25243 Faith and Love

Romans 4:13–5:8
I accepted Christ by faith as a 16-year-old. I believed that Jesus was the Son of God who died for my sins and I invited Him into my life. From that moment on I knew that I would go to heaven; eternal life is God’s free gift to all who believe.
Yet tragically, although I knew by faith that Jesus was God’s Son, I did not understand the scope of His unconditional love for me. And because I didn’t really understand God’s love, I totally missed seeing God’s plan for humanity. But God is love and love is at the center of His plan for all His creation. Over time I have learned that God’s love is the foundation for understanding the entire Bible—including, of course, this passage from Romans.
In the beginning, Adam knew only a loving union with God. But when Adam sinned and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, union with God was broken and his whole nature and way of life changed. Rather than living in unity with a loving Father and relying on His leading, humans now had to make their own independent way in life—based on their knowledge of good and evil.
This grieved God. His most treasured of all creation was severed from His loving relationship. And so, God planned a total and complete rescue. It would cost Him dearly, but He would pay any price … because He loved us and the creation over which we were designed to rule.
To begin the process of restoration, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. These commands, together with the other Old Covenant laws, gave clarity to what was good and what was evil. However, humans couldn’t obey the rules. The Old Covenant law identified what was good and evil, but it did not come with the ability to obey what it demanded. In this way the law both defined sin and made us all sinners by virtue of our disobedience.
But in God’s plan, the insufficiency of the law pointed us to the sufficiency of Christ. Even while we were sinners trapped under the bondage of the law, God reached down and loved us. Through Jesus’ sacrificial death, He paid the price for our separation and sin.
As Paul clearly tells us in the following passage, God promised Abraham a right standing with Him that comes by faith. Through faith in Jesus Christ, God provided a way for us to be reconciled to Himself. Then in restored union with God, He continually pours His limitless love into our hearts.
Read Romans 4:13-5:8
Chapter 4
13It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, 15because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
16Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
18Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ 19Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’ 23The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, 24but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Chapter 5
1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Questions

  1. In your own words, what are verses 4:13–16 saying?
  2. According to verses 4:18–21, how did Abraham respond to God’s promise that he would be “heir of the world” (v. 13) and the “father of many nations” (v. 17)?
  3. Abraham’s faith was tested. Recall and describe a test of faith you have experienced in your life.
  4. In what specific ways might God be challenging you personally to live by faith?
  5. According to verses 5:1–5, what are some of the things of God we have access to by faith?
  6. In verse 5:2, Paul says that by faith we have “access” into God’s grace and we “stand” in that grace. Compare what it means to have “access” into grace versus what it means to “stand” in grace. How do you have “access”? In what ways are you “standing”?
  7. Imagine “boast[ing] in the hope of the glory of God” (see verse 5:2). The New King James Version uses the word “rejoice[ing].” What feelings and images do these words bring to mind?
  8. How might verses 5:3–5 encourage you in times of suffering or tribulation?
  9. Recall and describe a time when trials in your life, or the life of another you know, resulted in godly character changes.
  10. According to verse 5:5, how does the love of God get into our hearts?
  11. The Old Covenant law says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). How does God’s love, as shown in verses 5:5 and 8, differ from that spoken of in the law?
  12. See verses 5:5 and 8 as promises of God’s love to you. How might you personally “stand” in (not just have “access to”) those promises? (Consider how Abraham stood in the promises God gave to him.)
    Reflection
    Quiet your racing mind. Read verses 5:5–8 again.
    Imagine God demonstrating His love toward you. The Holy Spirit is pouring, pouring, pouring love into your heart. See a stream of living water flooding into you. Its source is the pure, never-ending love of God. See yourself accepting that love. Drink it in. Rest in it. Grow in it. Let it become part of you and flow out of you to others.

