Introduction
May the peace of the Lord be with you and your household. I give thanks to the eternal God for the time He allows us to present ourselves before His Word and, through it, receive the revelation that helps us walk according to His will.
We will study the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15, verses 11 through 32, where we find the parable of the prodigal son. It is a story known by most of the believing people: a man had two sons, and the younger one comes before the father and asks for the portion of the inheritance that belongs to him.
Two Reasons to Study This Parable
First Reason: The Process of Salvation
This parable presents us with precise detail about the process of salvation. Salvation is not an act; salvation is a process. We have almost always seen it as a single act, but when we study the Word of the Lord, both in the New and Old Testament, we realize that salvation is a process. This parable clearly establishes what that process consists of.
Second Reason: The Aspects of Salvation
It presents us with the two aspects of salvation. Most of us have the idea that salvation is only eschatological, that is, future: when these heavens and this earth disappear and the Lord creates a new earth and a new heaven, and we can be before His presence eternally.
However, the Word of the Lord presents us that salvation has two aspects: not only the future, but also a present aspect, an earthly aspect, and this aspect we often don’t understand.
We have not understood what kind of life God wants us to develop here on Earth. We have read texts like “Thy will be done, Lord, on earth as it is done in heaven,” but we have understood it as aspects of daily life that should conform to the Lord’s will, while each person develops their life as they see fit.
The Word of the Lord does not teach that. It teaches us that we are living here on earth in the Kingdom of God, for Jesus said it clearly: “The Kingdom of God is among you.” But this aspect of salvation is unknown to most.
We see God intervening sporadically in our lives, particularly when we need supernatural help. The Word teaches us that we are living before the presence of the Lord all the time.
For these two reasons—because it presents us with detail about the process of salvation and because it speaks to us about the present aspect of salvation—it is necessary that we study this parable.
Context of the Parable
The Joy in Heaven
The parable is integrated with a group of parables that speak of the joy that exists when a sinner repents. In verse one we find the first parable: the shepherd who has 100 sheep and one strays, leaves the 99 in the fold to search for the lost one, and rejoices when he finds it.
The second parable presents a woman who has 10 coins and loses one. She sweeps and searches everywhere until she finds it, and shares her joy with her neighbors.
In both parables, it is concluded that such is the joy in heaven when a sinner repents.
The teaching of the prodigal son has to do with the joy in the Kingdom of Heaven when a person comes before the presence of the Lord. Repentance is coming before the presence of the Lord, recognizing the need to walk according to the will of God. It is not a religious element; it is simply man reconciling with God and walking according to the will He has established on earth.
What We Must Do to Receive Salvation
The second characteristic has to do with what we must do to receive the benefit of salvation. Although it may sound shocking because it is not what is preached today, it is important to understand it.
In the first two parables, since the lost elements are a sheep and a coin that cannot do anything to be found, the effort falls on the shepherd and the woman who search. There is an effort, there is an action to find what is lost.
In the case of the prodigal son, since he is not a sheep or a coin, the effort does not fall on the father; the effort falls on the lost son. The younger son has consciousness, has free will, has the capacity to decide. Therefore, the effort falls on him.
This is the part we need to understand. When we ask the question “what must I do to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?” as the rich young man asked, we almost always answer: “Nothing needs to be done. Everything is by grace and through faith. Just accept Jesus and you’ve achieved everything.”
But we have the experience that men and women accept Jesus, become part of a congregation, and after a certain time they relapse into their previous behavior. Some return, others do not.
The question is: Why is there so much recidivism within Christianity? The answer is simple: because we are not walking according to what the Word of the Lord establishes.
Must something be done to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Yes, something must be done.
The sheep could not find itself; it was following its impulses. The effort fell on the shepherd. The coin could not find itself, so the effort fell on the woman.
But the younger son is not a coin or a sheep. He has consciousness, free will, and the capacity to decide. The effort does not fall on the father; it falls on him.
