The Story of The Prodigal Son

Well, good morning.

How are we, Church?

Good.

Hey, my name's Jordan.

I'm one of the pastors here, and it's my privilege to be able to open up God's word this morning.

Hopefully, this morning you get encouraged and built up as fathers as we try to exhort you in your ministry of fatherhood.

One of the most foundational aspects of Scripture is that God reveals himself as Father.

And that's not just like a title or it's not just like an aspect of who he is.

No, it's actually his very nature.

God is father.

Again and again, the scriptures reveal God to be Father.

We see in the Old Testament, in the book of Deuteronomy and Hosea and Isaiah, that God reveals himself as Father.

He says, Israel was my firstborn son.

Israel is a father to the nation of Israel.

And then we come to the New Testament, and Jesus, who says, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.

He reveals the Father uniquely.

189 times, Jesus goes on to reveal the Father.

We see this in his baptism as his preparing for ministry.

Jesus is being baptized, and what happens?

The heavens open up, the skies part, the spirit descends like a dove on Jesus, and a voice comes out, and it says, This is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased.

The voice of God the Father.

Jesus, when he's teaching his disciples how to pray, he says, When you pray, pray like this, our Father.

Right.

In his last words down on the cross, Jesus cries out, Father, forgive them.

So this list goes on and on.

And one thing we can be sure on as fathers this morning, that if God primarily wants us to know and enjoy him as Father, we can be sure that the enemy is going to be bent against, marring our image of, our understanding of, and our recollection of what godly fatherhood should look like.

J.I.

Packer, he's a well-known writer in his book, Knowing God, says this.

He says, You can sum up the whole of the New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one's holy father.

If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he takes of the thought of being God's child and having God as his father.

If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well.

And so this morning, as God wants us to relate to him as father, we as men are fighting an uphill battle.

Satan wants the image of fatherhood.

Satan wants us to have poor, broken experiences of fatherhood, and we are fathering in a broken world.

And so that's our problem.

Our real world experiences and interactions with fathers are broken.

And worse, they become a false reality of what godly fatherhood really should be and what it should look like.

And there's many men in this room that can relate to this that grew up in homes with absent fathers.

Or maybe you don't even know who your father was, or your father was demanding and demeaning, or performance-driven, or a taskmaster-like father.

Or maybe you never saw your father's affection, right?

We have a broken image of what fatherhood should be like.

And so this morning, my hope is that we can recalibrate our minds and set our gaze on our perfect heavenly father in the parable of the lost son.

As we seek to be fathers who represent the reconciling love of God the Father to our children.

So turn with me to Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

That's the text we're going to be working out of.

It's the parable of the lost son.

It's a, if you've been around church for any uh length of time, it's probably a story that you've heard that you're well aware of.

But before we get into it, I want to start in verses one through two to give the context of what is going on in this parable.

So in Luke chapter 15, verses 1 through 2, we read the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him, and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbling, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them.

Luke 15:1–2

And so this is the context.

There's Jesus is receiving sinners, and the Pharisees and scribes are grumbling that he receives them, that he befriends them.

And so we got these three groups of people.

We have the tax collectors, which are the lowest of low of society.

They are like the dirtbags of society.

They have sold out their brothers and sisters and neighbors.

They are greedy, they are lovers of money, and they are hated in society.

And then there's the sinners, the prostitutes.

This is a theme that we see all throughout the scripture that Jesus befriends like the woman at the well who is drawing the water in midday.

So we have sinners, tax collectors, and then Pharisees.

And the Pharisees are better than you and I ever could be.

They have the first five books of the Torah memorized by heart.

How many of us struggle to get like one or two verses down?

They got the first five books memorized.

They have rules on rules.

They protect the Sabbath so much to the point where they limit how many steps they take in a day because actually walking is too much work and they're trying to rest.

And so we have these groups, and what we learn is that they're grumbling that Jesus would receive these sinners, that he would befriend them.

And so this parable today is Jesus' response.

He gives three parables with the same story.

We have the parable of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the one that we're going to be looking at today, the parable of the lost son.

So that's our context.

Let's get into our text here in verse 11.

It says that the father had two sons.

And so this to me is something that uh jumps out maybe more profound.

I have two boys in this statement.

This father had two sons has a different meaning for me.

I have two very different boys.

I got one who is uh more serious and loves to act uh justice and vengeance.

If he needs to, he takes things into his own hands.

He's like leader, type A.

Um, just he's just a little bit rougher.

And I got number two, we call the honey badger, the middle child.

He's the wild one.

He, I mean, he's he's just a handful.

He is uh just a joyful kid.

He plays well with his older brother and he can play well with his younger sister.

