Scripture:

Luke 15:20　And he rose up and came to his own father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him affectionately.

I. Man being from God: this parable likens the relationship between man and God to that of a son and his father. This indicates that as a son is from his father, so man is from God.

II. Man living in sin:

  1. In a country far away from his father, this younger son squandered all his estate with dissolute living. As a result, he became poor and had to make a living by feeding hogs.
  2. This shows that when man leaves God, he begins to live a sinful life. Squandering all that he has, he falls into sin. Feeding the hogs symbolizes living the sinful life because hogs are dirty. Describe how man lives a life of feeding the hogs. When you go to the movie theaters or when you go dancing, you are going to the hog pens.

III.  Man waking up:

  1. While he was in his poverty, the son woke up. He came to himself and began to remember the goodness of his father’s house.
  2. This shows that a man in sin, who is living in sins, remembers God and His blessing when he comes to his end. Describe how poverty helps man to wake up. It is hard for some to wake up until they have sinned to the uttermost. When they have reached the end of dancing or gambling, then they wake up.

IV. God receiving man:

  1. As the younger son was returning to his father, it was far from his realization that his father would be waiting to receive him. his father saw him coming and ran out to meet him. While the son thought that it was a matter of his returning to his father, even the more it was a matter of his father’s waiting to receive him.
  2. This tells us that many think that they must pray to God for a long period before He will answer them. They have no realization that God has been there waiting to receive repenting sinners. But actually, even while such a one is repenting and turning to God, God is waiting to receive him.

V. The result:

  1. The younger son who had been lost was found; he had been dead and was alive again.
  2. This means that a sinner away from God is both lost and dead, but when he returns to God, he is received and justified by Him. In other words, he is found and he is alive.