Yes, something must indeed be done. These are not actions to buy salvation or to save ourselves by our own merits. The Word of the Lord does not teach that, but it is important to understand that God requires us to do something.
When we speak of salvation, we must understand it as a comprehensive word that includes not only the salvation of the soul, but also liberation, healing, and restoration in the different areas where we have fallen into failure, chaos, crisis, or loss.
The Four Stages of the Parable
The parable has four well-defined stages. We will study them separately to see what the process of salvation is and what God demands of men and women to be considered worthy recipients of salvation.
First Stage: Perversity (Verses 11-13)
Verse 11: “A man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father: Father, give me the portion of the estate that belongs to me. And he divided his estate between them.”
Verses 12-13: “And not many days later, gathering everything together, the younger son departed to a distant province, and there he squandered his estate living recklessly.”
This first stage is the stage of perversity. The younger son is walking in perverse conduct. We do not see the image of a merciful father seeking the benefit of his sons. We see the son walking in perversity.
Let us observe to what level the young man’s perversity reaches:
Three Aspects of Perversity
1. He Claimed Benefits That Did Not Belong to Him
The perversity consisted of claiming benefits that did not belong to him. The estate belonged to the father and the father was still alive. We are presented with a picture of a Jewish family, and within Jewish customs it was not customary to inherit to the sons until the father had died.
The arrogance of the young man, while the father was still alive, demands what does not belong to him.
2. He Wished Death Upon His Father
What did it mean for the son to ask for his inheritance early? It meant wishing death upon his father. The son, in a capricious manner, approaches the father telling him: “To me, you are dead, because what I seek now is my inheritance.” The perversity in which he walked was so great that it reached the point of defining that his father was dead to him.
3. He Became a Young Man Without a Country
Verse 13 says: “And not many days later, gathering everything together, the son departed to a distant province.”
The young man became a young man without a country. He left his territory, his region, his nationality, and went to a place where no one knew him.
When we go to Ephesians chapter 2, the apostle Paul says that “at one time you were without a country, without God and without hope.” That was the option this young man chose. Being part of a wealthy family, being part of a nation with the benefit of God, he decided to leave all of it.
It is perverse conduct because it went against everything his ancestors had built as an inheritance for him.
The Spiritual Law of Sowing and Reaping
I want to point out what the Word of the Lord establishes. In Galatians chapter 6, verse 7, it says: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”
This is a spiritual law: Whatever man sows, that he will reap. If we walk in perversity, we will reap perversity. If we sow rebellion, we will reap rebellion. If we sow revolt, we will reap revolt.
This spiritual law applies to all men and all women. We cannot say “that doesn’t apply to me.”
It is important to understand that our actions bring results. If our actions are of rebellion, revolt, perversity, or go against what God has established as good and acceptable, that is precisely what we will reap.
Many times what we are living through is what we ourselves sowed at a particular moment. When we see adverse things in our lives, we almost always attribute it to satanic intervention and we don’t want to assume the responsibility that it was we who sowed it.
Second Stage: Hitting Rock Bottom (Verses 14-16)
The second stage shows us that the young man hit rock bottom, reached the very last point of crisis.
Verse 14: “And when he had wasted everything, a great famine came to that province and he began to be in need.”
Verse 15: “And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that land, who sent him to his estate to feed the pigs.”
Verse 16: “And he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one would give him any.”
Here we have the fulfillment of the spiritual law: whatever we sow, that we reap. He sowed rebellion and perversity; now he is reaping rebellion and perversity.
The Lowest Point
All his estate, all his provision had been exhausted. Then came something he had not considered: a famine that made his situation more complicated.
He was in a region outside his land. When he goes to seek help among the locals, they send him to feed pigs. For a Jew, feeding pigs is the most abominable thing there is.
Remember when Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee and encountered the demon-possessed man of Gadara. There was a herd of pigs, and the demons asked to pass into them because they were not in a Jewish region, but a Gentile one.