25242 Nothing Without Love

1 Corinthians 13

The first few verses of 1 Corinthians 13 became real to me one memorable summer day in 2004. Eighty-two-year-old Edna and I were visiting in her mobile home. For seven or eight years she and I had been meeting regularly to study the Bible and pray. Almost 40 years my elder, Edna was like a mother to me; we weren’t afraid to share honestly with each other.
It was hot that morning and Edna sat in her living room sipping an iced tea. I sat facing her holding a glass of cold water. I don’t remember what we were talking about, but Edna put her drink down on the glass table between us and leaned forward. Her intense, blue eyes looked into mine. “Mary” she said, “I want to tell you something.”
“Okay,” I said.
Slowly and deliberately Edna spoke, “Mary, you don’t love.”
It was Edna’s voice, but it was God talking to me.
Instantly I felt the stunning truth of those words. Verses from chapter 13 of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians flashed through my mind. “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (vv. 1–2).
My life passed before me. I had done many, many good things in my Christian life. As a developmental psychologist, I had worked to help disadvantaged and disabled children. I was being a “good” mother to our four children. I did volunteer work for a mission organization. We went to church regularly, had youth group meetings in our home, gave money to programs for the homeless.
But somehow, in that moment with Edna, Paul’s words sank deep into my heart and I understood that in doing these “good” things I was nothing but a “clanging cymbal.” Something was horribly wrong with my life. I slumped out of my chair, lay face down on Edna’s carpet and prayed, “God, whatever it takes. I want to love You and I want to love people. I don’t know what is wrong, but I trust You to fix it.”
Read 1 Corinthians 13.
1If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Questions

  1. In the introduction to this lesson, the author was powerfully confronted by the first verses of 1 Corinthians 13. In what ways do verses 1–3 speak to you personally?
  2. Verse 2 speaks of having “a faith that can move mountains.” In what ways does faith express itself in your life?
  3. The things described in verses 1–3 seem like “good” things to do. In what ways are they incomplete in what God desires?
  4. Recall and describe a time when you did something “good” because you knew it was a “good” thing to do. Your knowledge of how you should behave told you something was a “good” thing to do and so you did it.
  5. Recall and describe a time when you did something purely out of love and compassion—because you felt God leading you to do it.
  6. Compare the similarities and differences between your responses to questions 4 and 5 above.
  7. Identify the characteristics of love mentioned in verses 4–8.
  8. Think of someone you know who has these characteristics. Give one or two specific examples of how you have seen this person act with love toward others.
  9. Verse 8 says, “Love never fails.” What does this statement mean to you?
  10. Read 1 Corinthians 13:4–8 again, this time replacing the word love with the word God (i.e., “God is patient. God is kind.”). Read slowly and thoughtfully letting the fullness of God’s love sink into you. What thoughts do you have about God after reading the passage in this way?
  11. Considering the focus of this passage, what do you think Paul is talking about in verses 9–12?
  12. How would you define “love” according to this passage?
    Reflection
    Imagine that God designed a short movie entitled, Love Never Fails (see verse 8). Let the scenes from the movie unfold before the eyes of your heart. See the images, the colors, tones and expressions.
    If you feel God is leading you, share your experience.

25241 Introduction

If anyone knew the Old Covenant law, it was the Apostle Paul. In his early life, as “Saul,” he had been a Pharisee—a devout follower of the Old Covenant of law introduced by Moses.
Circumcised on the eighth day, Saul had been raised and taught in strict obedience to the Law of Moses. As a young man, he had stood by and encouraged those who stoned Stephen—the church’s first martyr. With all the wrath and judgment of the law, Saul had persecuted and killed those who believed in Jesus.
But then, one day on the road to Damascus, Saul was knocked to the ground by a blinding light. From heaven came the words, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. And from heaven came the reply, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:4–5).
After his Damascus Road experience, Saul, renamed Paul, began living his life, not as governed by the law, but as guided by grace. No longer was he bound by the Ten Commandments and other Old Covenant laws. Faith and love, not legalism, characterized Paul’s new life.
As the first missionary to the gentiles, Paul traveled throughout the Roman Empire preaching Christ. In his letters to communities of new believers, Paul wrote of the life of bondage under the Old Covenant Law and of the life of freedom in the New Covenant love of Christ. Over and over again he commended the believers for their faith and love.
Many Christians today understand the importance of faith. By faith in Jesus as the Son of God, we are reborn into eternal life. We are justified—not through obedience to the law—but by faith. But, faith isn’t complete by itself. Faith gives God access to us so He can pour His love into us. Faith expresses itself through love. God’s love has expression on earth through us. To live the Christian life here on earth as designed, God provided for us to know His love and share it with others.
For most of my life, as a born-again, church-going Christian, I didn’t really understand that God loved me. I wrongly assumed that I needed to work for God’s love. I thought that before God could love me, I needed to show my love for Him by obeying the Ten Commandments and other “good” rules, But, just as it is impossible to receive eternal life through obedience to the law, it is also impossible to love God and others through obedience to the law.
I was deceived. I cannot love God or others on my own. First John 4:19 tells us, “We love because He first loved us.” We can give away only what we have received. For this reason, we need to be in a constant loving relationship with God.
God values and treasures you beyond measure. You are precious to Him. He has chosen you. He has adopted you into His family. He loves you with an unstoppable, endless love. That love came to rescue you completely—to set you free and to make you whole. Jesus came to give you eternal life in heaven and full life, by His definition, here and now, on earth. God created you to know and experience His love, abide in His love and radiate His love.
Paul’s writings overflow with the power and provision of God’s unconditional, never-failing love.