He can be one minute fighting his older brother, and the next minute playing dolls with his sister, and he's just sweet.

But they're completely different boys, completely different children.

And that's the text that we begin with today that there's a father who has two sons.

And we're first introduced to the first son.

He's the younger son, the wild child, the wayward son.

And the story begins where the son comes to the father and he says, Father, give me my inheritance.

Give me my inheritance.

And for us, we could lose sight of actually what that means.

But that that statement is a completely ugly and selfish and damning statement.

He's telling his father, Father, you are better off dead to me than alive.

See, back in this culture, when the father would pass away, if there were two sons, two-thirds of his estate would go to the older son, and one-third would go to the younger.

And so here we have the younger son going to the father while his father is still well alive.

And he says, Father, give me my inheritance.

You are better off dead to me.

And then in verse 13, we we learn that the son gets this inheritance, the father gives him, and the son goes away.

And he lives a reckless life.

He squanders these riches and he ends up bankrupt.

He has nothing left.

And then he goes and gets a job.

And as he's feeding the pigs at his job, he's realizing, man, I wish I had the food that these pigs are eating.

I wish I even, me, was treated better than these pigs.

And he has nothing, and he's broken.

And in verse 17, we read that the son came to himself.

The son wakes up, he recognizes what a mess he has got himself into.

And he, like any child, when they have gone away and gone astray, he, I need to come back to the Father.

I need so he begins to recite this plan that he's going to come to the Father.

And so he begins to prepare a speech of when he comes to the Father, this is what I'm going to say.

He's preparing and he says, Father, I have sinned against you.

I have sinned against heaven.

And then we see this deeply profound and damning statement in verse 19.

He says, I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

No longer worthy to be called your son.

So we need to remember the audience here.

So we have the tax collectors and sinners.

They're hearing this parable, they're hearing the story, and at this point, they're probably feeling very sympathetic and empathetic.

Man, this this poor child, this poor sinner who is an orphan now.

He doesn't have a father.

He ran away.

He has nothing to his name.

They're probably feeling, man, I can relate to that, be an outcast.

And then you have the Pharisees and the scribes who are licking their chops, just getting ready.

Okay, Jesus, go go get this son.

What are you gonna do?

What's this father going to do to this wayward son who curses his father?

And Jesus responds in verse 20 through 24.

Jesus is about to flip the script on his listeners, and we look at how the father responds, verse 20 through 24.

And says, He arose, the son rose and came to his father, but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, he felt compassion, and he ran and embraced him, and he kissed him.

And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

But the father said to his servants, Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his finger, and shoes on his feet, and bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.

For this my son was dead, and is alive again.

He was lost and is found.

And they began to celebrate.

So the son has recited everything he's gonna say, and he comes to the Father, and we we get this vision of the Father sees him a long way off as he's scanning the horizon.

He sees the son and he runs after him.

He pursues him and he embraces him and he kisses him.

And this word for kisses is a repeated kisses.

He lavishes kisses after kisses, showing this deep affection that he has for his son.

And the father looks at him instead of punishing him and putting this guilt upon him, he embraces him.

He is what the text says, he is moved by compassion.

And he takes redemptive responsibility for his son.

He welcomes him home.

And he responds, he he turns to his servants.

The father does, and he says, Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him, put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, kill the fattened calf, and let us eat and celebrate.

Why?

For this my son was dead and is alive again.

He was lost and is found.

So remember, these the scribes and Pharisees now are appalled at this recklessness of the Father, that the Father would actually accept this wayward son back in.

And I don't want to miss it this morning, church.

This is the gospel.

This is the story of the kingdom of God.

That God our Father takes deep delight in transforming wayward sons and daughters into beloved children that bear his name.

See, we as wayward children, rebellious in our sinful ways like the lost son, without two nickels to rub together from a spiritual sense, have been saved by grace and grace alone.

See, we were created with this perfect relationship with the Father, and our sin separated us from it from the Father.

And the Father didn't leave us in that sad and low estate.

No, he sent his son to take on flesh, to die on the cross, to bear our sin debt in full.

See, the good news of the gospel is not that we get to escape some punishment, that we get to escape hell, that we get to go to heaven.

We have a father.

Romans 8 says, For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and have children than heirs.

So the Apostle Paul in Romans 8, and Jesus in our text this morning, is putting on display the scandalous mystery of the gospel.

That you and I don't get what we deserve.

Rather, the Father deals with the weight of our offense and he places them on his righteous son, Jesus our brother, through adoption.

This holistic reconciliation and complete acceptance in this passage cannot be understated.

The Father says, Bring me the best robe.

Bring me the best robe.

