“I will get up and go to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against God and against you.” (Luke 15:18)
These are the prodigal son’s words when he comes to his senses. His money is spent. He is taking care of pigs which are an abomination to Jews. And He was so hungry, he was tempted to eat the pig slop.
The preceding verse tells us that he came to his senses. “At last, he came to his senses and said, 'All my father's hired workers have more than they can eat, and here I am about to starve!” (Luke 15:17) Some of us came to our senses after living without God and realized that we’d made a mess of our lives. Unless we were saved as children, we had to learn the hard way that living life our own way was disastrous. We realized that what seemed so right was wrong in God’s eyes. We became aware that we were in sin.
The prodigal son knew what his father’s house was like. He knew that his father’s workers were well cared for and ate good. The results of the life he had wanted had left him with nothing and hungry. He was willing to return to his father’s house and be a servant. They had it better than him.
So he returns home, ready to be a servant in his father’s house. Unknown to him, his father looked down the way everyday waiting for his son to return. When his father sees him, he runs to him and showers him with clothes, a ring and shoes; all tokens for a son.
When we came to God, if we never attended church, we didn’t know how good the Father’s house is. We only knew that if God could not help us, no one could. What a wonderful surprise when the Lord opened up His treasure of Goodness, Peace, Love, Joy in His kingdom. What joy filled our hearts. What peace flowed to us; peace with God and peace within. What love permeated our hearts; all tokens of sonship in God’s kingdom.
God has forgiven us. He has removed the weight of guilt for our sin. It was too wonderful to believe. And just as the prodigal’s father made a party for him, God and the angels in heaven had a celebration. “In the same way, I tell you, the angels of God rejoice over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:10)
How does the Lord celebrate? In prophetic Scripture, Zephaniah prophesies how the Lord will celebrate when all of Israel is saved and Jesus reigns as King. “The LORD your God is with you; His power gives you victory. The LORD will take delight in you, and in His love He will give you new life. He will sing and be joyful over you, as joyful as people at a festival." The LORD says, "I have ended the threat of doom and taken away your disgrace.” (Zephaniah 3:17-18) He rejoices over us in the same manner because what happens to Israel has happened to us. He has given us victory and new life. He has ended the condemnation over us and exchanged our disgrace for a royal position as kings and priests in His kingdom. “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:6 KJV)
And even though we have been reborn of God’s Spirit and have a new nature, the nature of God, we are still in our flesh and still live here in this sinful world. We sometimes fail to live up to God’s standard. But do not get confused, it’s not willful sinning because if we willfully sin, we do not have God’s life in us. “So, everyone who lives in union with Christ does not continue to sin; but whoever continues to sin has never seen Him or known Him.” (1John 3:6) But we do fall into sin. And when we do it is miserable for us because we no longer have that sin nature that loved sin.
Our flesh is weak. It influences our mind which influences our will. And we act in the flesh and sin. But our human spirit has been reborn of God. When we spend time with our Lord and God and study His Word, the Holy Spirit has more influence over our human spirit which influences our minds which influences our will to obey God.
God moves us through a process of recognizing those things that displease Him and that we must get rid of. It is a work of God. He reveals sin in our lives and as we repent (turn away from it), God does the work of ridding it from our lives. God has to do it because, we cannot. Our responsibility is to repent. Leave it. And God will work in us until it is no longer in our lives. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us. But if we confess our sins to God, He will keep His promise and do what is right: He will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing. If we say that we have not sinned, we make a liar out of God, and His Word is not in us.” (1John 1:8-10)
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