Christian Church 24.7 Ministry Community Group
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This is a familiar story to a lot of people. It is often referred to as the Story of the Prodigal Son.
There are many similarities with this story that parallel with my life as well and I will share them at the end of this message
First of all, lets look at the selfishness of the son. vs-12.
He wanted his portion of his inheritance NOW. Most inheritances come at the death of the parent or relative but, he wanted his NOW. This is kind of like out society now "we want, what we want, and we want it now".
In verse 13, we see his separation. He took his inheritance and went into a FAR country. There are always unknowns in far countries. There are different cultures, languages, etc. and like most societies, there are those who will take your money as fast as you can spend it and it's amazing how many NEW friends you can make when you have money to spend.
In verse 13 we see his sinfulness. He wasted his substance with riotous living. Sin will take everything you have if you wallow in it long enough. It will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay. Hey, the Bible says that sin if fun but, for a season. Satan makes sin look fun and exciting but, at the end is sadness, destruction and death.
Vs, 14-16 we see the son's situation. He was broke, he had no friends, no job, no food, no home, etc. See, stay in sin long enough and famine will come into your life because God always judges sin. In vs, 15, we see the son's occupation. What a glorious job--feeding hogs. Any of you ever fed hogs? I have and you usually don't come out of the hog pen smelling ling Chanel #5. Vs-17, we see the son's realization. He realized that the hired hands at his father's house had it better than he did. He realized what he had left behind, where he was and what he needed, In verses 18-19, we see the son's solution. He says I will return to my father and tell him that I have sinned against him and against Heaven. I will tell him I am not worth to be called his son, just make me and treat me as one of his servants. Vs-20 we see the Son's reconciliation--notice, he put action into his words. He arose and went to his father. He realized the problem and done something about it. Often times, people see the problem but they will not do anything to correct it. Here is the beautiful part of this story:
His father saw him first, his father had compassion on this son, his father ran to his son, hugged and kissed him. In vs 21-24, we see the son's reception. His father accepted his son, hog smell and all, just like he was. He called for the BEST ROBE, called for a RING to be placed on his finger and called for SHOES to be placed on his feet.
Folks, this is a picture of God (the Father) the son ( we as mankind) and the far country ( as the sinful world and society we live in). The ROBE give to the son is a picture of the ROBE of Righteousness that the Lord gives us when we are saved. The RING represents Royalty and we are Royalty because we are the children of THE KING and the SHOES represent the HOLY SPIRIT, that helps us as we walk through this life and helps comfort us when the walking gets rough.
This is my Story. I am the modern Prodigal Son. Thank God I came home to my Father too, 37 years ago.
May this message be a blessing to you.
Oldbiker
There are many similarities with this story that parallel with my life as well and I will share them at the end of this message
First of all, lets look at the selfishness of the son. vs-12.
He wanted his portion of his inheritance NOW. Most inheritances come at the death of the parent or relative but, he wanted his NOW. This is kind of like out society now "we want, what we want, and we want it now".
In verse 13, we see his separation. He took his inheritance and went into a FAR country. There are always unknowns in far countries. There are different cultures, languages, etc. and like most societies, there are those who will take your money as fast as you can spend it and it's amazing how many NEW friends you can make when you have money to spend.
In verse 13 we see his sinfulness. He wasted his substance with riotous living. Sin will take everything you have if you wallow in it long enough. It will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay. Hey, the Bible says that sin if fun but, for a season. Satan makes sin look fun and exciting but, at the end is sadness, destruction and death.
Vs, 14-16 we see the son's situation. He was broke, he had no friends, no job, no food, no home, etc. See, stay in sin long enough and famine will come into your life because God always judges sin. In vs, 15, we see the son's occupation. What a glorious job--feeding hogs. Any of you ever fed hogs? I have and you usually don't come out of the hog pen smelling ling Chanel #5. Vs-17, we see the son's realization. He realized that the hired hands at his father's house had it better than he did. He realized what he had left behind, where he was and what he needed, In verses 18-19, we see the son's solution. He says I will return to my father and tell him that I have sinned against him and against Heaven. I will tell him I am not worth to be called his son, just make me and treat me as one of his servants. Vs-20 we see the Son's reconciliation--notice, he put action into his words. He arose and went to his father. He realized the problem and done something about it. Often times, people see the problem but they will not do anything to correct it. Here is the beautiful part of this story:
His father saw him first, his father had compassion on this son, his father ran to his son, hugged and kissed him. In vs 21-24, we see the son's reception. His father accepted his son, hog smell and all, just like he was. He called for the BEST ROBE, called for a RING to be placed on his finger and called for SHOES to be placed on his feet.
Folks, this is a picture of God (the Father) the son ( we as mankind) and the far country ( as the sinful world and society we live in). The ROBE give to the son is a picture of the ROBE of Righteousness that the Lord gives us when we are saved. The RING represents Royalty and we are Royalty because we are the children of THE KING and the SHOES represent the HOLY SPIRIT, that helps us as we walk through this life and helps comfort us when the walking gets rough.
This is my Story. I am the modern Prodigal Son. Thank God I came home to my Father too, 37 years ago.
May this message be a blessing to you.
Oldbiker
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Notice that God is faithful to forgive and just, Has the authority to forgive. But God does not only forgive the sins we confess but God cleanses us from all unrighteous - sins we have forgotten, etc.
roger