the last six weeks through this story of God's amazing love for you and I. 
There is only one reason for Jesus to tell this parable - to reveal the amazing love of God to us.

He is a perfect God, but yet His sons (you and I) are imperfect. How can it be since we are created in His image? Shouldn't we be as perfect as the Creator is?

To me, the answer lies exactly in that we are created in His image; all of us have a freedom of choice. We can choose to be His or to belong to the world. We can choose to follow Him or to go our own way. We can choose!

But the amazing thing is that whatever our choice may be, Abba Father still loves us. Even when, like the sons in the story, we stumble and fall, hurt him as we go our way, yet as soon as we repent, He will "celebrate this happy day...for he was lost but now he is found."

For this, God makes us "... a chosen people.. royal priests ... God’s very own possession... (to) show others the goodness of God, for he called us out of the darkness into his wonderful light." 1 Peter 2:9 (NLT)

So beloved, let's respond to God's biding and become the person He wants us to be!

God bless.

Steven

Story of the Two Lost Sons (Part 6)

Read Luke 15:11-32 (NLT)

The Older Son Was Lost Too!

 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, ²⁹ but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you ... And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. "  

Luke 15:28-30 (NLT) 

In most bibles,this passage is headlined "Parable of the Lost Son" or "  Prodigal Son." It seems to point out that only the younger son was lost. After all, he dishonored God and his earthly father and squandered all his inheritance.

But my sharing has been titled, "Story of the TWO Lost Sons".

While the younger boy was physically and spiritually lost (away from God and his father), the older one was in a similar boat. Even though he never left his father physically, he was far away from the father's heart. He did not appropriate his status as the father's son!

He complained about his brother instead of celebrating his repentance and return. He contented that his father did not reward him for his years of faithful and hard work for the family. He complained!

Why did he have such thoughts?

I believe that it is because he did appropriate his status as the father's son, and behaved like a slave (Luke 15:29 NLT). The father told him "...you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours."(Luke 15:29 NLT). Wow, everything the father had was his! And yet, he live the life of a slave. What a "poor" guy he was? All because he did not appropriate his son-ship.

Notice that the son complained, ".... And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends." (Luke 15:29 NLT). The truth is that he never asked! Jesus implied that the father would give him anything and everything that he asks for. After all, the younger son asked for his inheritance and the father gave him.

Beloved, "... we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.." (Rom 8:17 NLT). Let's behave like one.

God bless.

Steven

Story of the Two Lost Sons (Part 5)

Read Luke 15:11-32 (NLT)

The Father's Love

 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.  
Luke 15:20 (NLT) 

This week, let's examine the father's response.

He must have longed for that day; the day that he will see his son again. Despite all that his son had done to him, he was filled with love and compassion. 

The father did what were socially unacceptable of a dignified Jew in those days. He ran to his son. He embraced him. He kissed him. He did this for a son who went wayward, demanded inheritance before his death and squandered all his money!

The loving father did more. He never allowed his son to execute his plan of asking to be just a hired servant (Luke 15:10 NLT). Instead, he immediately puts the finest robe on his son, gave him a ring to signify that he is accepted as his son again, puts sandals for his feet. He orders the prized calf to be slaughtered to celebrate his home-coming. (Luke 15:22-24 NLT).

Wow! Such is our Father's love for us. Some of us may think that we are different from that son as we did not do all those horrible things. Really?

This is a parable. Jesus tells parable to explain God's love for us. This parable tells us how much Abba Father loves us. This is a message of good news for those who have back-slided. The good news is that as soon as we come to our senses and repent, Abba Father forgets our past sins, welcomes us with His embraces and kisses and restores us to the status of son-ship. Glory to God!

Let us be constantly reminded of His love for us. Let this then be our principle of love to those whom God puts around us ... not just our family, but other believers in our heavenly family. Let us carry it further, let's love pre-believers in our community too.

God bless.

Steven

Story of the Two Lost Sons (Part 4)

Read Luke 15:11-32 (NLT)

Coming to our senses

"When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, ¹⁹ and I am no longer worthy of being called your son....”’  Luke 15:17-19 (NLT)

What caused the son to come to his senses? Was it hunger? Was it the humiliation of being with the pigs?

I believe that hunger and humiliation were the physical manifestation of something spiritual. 

It was repentance that made him come to his senses.

We are created to be in fellowship with God. The void in our godless life can only be filled to our satisfaction when we return to that relationship. God provides a way for all sinner to return to that position - repentance.

Repentance is a response - the God-given but human-controlled ability to say, "Father, I was wrong, please forgive me."  Godly sorrow leads us away from sin and results in salvation. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death... 2 Cor 7:10(NLT).

