The Father’s Love

Friends, let me inform you that GOD knows all about this propensity within our sin nature that constantly works to pull us away from Him. He describes it for us over & over in His Word. But the good news of the Gospel is that the Heavenly Father stands with arms of love & grace open wide to receive you back today if you will come to Him. Jesus told a story many years ago that clearly illustrates this truth. It has been called the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

The problem with this title is that by focusing on the prodigal son we miss the central lesson of the parable. The central character in this story is not the son, but the father. Perhaps if we called it The Parable of the Loving Father we’d find it easier to focus on the portrait of GOD that Jesus painted & wanted His hearers to see. The Pharisees & Scribes of that day had a distorted view of GOD, & in verse 2 they murmured against Jesus with the complaint that He received sinners & ate with them. It was in response to this accusation that Jesus told 3 stories to portray the divine love that moves GOD to pursue His prodigal creation & answer the charge of why He seeks & receives sinners.