"How to Rise Back after Falling"(Luke 15:11-33)

How to Rise Back after Falling 

Luke 15:11-33 

The parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the best known lessons which Jesus gives us. Sometimes it is difficult to look at the parables such as this one with new insight. Pastor Donald looks at three main points in this parable which are the power of sin , the unfathomable love of God,  and our role  in the salvation of God. 

1. The Power of Sin
Jesus warns us about sin. Sin will eventually destroy you if you allow it to enter your life and do not repent. We look at the son who wants to live his life and leave his father. He takes his inheritance and squanders it on reckless living. Then later ,just to survive, he takes a job feeding pigs which are considered dirty. Then he even considers eating the pig slop because his situation is so desperate. Sin will slowly move you to do things that you would have been ashamed to do. Sin eventually kills everything we value. Just like sin in our lives, our situation becomes worse and worse and eventually leads to death if we do not return to God.
2. The Unfathomable Love of God

The father has an unfathomable loving kindness towards his son. We suspect that the father did try to stop the son. Any father would do that, and although the father has the authority to deny the son, he allows his son to go. The father allows himself to be ridiculed. Everyone would have known that the son left the father in an insulting way. Also, the father knew he will lose wealth and that the son would fail. Yet, the father had prepared gifts for the son's return and waited for the son to come back. It is important to see that the son walked away from the father. When believers come to the father, we are part of his house. When we sin as believers, we move away from the father. The father does not move away from us, but he does wait for us to return.

3. Our role in the salvation of God 

 When we look at the son, we see he took certain actions to be saved. First he knew who he was. We need to know our identity in Christ. Second, the son realized the mistakes he had made and took full responsibility. We need to consider ourselves responsible and take accountability. Go to God in humility. Come with a broken heart.  Next, the son moves to the Father. He takes action to change his situation. It means to be practical. Even if it means that we drop friends, practices or situations that are causing us to sin. Finally, we must willingly accept the cost of our actions. The older son is not impressed with the younger son coming back. We need to be ready to accept that although God forgives us, others may not.