With this, the parable tells us that the young man reached rock bottom. So much so that, although he was working, verse 16 says: “And he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating.” The wages did not satisfy his most basic needs. He reached the point of desiring to eat the food of the pigs.
The Importance of Walking in the Will of God
This teaches us something crucial: a man or a woman who walks outside the will of God will never be able to prosper.
It is not about having good jobs, good professions, titles, or certifications. It is about walking according to the will of God.
How many people today are suffering? Suffering from scarcity, from illnesses they cannot resolve, from depressions they cannot overcome. They search and search, but never find.
Why? Here is the answer: as long as men or women walk away from the will of God, as long as they do not come to terms with the Lord, they will never be able to resolve their problems, they will never be able to resolve their crises, they will never come out of their chaos.
In the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 1, verse 18, it says: “Come now, says the Lord, and let us settle accounts. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like white wool.”
Let us settle accounts, let us come to terms. As long as we do not understand that we are walking outside of what God has stipulated for us—because it is not about general conduct, but about a specific will that God has determined for each individual person—we will never be able to resolve our situation, we will never be able to come out of the crisis, the chaos, the condition we are in, however small it may seem.
This is the part we must understand: whatever we sow, that we reap.
What We Sowed in the Past
What are we reaping today? We have to go to the particular, personal, individual past, and discover what we sowed in our life.
Here I must correct something that circulates in ecclesiastical circles: “But I did that before coming to Christ Jesus, I did that in my past way of living,” as if to say that doesn’t count, that what counts is from when I came to Christ onward.
I have to tell you: that is a completely mistaken concept. The Word of the Lord teaches us that our lives are like a line: past, present, future. And everything, without exception, is before the presence of the Lord.
That is why many times we cannot understand why we are going through what we are going through. We attribute it to climatic effects, to economic problems, to political problems. Many people mistakenly say: “If I vote for this candidate, my outlook will be completely different.”
I have to tell you: the solution is not in political, economic, or cultural elements. The solution is in being able to understand what we sowed in the past, which is what we are reaping today.
It is not valid to say “but I did it before coming to Christ Jesus,” because our lives are before the presence of the Lord. God is not going to judge us from the moment we came to Christ onward. God is going to judge us for our entire life: from when we began to live until we depart from this earth.
That is why what we sow is important, regardless of when we did it. We are also reaping it today. Why? Because we have not understood what God saves us from, what God wants to save us from.
True Repentance
We have only believed that if I come to Christ I am already a new creation, I am saved and I will walk on streets of gold. That is how we present it, establishing confusion, because that is not exactly what the Word of the Lord establishes.
The Word establishes that man must repent, that woman must repent. Repent of what? “But I wasn’t a drug addict, prostitute, or murderer.” We almost always tend to believe that only those who murdered or who walked in a perverse life need God.
We all need God. Even if we have not done what a criminal did, we all need Him. Why? Because the Word clearly says that in Adam and Eve we were all represented that day. What Adam did, what Eve did, each of us did because we were present in their lives.
The process of salvation consists of man being able to understand that he is reaping what he sowed at a particular moment. And for those who say “but I haven’t done anything,” I have to tell them:
Intentions also count. Thoughts also count. Feelings also count. Comments also count, not just actions.
Actions are the result of decisions that were made deliberately. It is important to understand that God judges us comprehensively: not only for what we did, but also for what we think, for what we feel, for what we desire, for the intentions we develop.
We are before God all the time.
Third Stage: The Process of Salvation (Verses 17-21)
The third stage is the stage of salvation. It is well defined in three sections: three actions that the young man had to take, and they are precisely the actions that God demands to be able to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.
First Action: Consciousness (Verse 17)
Verse 17: “And when he came to himself, he said: How many hired servants in my father’s house have bread in abundance, and here I perish from hunger?”
The action of consciousness.
How many men and women walk through life without consciousness of what we are doing? How many of us walk automatically? How many of us walk by routine?