We remember in the garden, Adam and Eve sin.

They are separated from God and they realize what?

They are naked and ashamed.

And what do they do?

They go and they find fig leaves and they try to cover themselves to hide their shame.

And God the Father comes and he kills an innocent lamb and he clothes them.

It says that he fashioned clothing for them.

He covers them.

This is ultimately a foreshadowing of how Jesus would be the lamb that was slain, that the Father sent to the cross to die, that we would be clothed in his righteousness.

See, God, our perfect and heavenly Father, clothes us in his best robe in the death, burial, and resurrection and righteousness of his son.

He says, Bring me my best robe.

And he says, put a ring on his hand.

This ring, this symbol of covenant, this symbol of commitment and dedication to.

And then he cares for the physical needs of his son.

His son having no shoes.

He puts sandals on his feet and then he throws a party, right?

He kills the fattened calf, the best A5 Wegu, Hebrew smoke brisket that could be found in that day, right?

I'm sure it wasn't cooked on electric smoker.

I mean, he put together this great feast for his son, welcoming him back home.

This is what God our Father has done through Christ our Savior and his Holy Spirit according to the riches of his grace.

You see, all three parables that Jesus goes on to give have a similar theme or thread running through them.

In the first parable, the parable of the lost sheep, it ends with, There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.

The second parable, the parable of the lost coin, ends with, just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

And our parable today has a similar theme.

That God our Father takes deep delight, deep delight in reconciling us to Himself.

Our Father celebrates our salvation, our adoption through the blood of Jesus.

What a truth to reflect on this morning.

So what does all this mean for us today as fathers?

Our main idea is that as fathers, we should represent the reconciling love of the Father to our children.

As fathers, we should represent the reconciling love of the Father to our children.

As I was preparing for this sermon, I was struck heavily by the fact that God has shared his name, his title, his essence with us as fathers.

The fact that we are called fathers, we had this great responsibility, this great privilege to reflect the love of God the Father to the children that He has entrusted to us.

And so God has shared that title with us so that we might represent the deep and vast and unending love that He has for us.

And so I asked this morning, man, what are your children learning about their heavenly father as they relate to you?

What is it that your children are learning about their heavenly father as they interact with you?

See, man, God has placed you in the lives of your children to be an instrument of reconciliation.

He has placed you to be an instrument of reconciliation in the lives of the children.

We could go through a bunch of different tips and tricks and this and that, and there's all sorts of great things that are worthwhile.

And I encourage you to seek out other men to talk about how to foster godly fatherhood in your lives and in your home.

But this morning I want to give us three principles or three exhortations to the fathers of how to foster godly fatherhood, how to embody this reconciling love of the Father to our children.

And so principle number one stems from what we've been talking about.

It says, don't let your insecurities as a father cripple the security of your sonship.

Don't let your insecurities as a father cripple the security in your sonship.

Man, we are first and foremost sons.

Fully accepted.

Sons of a father who delights in us.

And more than that, sons of a father who delights in hearing us cry out to him for help.

That text in Romans 8 says, We have received the spirit of adoption so that we might cry out, Abba, Father.

How many times is does your children come in and they just lay a bomb on the desk in front of you?

And you're like, man, I don't know what to do with that.

I don't even know what to do.

Like they come screaming in bloody murder, and who knows what it is, right?

And you're like, what do I do with this?

How do I even engage with this?

Or maybe something that's going on in their lives, and you just feel completely at a loss.

We have a father who loves to hear us cry out to him for help.

We have received the spirit of adoption of sons.

We have gained access because of the righteousness of Christ that we as men can get on our knees and cry out to our Heavenly Father.

Secondly, with that, we have a Father that gives us his very Spirit to empower us for this ministry.

Of fatherhood.

See, a lot of us like to fight in our own strength and lean into our own understanding and try to put it all together, and we will simply fail if we do not rely on the power of the Spirit.

And so, man, we need to be men that understand our security as sons and that cry out to our Father for help in times of need.

And that don't fight under our own strength, but we lean into the power of God the Spirit.

The same power that raised Christ from the grave is at our disposal as sons.

Principle number two.

We must reject worldly wisdom and saturate our children with the truth of God's word.

See, this is more than protecting our children from the world.

No, this is instructing our children in the Lord's ways.

That we would raise up our children in the Lord's ways so that we'd be like what the psalmist says in Psalm 1.

Men that are planted by streams of living water that in its season yield and bear good fruit.

And when the wind and the waves crash, we're not thrown down.

We are not tossed to and fro.

No, we are men who are wise because of the word of God.

As men, we don't like to follow the rules, particularly when it comes to building things.

