Perfect Father

That's my daddy. He beams with joy,loves unashamedly, and has never met a stranger in his life. He has 3 daughters..no sons (sorry pops) and he loves us each so well.  My relationship with him is one I wouldn't trade for the world. So much of my identity has been shaped by his love, presence, joy, and constant affirmation. 

In Luke 15, Jesus tells the parable a father and his two sons. In my recent live stream I shared about the older son. But let's look at the father's loving response to the older son, specifically. For those of you who've never read the story, this is the basic gist:

• Father has 2 sons.The youngest one asks for the inheritance that he would get when the father dies. The father gave the sons their inheritance. 
• The older son stayed with his father and worked
• The younger son left home, lived recklessly, and decided to go home  when he hit rock bottom. He was hoping to be  servant in his dad's house.
•  While he is on his way home, the father sees him runs to him, hugs him, kisses him, forgives him and throws a GINORMOUS party to celebrate his return.

LET'S ZOOM IN HERE

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The older son, who decided to stay with his father was furious when he saw that his dad did all that for his brother. Therefore he does not enter the party, he stays outside. His father goes to see him and he says "Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!" Luke 15:28- 30

Now let's look at the Father's response. 

"Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.  It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found" Luke 15:31-32

• "Son" -The first word the Father responds with is "Son".He establishes relationship with his words.He speaks to the son's identity and then he responds. 

• "You are always with me"- The son was indeed faithful to be with the Father. The father affirmed his faithfulness. The son has unlimited access to the father. 

• "All I have is yours" - There is nothing that the Father had that the son did not have. All that the Father had was indeed the son's. If the son wanted a young goat to celebrate with his friends, why didn't he ask for one? The father was not withholding from his son.

In the first half of the father's response, we see that he relates to the older son's identity and the relationship he had with him as a father. The father does this even  before mentioning anything about the brother. He addresses the deeper issue. 

The father continues:

• "It was fitting to celebrate and be glad"- The father was a man of joy.  We see here that the father was not afraid to celebrate and to show extravagant means of rejoicing over his children

• "your brother -The Father uses another relational term. He acknowledges the relationship between both sons. He corrects the distant term "your son" used by the older son.  He specifically calls out their brotherhood 

•  was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found" - The Father extends full forgiveness, redemption, and restoration. 

The father in this parable, much like my own daddy, serves as reflections of our Heavenly Father. In Christ, we have a Father who offers Himself to us. He is not distant or far-off. We have a Father who is joyful and rejoices over us with gladness (Zeph 3:17). We have a Father who calls us into a family. We have a Father who erases our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). What love is this?!

I know some of you have had fathers who have let you down, ones who were never there, or who have hurt you in ways unimaginable. Please know, that there is a God who wants to heal the brokenness, and fill the emptiness with His everlasting love.

In Christ,

Diana