25221 Introduction

Have you ever watched an ant colony? The ants move along invisible trails that other ants have somehow marked out. Working together they carry tiny bits of dirt to the top of the anthill.

When something falls on the trail or the anthill, they scurry about frantically.

Now suppose you really care about ants and a storm is coming. Without your help the ants are going to die in a flood. You want to save them. You shout at the ants, “Move to higher ground,” but they pay no attention. You take a stick and try to redirect their trail. It doesn’t work. They think you are trying to hurt them.

Your ways are completely incomprehensible to the ants. You live on a different level—higher, richer and more advanced—and they can’t understand what you are trying to communicate. The only way for you to save the ants is to become an ant yourself and use their language to help them in a way they understand.

This is what God did for us.

Jesus came to earth to speak our language—to show us our Father’s heart of compassion and way of salvation. He became like us so we could know and experience God. Jesus took our anatomy as a human being—with a spirit, a soul and a body—so He could reconcile us to God. As a man—as a three-part being—Jesus undid what Adam had done in the fall. He restored us to God’s original design: we were created “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27).

In becoming one of us and dying on the cross as a sinless human being, Jesus paid the price the law demanded for our sins. Adam had chosen the desires of his own soul over the will of God, but Jesus chose God’s will over the desires of His own soul. He surrendered His soul to the leading of the Spirit and gave His body to die on the cross for our sins.

In the sacrificial love of Jesus on the cross, we are set free to become the people God created us to be. When we invite God into our life, His Spirit comes to live in us and our relationship with God begins. Then, in God’s design, our soul—our mind, will and emotions—surrenders its own desires (will) and comes to rest under the loving leading of the Spirit. In this way, the body (as directed by the soul at rest in the Spirit’s leading) radiates the nature of Christ in earthly, physical reality. And so we become as Jesus was—spirit-soul-body channels through which the love of God floods the earth.

Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” ( John 14:9). We see the love of our heavenly Father in the stories Jesus told; in the way He stopped to help the sick, interact with outcasts, and befriend sinners; in His teaching; in His prayers and in His death. We see God in Jesus’ life of love.

This Bible study is designed to help you know God as He really is and to direct your heart toward His love. Jesus’ life speaks restoration to us. We are valued and cherished beyond measure. We are precious to God. He has a grand and glorious plan for all His people.

God has chosen you. He has made a way for you to be adopted into His family. He loves you with an unstoppable, limitless love. That love came to rescue you completely, to set you free and to make you whole. Jesus came to give you eternal life in heaven and abundant life, here and now, on this earth. God created you to know His love, abide in His love and radiate His love.

Open your heart to Jesus who came to share the Father’s love with you.

25216 Suggestions for Study

About this Bible Study

  • The Bible passage included in this study guide is from the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible. Feel free to use a different translation if you like.
  • The study questions are designed to encourage you to think deeply about God’s Word and to help you open yourself to more of His love.
  • If you cannot print this study guide, you can write your answers on a separate sheet.
  • This study can be used individually or with groups.

Suggestions for Individual or Group Study

  • Begin and end your reading and study time with prayer. Ask God to help you understand the Bible passages and reveal more of Himself to you. Thank Him for your time together.
  • Read and reread the Luke passage as you work through each of the lessons. Reflect on what you have read and see if anything stands out to you.
  • Do not feel you must answer the questions all at once or in any particular order. Even choosing a few questions will allow you to benefit from the study.

Suggestions for Group Study

  • Each time you gather with your group, come prepared—ready to share, ready to listen and ready to learn.
  • As the group leader guides the discussion and encourages members to share their thoughts and ideas, be willing to participate, but try not to dominate. Listen to others in the group without judging them. What the Holy Spirit shows you will not necessarily be the same as what He shows someone else.
  • Remember that what is shared in the group stays in the group. Being able to share without fear of being talked about helps create a safe place for honest discussion and healing.