Unless it's IKEA, I'm not reading the rule book, right?

I'm gonna build it, I'm gonna put it together.

There's usually gonna be a few extra pieces left over by the time I'm done, but the shelf's gonna be standing or whatever it is, it usually will hold up and stand the test of time.

And my fear is that a lot of us take that approach into our parenting.

That we have forgotten the rule book.

God, our Father, has given us the rule book.

He has given us wisdom.

We need to be men of the word who seek the riches and wisdom that is only found in the Holy Scriptures.

And we need to be men that pass that on to our children.

Men that take the time to read our, read scripture with their children.

We have one of one of our boys is not able to read yet that well, so we read to him.

The other boy reads really, really well, but I don't know if he's actually comprehending what he's reading.

He's just, I mean, he just flies through 70 pages in like no time.

I'm like, what did you do you understand that?

So we take the time to read with him and ask questions.

Hey, what did you learn?

And really just dig into it.

And did you have any questions about that?

Was that confusing?

Did you understand that?

Hey, what did what did he mean about that story?

What was that all about?

And we need to be men that take time to explore God's word with our children, to raise them up, to give them wisdom so that as they grow, they might be able to decipher right from wrong.

We must saturate ourselves in the Word of God and likewise our children.

Number three, we must never underestimate the ministry of a father's affirmation and attentive presence.

Never underestimate the ministry of a father's attentive presence.

As I was preparing for this sermon, I was going back and forth between a few texts, and one of them, which I just wasn't cool enough to pull off, was Jesus' baptism.

I just kind of geeked out for a moment of in the entire New Testament, God the Father speaks two times.

He speaks on two different occasions at the baptism of Jesus and the transfiguration of Jesus.

And both times, God the Father says the same thing.

This is my beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased.

How important it is for children to know that their fathers have, they have their father's approval, that their father is for them, that the father is not against them, that they're seeking to know them.

So, man, we need to be men that play hard with our kids.

Men that pray with our children.

Men that ask questions, that seek to know them.

This parable, if we had time to go through the older son, they're two different sons, but the way that the father approaches both sons uniquely to their bent and their just natural how they are.

We need to be those types of men.

We need to be attentive in our children's lives.

We need to be men that don't father from our leftovers, but see it as a godly calling.

One to put our whole lives and soul into.

I usually don't uh pull a lot of statistics because I don't understand the research that went into them, but there's a couple that really stood out as I was preparing for this text of really the uh repercussions when there's not a father present.

90% of runaway children are from fatherless homes.

90%.

If a father doesn't attend church with his family during young formative years, one in 50 children when they reach the age of 18 will be a regular worshiper.

If the father's not present, one in 50.

If the father is present, that number jumps to 66%.

I mean, that's that's significant.

And for the ladies, if the father and the mother attend, that number jumps to 75%.

We have such a uh a godly calling, a godly pursuit, uh a great privilege, but a great responsibility.

The impact on fatherless as it relates to violent crimes is is absolutely staggering.

And it cannot be underestimated.

Man, we we need to be men that are attentive with our children, that pour our lives into them, that ask them questions, that ask them real questions, that seek to know them.

This is our gospel conviction this morning.

That Jesus bore our iniquities so that we could bear the Father's name.

Jesus, as he cried out in the garden, Father, take this cup from me, as he was beaten, as he was mocked, as he was spat upon, as the nails were driven into his hands, as he cried out in agony, the father did not intervene.

This voice that once roared, This is my beloved son, was now absent.

What's left is a voice of a son calling out for his father.

See, Jesus was forsaken so that we could be embraced as sons and daughters.

As Jesus became our sin bearer, as he bore our iniquities, the Father poured his righteous wrath out on his beloved Son.

And because he took our place, because he paid our ransom, our sin debt in full, we are now able to cry out, Abba Father, as his blood purchased children.

Jesus bore our iniquities so that we could bear the Father's name.

Church, our Heavenly Father is not just a reflection of our earthly fathers.

It's not just a souped-up version of our earthly fathers.

No, it's the perfection.

He is the perfection of all that a father could be.

In Hebrews 13, scriptures tell us that we have a father who will never leave us or forsake us.

We have a father who always hears us, who never casts us out.

We have a father that loves to shower holy affections on his children.

We have a father who scans the horizon, chases us down in sin, and pulls us into his loving embrace.

A father who sees our status state and places a finger on our hands and calls us his own.

A father who celebrates his children.

And this is our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ this morning, church.

And men, you and I are called to represent this kind of fatherhood to our children.

Fathers empowered by the Spirit to be faithful guardians of the gospel, heralding its riches to our children through both word and deed.

Let's pray.