God the Father Part 2

 

    Jesus used parables to help people understand who is God, his father.  The most famous parable may be the lost son.  It tells how God's people reject and hurt Him, but when they return he treats them like nothing happened.  No matter what you do, God the father will not reject your repentance and forget all your past sins on this side of life.

    God loves all people and will pursue.  He makes it personal and will meet you where you are.  He makes the biggest effort.  All you have to do is accept, repent, and follow Jesus.  He is not reckless.  His love is pure.  It doesn't come with strings or a hidden agenda.  It is honest, forthright, and has healthy boundaries.  If there is disconnect between you and God's love, then it comes from you not Him.  

    The son in the lost son parable put his family's future in jeopardy with his selfish nature.  It was insulting to demand his inheritance before his father died, but his father gave him what he wanted.  The son was basically saying his father was already dead to him and he wanted nothing to do with the family anymore.  

    The older brother had every right to feel insulted because the younger son was being insulted.  However, the father's love does not hold grudges.  He doesn't allow pride to keep him from embracing his son back when the son returns.  If it was a true story, then the father would have endured shame and grief.  His neighbors would have held it against him like he was a bad father, but the father did not allow shame to stop him from loving his son.

    Culturally the son would never have been allowed to return home.  The village or community would have made it clear that he was cut off and dead to all of them.  It takes love that gives you strength to break the culture to do what is right and different.  Jesus changed everything with this parable.  God displays true love, grace, and forgiveness that reject shame.  

    God even tried to reconcile the two brothers, but they had their own relationship that had to be worked out and it never tells us if they did.  The brothers represent faith that saves and religion.  They rarely mix well.  God is more interested in faith that turns you into a child that will follow over looking righteous for the world.  However, God loves everyone and gives the world all the opportunities to turn to Him.

    Fundamentally this is who God is.  He is perfect.  He is good.  He is the father that wants the best for His children, but in the right way.  He does not allow His children to run amuck.  He disciplines us and shows us the righteous way to live.  He gentle takes care of you even if it may feel harsh at the time.  

    God is not hatefully wrathful.  His anger is stemmed from righteous love.  He fights for you.  He is not demanding or He would never have given you free will.  He is not a dictator demanding His way.  You have options, but you also have consequences.  God is not absent, abusive, or indifferent.  He does not fail His people.  He is faultless, but endures all the blame people place on Him.  He is not demeaning, imprudent, or opulent.  He loves you enough to always be there to listen to everything and gives you good things freely.

Luke 15