Suggestions for Group Leaders

  • Begin and end each group time with prayer.
  • Unless the Holy Spirit specifically leads you otherwise, help the group stay focused on the passage being studied.
  • Encourage group members to listen and learn from each other without judging.
  • Give everyone opportunities to share. Imagine that Jesus is in your group; see how He interacts with other members. Love those around you, being sensitive to their needs and backgrounds. Encourage all to come to a deeper understanding of God and His love.
  • As the leader, try not to dominate the discussion with “right” answers. God will teach each member through the verses being discussed and through the insights of others in the group.
  • Be assured that the Holy Spirit will guide you and give you the strength and wisdom you need to be a thoughtful, caring leader.

25215 Loving with Perfection

Luke 15:11–32

Years ago, I copied a quote I’d read somewhere into the front of my Bible: The greatest of saints is simply the greatest of receivers.

Think about that.

Can it be true? Is it really possible that our Father simply desires us to receive from Him?

I became a Christian when I was 16. Now, as I write this, I am almost 60. But it has only been in the last 15 years or so that I have finally begun to realize that God really does love me unconditionally. He loves me when I sin, like the lost son, and He loves me when I am prideful and self-righteous, like the hardworking, older brother. My behaviors and thoughts have nothing to do with His care and compassion for me. Love, not law, defines and fills God’s heart. My heavenly Father wants to have a loving relationship with me—a relationship in which I receive all He has planned for me.

God is love. He is always full of compassion for us. He always has our best interests at heart. Nothing can stop God from loving you. He values you. You are of infinite worth to him.

Jesus told this parable about the lost son and his older brother to help us understand our Father’s heart. He told the story to help us see our Father as He really is. Each and every moment of each and every day, He gives His gift of love to us.

However, the giving of a gift is only half of the transaction. A transaction is not complete until the gift is received. The question is: Will we accept the invitation to a joyful, love-relationship with our Father that He freely offers?

Read Luke 15:11–32 (Parable of the Lost Son).

Questions

Q. 1. What do the father’s actions tell you about his heart toward his younger son?

Q. 2. If you had been away for a long time and someone you knew came running joyfully to welcome you, how would you feel? What would their joyful welcome tell you about how he/she felt about you?

Q. 3. What do the father’s words in verses 31–32 tell you about his heart toward his oldest son?

Q. ”4.

was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” How are these words central to the father’s joy and his desire for both his sons?”]

Q. 5. What words would you use to describe the father in this story?

Q. 6. God doesn’t want us to live life as the lost son or as the older brother. How do we come to live life as God planned for us to live it?

Q. 7. What do we experience when we choose to be in relationship with our heavenly Father?

Q. 8. What have you learned from this parable about how your heavenly Father sees you?

Q. 9. Putting aside what you may have learned from Jesus’ parable, how do you actually believe, deep down in your heart, that your heavenly Father sees you?

Q. 10. Our Father’s love for us is not the issue. Always it is strong and unwavering. the issue is whether or not we will accept the compassion He is freely offering. What wrong thoughts might be keeping you from embracing the vast, unconditional love the Father freely offers you?

Q. 11. How do you know when someone really loves you?

Q. 12. How do you personally know that God really loves you?

Reflection

If possible, listen to the song “Reckless Love” as recorded by Cory Asbury. (To watch a video, you will need Internet access.) If you cannot access the video, slowly and thoughtfully read the lyrics. Let God speak to you through the words.

25214 Loving the Self-Righteous

Luke 15:25–32

Have your good deeds as a Christian ever made you feel that you were better than someone else?

Mine have.

Before I’d committed the sin referred to in the introduction to the first lesson, I’d been obedient to Christian rules and worked hard to be a good and productive person. Based on these behaviors, I considered myself valuable and right. I thought of myself as the hard-working, older brother. Like the Pharisees—the religious leaders of Jesus’ time—I considered myself better than others. I had worked hard to be “good” by obeying solid, Bible-based rules, and I assumed I was deserving of God’s favor, blessing and love. I looked at others who did not measure up to “church” standards and considered myself to be better than they.

Self-righteousness led me to think I was doing what God wanted and was therefore deserving of His blessing. Pride told me I was worthy of God’s love.

However, I couldn’t seem to receive the love pride told me I deserved. No matter how hard I tried to be “good,” I never felt I had actually done enough to please God and earn His love.

