The Father’s love
Hi, everyone! I’d like to share a few thoughts on the Word of God from Luke 15. I’m not a Bible teacher or a theologian, so please bear with me if something is hard to understand.
So, let’s begin: the parable of the prodigal son’s return seems to me to be an old covenant one. Why? Because his return depended only on him. He was simply starving, and that’s a strong motivation to go back. John the Baptist preached in a similar way (draw near and He will draw near, otherwise the axe is at the root). But what if the son had settled in quite well and wasn’t starving? Would he have stayed lost? I wonder why they searched for the sheep and the coin, but not for the son. After all, he was not himself until “he came to himself” (Luk.15:17). Remember? I’m just thinking it over. And this is what I see: the father’s love is not fully revealed in waiting for the son. Today, when it is preached that people must return to God like prodigal sons (turn away from sin, the world and so on) and that He is supposedly waiting for us — that is an old covenant message; there is no grace in it, and so no truth either.
Here is the new covenant and the fullness of the father’s love for the son!!! The Father, in the Elder Brother (I and the Father are one), leaves everything and goes to look for the younger brother, finds him, lifts him onto his shoulders (the cross) without asking whether he wants it or not, and brings him home — clean, clothed, with shoes on his feet and a new outlook on life (the mind of Christ), beloved and loving, never again wanting to leave the house of rest, love and joy of his beloved Daddy. For me the essence of grace lies in these words of the Lord Jesus Christ: “… I collect what I did not deposit, and reap what I did not sow…” — that is, there are no efforts or strivings of mine, so there is no room for self-righteousness, and all the glory belongs to Him alone!!!
With respect, your little brother Pavel.