Hasn’t it happened to you that sometimes you’re going to a place different from where you usually go, but out of routine, you suddenly lose your way and go to another place? Because you’re used to going to the same place every day, you take the same route. It has happened to us. Why? Because many times we walk without consciousness of what we are doing.
Consciousness is an act. Each of us, men and women of God, must have consciousness of our position, of our situation. We must have consciousness of everything we do.
In First Timothy, chapter 1, verse 19, it says: “Holding faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, have suffered shipwreck in their faith.”
Not having consciousness can lead us to lose our faith.
The process of salvation begins with having consciousness.
The Grave Error of Repeated Prayers
There are many people who cannot resolve their problems because they do not have consciousness, because they are following instructions. “Do this,” and they do it. “Do this other thing,” and they do it. “Take this,” and they take it. They have no consciousness; they are following what others tell them.
I have to tell you something strong: we ministers have made a very grave error when we have wanted to lead others to Christ Jesus: “Repeat this prayer.” Many people repeat the prayer.
A very grave error, because these are not their words; they are words placed on their lips. Many don’t even know what they are saying. A very grave error that we ministers have made in the churches.
It is not about “tell me what I have to do and I’ll do it.” While it is true that faith begins when we follow an instruction, it is important to understand the need to have consciousness of what we are doing. A person, if they do not have consciousness of the instruction being given to them, will obtain no benefit.
The Example of the Man Born Blind
In John chapter 9 the case is presented of when Jesus healed the man born blind. Let’s think: if the blind man, when he was feeling them putting mud on him, had said: “What are you putting on me? What is this for? Why?” And they tell him: “Go now to the pool,” and he said: “Why should I wash?”
If one does not have consciousness of what is happening, the instruction will not work, it will not bring any fruit or benefit.
Recidivism in Christianity
That is what is happening with many men and women who have come to Christ Jesus. They went forward in a congregation, they repeated a prayer that did not come from their heart, words that were placed in them. Five minutes later they don’t even remember what they said.
Do you now understand why there is so much recidivism within the Christian people? Why so many return to their past behaviors? Because they have no consciousness of what they are doing. They are simply following steps, as if the life of faith were a formula or a recipe.
Developing Consciousness
The process of salvation begins with an action: having consciousness.
Consciousness that I am in this crisis, in this debacle, in this illness because I sowed it. It is not that the enemy is attacking me. I am not saying that is not the case, but we cannot look for someone to blame when in reality we collaborated, or built, what we are suffering or enduring today.
Having consciousness, developing consciousness of what my situation really is. The apostle Paul says that “the god of this age has blinded the minds so that the light of Christ may not shine on them.”
There are many people who, seeing themselves in the crisis they are in, cannot see that this is the product of their own actions from the past. Many of us look for those responsible, we look for culprits: my father, my mother, my siblings, society, the politician, the economic crisis. We look for culprits, but we don’t want to develop consciousness of what our situation really is.
There are people living in an environment of abomination, filth, and destruction, and they cannot see it because they have not developed consciousness of what their state, their condition is.
What does God demand? What must I do to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Number one: develop consciousness.
“Why am I in this condition? Why has the enemy taken position in my body when my body, the Word says, is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit? Why is the devil operating in my house, in my environment?”
We must develop consciousness of what our state, our reality, our situation truly is. As long as we cannot develop consciousness, we truly cannot enter into the process of salvation.
The process of salvation begins precisely here, verse 17: acquiring consciousness.
“And when he came to himself, he said: How many hired servants in my father’s house have bread in abundance, and here I perish from hunger?”
Everything begins when we awaken to reality, when we open our eyes to see the state into which we have fallen. The neighbor is not to blame, the neighbor woman, the family members, the parents, the siblings. The only one to blame is each one of us.
Second Action: Intention (Verses 18-19)
Verses 18-19: “I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”
Second action: intention.
Intention has to do with decisions, purposes, attitudes, disposition of spirit, conduct, character, personality, development of proactive thinking, disposition to move.