The Holy Spirit is the One who can light that fuse that brings us to our senses and bring us to repentance. God does all these so that we can respond to His love for us.

David experienced it and cried out in repentance, "For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight." Psalm 51:3-4 (NLT)

We cannot repent by planning good works (the son wanted to be a hired servant of his father). We can only repent if we allow the Holy Spirit to convict us, in-dwell us and empower us to true repentance.

We are all the work-in-progress redeemed people. We must allow the Holy Spirit to in-dwell and empower us. Whenever we walk out of line, the Holy Spirit will bring us to our senses and to repentance.

God bless.

Steven

Story of the Two Lost Sons (Part 3)

Read Luke 15:11-32 (NLT)

The Consequence of Sin

¹⁵ ... the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶ The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.”  Luke 15:15-16 (NLT)

The son eventually came to the state that he had to beg to be hired to look after pigs but yet no one fed him. He became so hungry that even the pods for the pigs looked good to him.

We must understand that Jesus was speaking to the Jews. So what is the significance of this part of the story?

Jews and pigs never mixed. The swine is considered an unclean animal and no Jew will even go near one, let alone be in their midst and feeding them. Worst of all, Jesus said that even the pods that the pigs eat looked good to the hungry son.

What an insult it was to the Jews!

The lesson here is this - to put the son (a Jew) into a pig sty is to show that when one leaves the Father and indulge in sin, he will  finally go down to the worst of situations.

Sin always pay its dividend. Sin leads only to death.

The sinful nature is always hostile to God and it will never yield and obey God - Romans 8:6-7(NLT).

We must die to sin so that in Christ, we can live for righteousness  - 1 Peter 2:24 (NLT).

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us to die to sin daily that we might live for His glory.

God bless.

Steven

Story of the Two Lost Sons (Part 2)

Read Luke 15:11-32 (NLT)

The Stupidity of the Son

“... this younger son ... wasted all his money in wild living ... and he began to starve ... became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything." 

Luke 15:13-16 (NLT)

Against his own wishes and bearing heartache, the father sold his assets and gave to his wayward son what he had asked for.

With money in his hands, the son wasted no time to live it up. He did not invest for his future. He did not think of the consequences. Before long, he lost all his money and his fair-weather friends.

It is easy for us to see and say that he was plain stupid. But do we not do similar things ourselves?

His stupidity stemmed from only one source. It was not greed for the money. Neither was it the temptation of the world. No. It was simply disobedience!

By disobedience, I mean his decision to discontinue with the relationship with his father. He wanted to live his own life, apart from the father!

As we reflect on the stupidity of the lost son, let us also reflect if we acted stupidly in our relationship with our Abba Father. Are there times when we want our own way and tell Him that we rather live the life we desire instead of being with Him.

If we have, let's confess our stupidity before Him and return to His side, before we end up in the pig sty. Let's ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us where we have gone wrong and seek God's forgiveness.

Abba Father will forgive ... praise the Lord!

God bless.

Steven

Story of the Two Lost Sons (Part 1)

Read Luke 15:11-32

A Father's Heartache

"The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now, instead of waiting until you die.’"... Luke 15:12 (NLT)

Over seven sessions in five days, the Holy Spirit-led teacher, Sam Farina expounded on the Story of the Two Lost Sons. I learned many valuable lessons, which I like to share with you over the next few weeks.

Let's begin with how the father felt when the son demanded for his share of the inheritance. 

In the Jewish custom, for a son to ask his father to dispense the inheritance meant more than just money. It would really be saying, "Father, I wish that you would die now so that I can lay hands on your wealth!"

In those days, the wealth of a family is measured by the amount o assets they hold; land, sheep, cattle and the like. In order for the father to give the inheritance to his son, he would have to sell away those assets.

As a father, I can imagine the tremendous heartache and deep sorrow that any father would feel when that happens. Let's reflect for a moment how you and I might have reacted.

I would probably be so angry that I would severe my relationship with my son. Then, I would be in deep anguish, wondering where I had gone wrong in the up bringing of that wayward son. These seem to be the "right" reactions.

But how did the father in the story react?

"So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons." (Luke 15:12).

What a blow it must have been to the father. He had to sell his properties to give the wayward son what he asked for.

Jesus tells us this is how our Abba Father is. As painful as it may be for Him, He would honor His "design specifications" of us, that is, our free will.

For this week, let's consciously reflect on how much He loves us and how painful it is for Him when we move out of His plan for us.

Next week, I will share "The Stupidity of the Wayward Son."

God bless.

Steven