This was because, as Jesus points out in this parable, the Father’s love doesn’t work like that. As I came to realize later in life, God’s love is completely unconditional. It is not based on human ideas of merit nor can it be earned by self-effort. Our Father freely gives His love to all people. In the New Covenant, Jesus shows us that we are of infinite worth to God. He loves us, not because of what we have done or failed to do, but simply and purely because it is His nature to love.

Read Luke 15:11–32 (Parable of the Lost Son).

Questions

Q. 1. Verse 28 says that the older brother was “angry.” Based on verses 25–27, what do you think he was angry about?

Q. 2. In your own words, what did the older son say to His father in verse 29?

Q. 3. Based on these words, how do you think the older brother felt he deserved to be treated? Why might he have felt this way?

Q. 4. In what ways are you currently, or have you been in the past, like the hard-working, self-righteous older brother? Think deeply.

Q. 5. In verse 30, what did the older brother say to his father about his younger brother? Why do you think he felt the need to point this out?

Q. 6. In verse 28 and 31–32, how did the father respond to his older son?

Q. 7. What do these words and actions tell you about the father’s heart for his older son?

Q. 8. Think of someone you know who is religious and self-righteous. How do you imagine our heavenly Father would interact with him/her?

Q. 9. The parable doesn’t tell us whether or not the older brother later chose to enter his father’s house and join in the music and dancing. What do you think it would have taken for the older brother to decide to join in the celebration with his father and younger brother?

Q. 10. God loves us unconditionally, regardless of our sin. Yet, He wants us to be righteous and good. How do we become truly good, not in the way the older brother thought he was, but like God designed us to be?

Q. 11. What, if anything, of your own self-righteousness or self-sufficiency is resisting the unconditional love of God? Search your heart.

Q. 12. What would it take to overcome that resistance and receive the Father’s love for you?

Reflection

Earlier in Luke 15, Jesus had shared another parable. Read Luke 15:4–7 (below).

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15:4 “Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it? 15:5 Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 15:6 Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 15:7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.

Read these verses again slowly.

Imagine that you are a little lost lamb. You have wandered away from the flock and night is coming. Unable to find your way home, you are lonely and afraid. Jesus notices that you are missing and sets out to find you. When He sees you, He runs to meet you. His face lights up in a smile. His eyes sparkle with joy. He has found you. He kneels on the ground in front of you. He lifts you to his strong shoulders…and carries you back to the flock.

Close your eyes for a moment and reflect on Jesus’ love and care for you.

25213 Loving the Rebellious

Luke 15:11–24

Have you ever done something really bad—so bad that you felt God couldn’t possibly love you?

I have.

As a 38-year-old, “mature” Christian, I did something so awful that I couldn’t believe God could love a sinner like me. I couldn’t forgive myself for what I had done. I didn’t like myself, let alone love myself, and I felt that God couldn’t possibly like me (or love me) either. In this way, I condemned myself; my own twisted thinking cut me off from God’s love.

My heavenly Father still loved me; it was just that the lies I believed kept me from believing and accepting that He did.

Have you stopped to consider that how you think God feels about you may not be the way He actually feels at all? Is it possible that you have excluded yourself from God’s forgiveness and compassion because you simply cannot believe He could really love you?

Jesus told this parable of the lost son so that we would understand: Our Father values us for who we are, not because of what we do or don’t do. Our sins—those we have committed knowingly or unknowingly, those we have committed in the past and those we will commit in the future—do not exclude us from God’s love. Our Father desires that each one of us live in continual, joy-filled, loving relationship with Him.

Read Luke 15:11–24 (Parable of the Lost Son).

Questions

Q. 1. What do verses 12–13 say that the lost son did? What choices did he make?

Q. 2. Based on verses 14–17, why do think the son decided to return home?

Q. 3. According to verses 18–19 and 21, what did the son plan, and then say, to his father? What do these words tell you about the son’s perception of himself?

Q. 4. What do these words tell you about the son’s perception of his father?

Q. 5. As described in verses 20 and 22–24, how does the father greet his lost son?

Q. 6. What do these actions tell you about the father’s heart for his son?

Q. 7. After being welcomed home with celebration, how do you think the son saw his father?

Q. 8. In this story the son assumed he would be treated harshly upon his return home. Think of a time when someone treated you harshly and legalistically after you had done something wrong. Describe that time and the feelings you had.

Q. 9. Think of a time when someone offered you forgiveness and compassion after you had done something wrong. Describe that time and the feelings you had.