It is not just staying in the project, but moving and establishing the steps to follow to achieve the purpose.
Observe carefully: “I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” That is what the young man set in his intention, in his purpose, in his decision. “When I arrive, this is what I am going to say to him: ‘Make me like one of your hired servants.’ I am going to say it.”
There must be an intention.
The Problem of Staying in Projects
The problem that many of us have had is that not only do we not have consciousness (and many have been following instructions: “Do this, do that, take this”), but everything stays in the project, everything stays in an ideal, in plans: “If I had this, if I could do this, if I…” And everything stays in the “if I.” There is no disposition of spirit to achieve something.
The process of salvation begins when we develop consciousness, but it is equally important that we have an intentionality to carry out that which frees us from the situation we are in.
Praying, Fasting, and Keeping Vigils Are Not Enough
One of the problems I have seen in believing men and women is: “I’m going to pray, I’m going to fast, I’m going to keep vigils.”
I have to tell you: I am not against praying, fasting, or keeping vigils. They should be done, of course. But when they are presented as an alternative for change, it doesn’t work, because God is expecting from us: move. You acquired consciousness, now decide what you are going to do, how you are going to resolve your situation, with what intention, with what intensity, with what character, with what personality, with what disposition you are going to face this crisis.
What did God say to Moses? “This is not the time to pray. What do you have in your hand? This is the time to develop intentionality to do something so that God sees in you that there is an effort.”
When we say “nothing needs to be done,” we are damaging the purpose of God. God seeks for us to do, to show that there is an intentionality, that there is a disposition. Otherwise, absolutely nothing is going to happen.
“Why do you prostrate yourself on your face?” God likewise said to Joshua when, because of Achan, they were defeated in the second battle after Jericho. Joshua was prostrate and God said to him: “Why do you prostrate yourself on your face? You are in this condition because you sinned. The people sinned because they took what they should not have taken.”
Not everything is resolved by saying: “I’m going to pray.” God is waiting for there to be a disposition, an intentionality to do something.
Third Action: Deliberate Action (Verses 20-21)
Verse 20: “And he arose and came to his father. And when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.”
Who ran? Who ran toward whom? The son toward the father, not the father toward the son. “He was moved with compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” Practically the father was telling him: “You are my son, you always were my son, you will continue to be my son.”
Here comes the third action. Anyone could have said: “Well, what I intended to say I won’t say now, because he accepted me. With that hug and that kiss he is telling me that he forgave me. Let’s start over, nothing has happened.”
No. The young man… go to verse 21:
Verse 21: “And the son said to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
The Deliberate Action
Third action: God seeks a deliberate action. What do I mean? I mean that if you said it, complete it. Don’t leave it in the middle, don’t leave it undone. That is deliberate. It is something that was decided to be done at a moment. If you decided it, complete it, say it.
That is effectively what happened with the young man. The father’s action was one of approval, acceptance, forgiveness: “Nothing has happened here.” That could have been misinterpreted by the son to say: “Well, everything is already fixed, everything is already resolved.”
But the son, what he had as intention, now completed it. It is a deliberate action. A deliberate action is one that is completed just as it was decided to be done.
This is the part that we often lack. We misinterpret things. “Well, the father’s reaction… I don’t have to say anything more, everything is already fixed.” And here the process is truncated.
Salvation is a conscious, intentional, and deliberate action. The process must be completed, the cycle must be completed.
Is there something we must do? Yes, there is something we must do.
It is not the case of the lost sheep, because it could not do anything for the shepherd to find it. It is not the case of the lost coin, because it cannot do anything for the owner to find it.
It is the case of the man, of the woman who has fallen into crisis, into chaos, into negligence, into disapproval.
What do we have to do? A conscious action, an intentional action, a deliberate action that completes the cycle.
The Case of the Rich Young Man
What happened with the rich young man? The rich young man asked: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven?” He is conscious that something is missing. “All this I have done since my youth.” He has the intention, because Jesus had already left and the young man ran to reach him and ask him the question.
