Parable of God's Love For You

First read this parable by Jesus Christ (Isa Masih) as recorded in the scriptures. We will expand on its meaning and its teachings afterwords.

Then [Jesus] said: "A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted His possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

But when he came to himself, he said, "How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants."'

And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

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 fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry.

Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew nearer to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, "Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'

But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, "Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'

And he said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.'" (Luke 15:11-32)

What a wonderful parable which Jesus Christ spoke. The father in this parable is God, who rejoices when people repent and turn to Him. The elder son represents people controlled by pride, self-righteousness, and selfishness, rather than unconditional love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. The son took what his father gave him, and then ran off with those possessions and wasted them in unwise, foolish, and sinful living. We ourselves are not naturally good stewards of the things God gives us. We take His provisions and use them in our own ways, instead of using them in God's ways. That is idolatry and pride by putting ourselves and our desires above God and His desires.

Later in life there often comes a time when we experience hard times and learn of our mistakes. We realize that we are lost, hungry, naked, and without positive direction or purpose in our lives. We realize that we need God.

When we return to God, He doesn't scold us about all the wrong things we have done, but instead, God is quick to forgive, and quick to pour out His mercy, grace, and love upon us. When the son in the parable was heading home, his father saw him in a distance. He held no grudge, but he was filled with compassion and joy and ran to his son with open arms. The father gave him clean clothes to replace the filthy clothes which he was wearing. The father gave him a ring to signify a new engagement and commitment to his returning son. The father gave him shoes to put on his feet for he was still a son. In those days, sons were given shoes, but slaves were barefooted. This son didn't deserve all of this, and he knew it, for he told his father that he is not worthy to be called his son, and thus to treat him like a hired servant. The father's love was too great, and out of his mercy and grace, he forgave his son and celebrated his return home with a great feast.

The elder son was angry about this and refused to join in the celebration. He was self-righteous, proud, and bitter and jealous of his brother. He felt that he earned his fathers' love because he obeyed his father and did as he said, yet he never received such attention as his brother was receiving. The lesson in this is that we can't earn God's love by our good deeds and our religious rituals. God chooses to love us unconditionally. Out of God's love for us, we in return are to love Him, and we express our love and gratitude to God by obeying Him and doing good works. We don't do good works in order to earn and gain His love. Christianity and Islam both teach to honor your mother and father. We don't honor our mother and father in order to gain their love and approval, but we honor our mother and father because they already love us and approve of us, and we do not want to hurt them and displease them. So it is with God.

What about Allah as taught in the Qur'an and Sunnah? Does Allah love you? Does Allah love those who do wrong? Does Allah love you because you obey Him, pray five times a day, and fast during Ramadan, or does Allah love you because He created you and wants you to have a loving and intimate relationship with Him? Does the father in this parable sound anything like Allah?

I tell you the truth, that God loves everyone, including those who do wrong. If you come to Jesus, you don't have to worry whether He will accept you or not, for if you come towards Him, He is glad, joyful, and excited to run towards you with open arms. He will take away your filthy clothes which is all your sins, and He will give you His own robe of righteousness. He will give you clean, white clothes. Good works will not earn you a clean robe, but a clean robe is a free gift to anyone who turns away from their sins and turns to God and allows Him to pour out His love upon them. If you turn to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, ask Him to forgive you of your sins, and ask Him to come into your life and be your God, then He will take away your sins and make you His son or daughter. God's children are not of flesh, but of His Spirit. Prophet Ezekiel spoke a word from God which is this: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them" (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

Only a loving Father in heaven would give His people such great gifts, no matter what they have done in the past. God is most gracious, most merciful, quick to forgive, the cherisher and sustainer of the world, master of the Day of Judgment, He is worthy of worship and His love endures forever. May God's love be received by your eyes, ears, and understood in your heart. You are dead, but can be made alive. You are lost, but can be found. Perfect love casts out fear.

Much love to you all, and grace and peace to you from the God who gives freely out of His love for all human beings. Amen.