The Only Road to Redemption....

The story of the prodigal son has so many facets to it. It has so many lessons. It shows us the theme of the entire Bible, REDEMPTION. I just want to focus on this point: where God’s happiness is, self-righteous can’t come. Where God finds His greatest joy, in the repentance of sinners (coming back to Him), we find humility on display. No one, I mean no human being can come to God, without God’s power and grace. God will do many things to open the eyes of a sinner, but’s it’s not until a sinner realizes his sin offends God, and the only thing he can do about it is to throw himself at God’s feet and plead for mercy, that he begins the path of restoration (salvation). It’s not until he can honestly say, “...I have sinned against both Heaven and You (God) and I am no longer worthy of being called your son”, that a man can be fully redeemed. It’s real humility that converts a man, being broken with no hope. That desperation drives a man to the only hope he possibly can have, and that’s hope in God. This humility isn’t something a man can generate by himself. It only comes from God. And it usually is from the effects of a trial, sickness, or situation that takes a man to the brink of brokenness, that he begins to see his humanity as it really is. The prodigal son is the example we are given that clearly expresses God’s view of humanity. And it clearly shows His desired outcome and response to it. When we think we are in control, the only control we have is in the phrase “out of control”. Praise God for His Grace and Goodness. His happiness is for our good, and it’s only available in the state of humility. Where are you on the “Humble-continuum”?

11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and 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.17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!18 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. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’20 “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.21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast,24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house,26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on.27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’28 “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 never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends.30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.32 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 15:11-32