But he lacked the third part: the deliberate. The young man said: “I have many riches.”
The actions that God demands must cost us. And this is what the rich young man did not want to do.
God is not asking for anything simple. God is demanding from you something that costs you, something that hurts you. Yes, just as you hear it.
“Do you want God to heal you? But you are not willing to deprive yourself of something to submit to the Lord.” Something deliberate, something that hurts, something that costs, something that manifests: “Really, for me, Lord, salvation, liberation, restoration, healing, for me it is everything.”
“What do I have to do? I will do it. You have to give everything up. Okay, I give everything up. Sell everything you have, give it to the poor, you will have treasure in heaven. Come and follow me.”
Actions That Weigh
The actions that God demands are actions that weigh, that have weight, actions that require effort from us to do them. They are not easy.
The Example of the Poor Widow
In the Gospel of Luke there is a case of a widow and poor woman who had two mites—for us, pennies. That was all she had.
Widow and poor means there is no one to watch over her. It means she had absolutely nothing to eat. All she had were two mites, two pennies.
She went, gave them, and Jesus said: “This woman gave more than all those who gave large amounts of money.”
Why? Because she gave everything, because the woman said: “For me, the Lord is everything. And if I have to go without eating, I will go without eating.”
Not Making Mixtures
Many times we want to make a mixture of fabrics. We want to make mixtures: “I want the Lord to heal me, but I’m going to take this medication.” What we are doing is mixing. There is nothing that is costing us.
When we act this way, we are showing that there is no effort. And therefore, we are not counted as worthy of what God is giving.
It is strong, but it is precisely what God seeks. These are the men and women who take the Kingdom of Heaven by force. Have you read in the Word that “the Kingdom of Heaven, the violent take it by force”?
There are many men and women who are not valiant within the Kingdom, who want easy parts, simple parts, parts that do not affect us. Brother, if salvation is something valuable and we behave this way, what we are doing is despising the salvation of God.
Fourth Stage: The Aspects of Salvation (Verses 22-24)
Verses 22-24: “But the father said to his servants: Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate, because this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to rejoice.”
The Two Aspects of Salvation
The fourth stage presents us with the aspects of salvation. The aspects of salvation are not only future. Many of us are only waiting for the new heavens, the new earth, walking on streets of gold, our golden mansions. That is all we are waiting for. And while we live on the face of the Earth, we live, in many cases, like beggars, like people who have not known the Lord.
Salvation has two aspects: a future stage where yes, indeed, we are going to walk on streets of gold, we are going to walk in the Kingdom of our Father. You can go to the book of Revelation and it is clearly described there.
But salvation has a present manifestation. While we are on Earth, we are in the Kingdom of Heaven, we are living in the Kingdom of Heaven. And our way of living on Earth must be the same way it will be when we are in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Three Symbols of Restoration
1. The Robe: Dignity
Verse 22: “But the father said to his servants: Bring out the best robe and put it on him.”
What does the robe mean? It was the father’s first action. What does the robe mean?
In Genesis chapter 3, verse 21, it says: “And the Lord God made tunics of skin for the man and his wife, and clothed them.”
Exactly the same as Luke chapter 15 says. The robe means dignity. God makes us worthy.
Many of us see that we must carry the cross, and we have considered the cross as pain, as suffering, as hardship—which, by the way, is a Catholic message—: being in penance all the time.
No. Carrying the cross does not mean that. Carrying the cross is dying to myself. “I no longer live, Christ lives in me.” That is carrying the cross.
What does clothing him mean? That He made him worthy. He clothed him with dignity. Do you know what the mercy of God means? A robe. God made us worthy.
In Deuteronomy chapter 28, the first 14 verses present the blessings that God gives to the people. He says: “You shall be set as head and not as tail. Everything your hand touches shall be blessed and prospered.”
