Prodigal Son

Create Date: 30-May-2020
 

Last updated: 16-Jun-2020
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(This is an excerpt from it is impossible to Lose Salvation.)

The Prodigal Son parable of Luke 15:11-32 is a beautiful illustration of how any of us can lose our way and go after carnal pleasures, yet we never lose the love of God and our sonship.  There are at least two major points that are often overlooked and realized in the parable.

The father in the parable obviously represents God, and most people also understand that the father in the story still loves the son no matter what the son did:

Luke 15:28-32 28 But he was angry, and would not go in: and his father came out, and entreated him. 29 But he answered and said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, and I never transgressed a commandment of thine; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 but when this thy son came, who hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou killedst for him the fatted calf. 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that is mine is thine. 32 But it was meet to make merry and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

The four major points of the parable are:

  1. Notice in verse 31 that the other son, who always served the father in the story is upset, where the father is telling this son that all he has is now will eventually be owned solely by this son.  The prodigal son spent and squandered his portion of the inheritance so there was nothing remaining at the father's house.  What assets that were remaining in the father's house was to be solely inherited by the brother. 
  2. Because the father let the prodigal son back home proved his sonship was never lost, which is just like our Salvation that cannot be lost.  Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are part of God's Family and justified because of Jesus Christ.
  3. All of us at times have wandered and not lived as we should be living.  The story ends at the point of the prodigal son's return, and we do not know if the son spent the rest of his life working for the family which would then earn new inheritance. 
  4. By restarting his life with his family, the Prodigal Son should have been able to repair the relationship with his brother because of the example of the father's love, which is how God loves us.  This is also the point of verse 32 which the father is telling the other son.

Our Rewards in heaven are earned where we can always start, along with restarting, at any point in our lives to earn rewards like the Thief on the Cross and Enoch. 

Enoch, might be somewhat like the Prodigal Son.  Enoch is one of this author's favorite people in the scriptures, because he started his dedication at age 65, so it is never too late. 

What to read next?

What is Salvation?  We have eternal life.  Evolution is not real.  When a Christian suffers is there benefits from it.  Rewards in Heaven.  Do we Tithe?  What does the 3rd Commandment tell us?  What is Grace and Mercy?  Is there an Age of Accountability?  Is there a place of unending punishment and exile form God?