Luke 15: 11-32
Jesus tells a story about a father and his younger son
The father represents God – the younger son represents us
From this story we learn that when we turn away from God, God will not turn away from us.
God will not reject us, He will receive us back to Himself and restore us to his blessings!
But, God will only receive us back to Himself when we repent
Repentance is us changing our mind about living in rebellion to God, turning away from sinful living and returning to God Luke 15: 20-24
1/ when we repent, we see what life is really like apart from God
2/ when we repent, we come back from the ‘dead’
3/ when we repent, our attitude to God changes
Luke 15:17-18 ‘when he finally came to his senses, he said to himself…I will go home to my father’
Q. Who caused the younger son to repent?
A. God did! Repentance is a gift from God!
2 Timothy 2:25 ‘Be gentle when you try to teach those who are against what you say in the hope that God will give them repentance’
Acts 11:18 “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”
Romans 2:4 ‘Do you have contempt for God, who is very kind to you, puts up with you, and deals patiently with you? Don’t you realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance’?
We like to think that we can repent anytime we want to.
We think: “I will live my life how I want to and when I’m old and at the end of my life, then I will repent and turn to God”
Sorry, it doesn’t work like that: God gives us repentance as a gift – on His terms, not on ours, in His time, not ours!
How does it make you feel knowing that – how does that affect your attitude to God?
Me: I feel in awe of God’s sovereign power over my life – when I am unwilling to turn back to Him, He makes me willing, He gives me the gift of repentance
Look how the attitude of the younger son changed:
When he turned away from the love of his father; his attitude was, “Give me my inheritance, I’m out of here”
Luke 15: 12a
When he repented his attitude changed; he fell into the arms of his father, confessed his sin and begged for forgiveness! Luke 15: 21
Luke 15: 24 ‘this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’
Who found the younger son and how did he return to life?
God found him and raised him to new life!
In the same way as the younger son, in the depths of our rebellion, God will find us and raise us to new life! Ephesians 2: 1-3
Luke 19: 10 ‘The Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost’
How does it make you feel knowing that – how does that affect your attitude to God?
Me: I feel incredibly humbled and grateful to God for loving me enough to seek me out, find me and raise me to new life!
As we come to the end of this Message, let us remember this:
The devil is a bad devil – all the time, in our rebellion against God the devil will take all we have and in the process, destroy us
God is a good God – all the time, when the Holy Spirit prompts you to repent, make sure you repent, turn back to God, and with a new attitude of selflessness, fully surrender yourself to the service of God and enjoy the fullness of blessings upon your life
Galatians 2: 20 (The Message translation) ‘The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave himself for me.”
revdotdavid 