God makes man worthy. Many of us live like beggars, always begging to have something. Salvation has a present aspect. God made us worthy, and as worthy, as children, as heirs, now He is dignifying you so that you live as a son, not as the Syrophoenician woman said: “Even the dogs eat from the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
2. The Ring: Authority
“Put a ring on his hand.”
What does the ring mean? The ring means authority. He clothes him with authority. He gave him dignity, and now He is clothing him with authority.
What does authority mean? In Genesis chapter 1, verses 27 and 28, it says: “And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
This was the first commandment that God gave to man: subdue it and have dominion.
In Psalm 19 it says: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.”
It is speaking of the firmament, of everything that God has created. And of what God has created, God gave it to man in the Garden of Eden.
What does it mean that the father gave him the ring? He is returning to him the authority that Adam and Eve received in the Garden of Eden. That is what He is giving him.
Many of us have not seen this. Why? Because we are almost always thinking about the future and we neglect the present we are living. This is the part we must understand.
He is returning to him the authority that Adam and Eve lost in the Garden of Eden.
3. The Sandals: Erasing the Past
“And sandals on his feet.”
Observe the process: put on him a new robe, a ring, and now sandals on his feet. Because the sandals have to do with his past. It is to completely erase his past of having been feeding pigs and having desired the pods that were given to the pigs.
And this is salvation.
Salvation Begins in the Present
Salvation does not only have to do with our future. Salvation begins in our present.
If we cannot live in this life as children of God, what good does it really do us to say that we are going to walk on streets of gold? What good does it do us? What we are presenting is a denial of the other. One negates the other.
Do you understand what it means to live by faith? Living by faith means understanding: “I am heir to all of this. God gave me authority over all of this, to subdue it. I return to you the authority to subdue it. And now I erase your past: you were living with pigs, I erase your past; you were desiring the pods of the pigs, I erase your past.”
This is salvation.
What Must I Do?
“What must I do to obtain eternal life? What must I do to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven?”
Must something be done? Yes, something must be done. And you must do something that is not simple or easy. It is not “I did it and that’s it.” It is something that costs us. It is something that goes against ourselves, against our pride, against our vanity, against how others have seen us and how we have conducted ourselves.
It must hurt us, it must weigh on us.
“I am not used to living without money. I am going to give it all up.”
“I am not used to living without friends. What was gain to me I have counted as loss.”
“I am not used to living without medications. Lord, You are my healing.”
Brother, I must speak of this. Why? Because many times we establish ambiguous messages that lead nowhere, that establish testimony to no one. That is why it is important.
The Final Grace
There is one last aspect that we need to know: the father is still alive. And if the father returned to the son the authority to be a son again, it means that the son will inherit again when the father dies.
That is grace.
Do you realize how far the reaches of salvation extend? A salvation so great that we cannot waste or despise it.
That is why we must understand: today a gospel of faith is not being lived. In many cases a commercial gospel is being lived, a cheap gospel, a gospel that stimulates no one, that requires effort from no one, a gospel that says: “God only looks at your heart, God only looks at your intention.” A gospel that leads no one to want what you have.
Conclusion and Call
Therefore, tonight, upon reaching this point, we must have consciousness, because many of us have not yet left feeding pigs. Many of us have not yet left there because we have not acquired consciousness of what our state is, our condition, how we find ourselves.
This is how God wants to have you. To whom does a life like this give testimony? To no one.
Closing Prayer
Father, I thank You because Your Word strengthens me, Your Word dignifies me, Your Word, O God, fortifies me. But it does not leave me as I was: it changes me, transforms me, vivifies me. And I thank You, Lord.
Father, there are many men and women whom You have called, whom You have chosen, who from this moment forward will conduct themselves like the prodigal son, the younger son, and will do acts of faith that will be worthy of the great salvation that You have given.
And I thank You, O God, for the power of Your Holy Spirit.
In the name of Jesus, amen.
I bless you. May the peace of the Lord be with you. Amen.