Q. 10. How does the lost son respond to his father’s reception?

Q. 11. What sort of life do you think the lost son would have lived had he not accepted his father’s full welcome and only allowed himself to be a hired servant?

Q. 12. In what ways might you be judging yourself and thinking of yourself as undeserving of love? Can you identify any wrong thoughts that are keeping you from fully receiving your heavenly Father’s love?

Reflection

Music can help connect us to God in deep ways. If possible, listen to the song, “When God Ran” (To watch a video, you will need Internet access). If you cannot access the video, read the lyrics. Open your heart to the message.

25212 Parable of the Lost Son

Luke 15:11–32

15:11 Then Jesus said, “A man had two sons. 15:12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that will belong to me.’ So he divided his assets between them. 15:13 After a few days, the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle. 15:14 Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need. 15:15 So he went and worked for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 15:16 He was longing to eat the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 15:17 But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food enough to spare, but here I am dying from hunger! 15:18 I will get up and go to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 15:19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.”’ 15:20 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him. 15:21 Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 15:22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Hurry! Bring the best robe, and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! 15:23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it! Let us eat and celebrate, 15:24 because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again—he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

15:25 “Now his older son was in the field. As he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 15:26 So he called one of the slaves and asked what was happening. 15:27 The slave replied, ‘Your brother has returned, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he got his son back safe and sound.’ 15:28 But the older son became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and appealed to him, 15:29 but he answered his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet you never gave me even a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends! 15:30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 15:31 Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and everything that belongs to me is yours. 15:32 It was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’”

25211 Introduction

Jesus came to show us the Father and to reconcile us with Him. He told the parable of the lost son to help us see our Father as He really is. As a vivid illustration, Jesus tells of a father’s love for his sons and how he wants to be in relationship with each one.

Our heavenly Father loves us just like the father in this story. In God’s sight we are worthy and valuable no matter what condition we are in. God loves us with a great, unstoppable love. He loves us despite our sins and wanderings. He loves us even when we are self-righteous and think we are better than others because we follow rules.

This is how God sees us, but so often we don’t know of or cannot accept His unconditional forgiveness and grace. We judge ourselves based on the good or evil we think we have done. If we have done bad things we listen to the voice of condemnation and beat ourselves up with guilt or shame. If we have obeyed the rules, we consider ourselves good and right and pride wells up within us. To further complicate the problem, we falsely assume that God, our Father, judges us in the same way we judge ourselves. We assume He condemns us because of our bad behaviors or values and loves us because of our good deeds and hard work.

However, this is not how our Father thinks of us. God does not see us through the rules of the law; He sees us in love. In this story, we hear of the contrast between the Old Covenant of law and the New Covenant of grace. Both the lost son and the hard-working son are measuring themselves according to what they have done—according to the law. They judge and value themselves—and assume that their father judges and values them—based on their obedience to the Old Covenant of law introduced through Moses.

Both sons are focused on what they think they deserve based on the law. They view acceptance, blessing and love as rewards to be achieved or withheld based on their behaviors. This is how things work in the Old Covenant—or in any law-based religion.

But the father is clearly not thinking like either of his sons. His actions come from his loving heart. He loves both his sons—not because of what they have done or failed to do—but simply because they are his sons. The father treats his sons with love, kindness, care and compassion. He loves his younger son and his older son and desires that both join him in joyful relationship.

God reaches down to us in love. Even our best attempts to obey the law, or any other set of religious rules, will not help us earn our way to God. Yes, God wants us to be good by His definition—to be right and holy like He is. But we can’t achieve that by following rules; we only come to be good in loving relationship with God. God doesn’t love us because we are good; He makes us good because He loves us. He makes us good through our inner relationship with Him. That inner relationship can’t help but work itself out so that we actually become good on the outside as well. In this way, obedience is a by-product of living in right relationship—of living in love.

The Christian life is not to be one of external conformity to the law—of legalism. Neither is it to be one of disregard for the law—of license. Rather, the Christian life is to be one of liberty. In liberty, we are set free from sin—not just from the consequences of sin, but from the actual thought and deed itself. In the Christian life, as God intended it to be, our loving relationship with God sets us free to be our true selves, fashioned after the image of God.

In the New Covenant, the Father sent His Son to die for our sins and reconcile us to Himself. Regardless of our wanderings or our self-righteous ways, our Father loves us unconditionally and always. A loving relationship with our heavenly Father is the foundation for all that we were created to be. Reconciled with God—dwelling in His love—we become right from the inside out.