Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The Prodigal Son pt.2 "broken image"

The stories that Jesus told in Luke 15 begin with as we noticed in the first part of the series that something of great value exists, the lost sheep for the shepherd, the lost coin for the woman and the son that goes away is dearly loved by the father. The Bible begins with in its first scene God delights in His creation, God creates, we are told, male and female in His own image. Humanity is to be the image bearers of God. What does that entail completely? I certainly don't fully understand myself, though I fully believe it involves demonstrating the attributes of God in how we live. "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him". (1 John 4:16).
 We see in the parable however that the son ,who would naturally bear his father's image, begins with his actions to break and mar that image. The son says to the father to give him his share of the inheritance, he is basically saying to his father "I wish you were dead". Then he takes his share and goes off to a "far country" and squanders it with "wild living". He then after spending everything is reduced to dependence upon a citizen of that land, and is given the work of feeding his pigs, then becomes so hungry himself he hungers for the food they are eating.
 In a similar way Adam and Eve break the image they were to bear, Cain shortly after murders his brother, the earth in Noah's day becomes filled with violence, and so forth we see evil befall human nature. In our own day we still live in a broken world, a world that needs the healing message of Jesus. It is a world that God seeks to redeem that God still loves, a world itself that God is willing to bear the pain of Himself. "this is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him." (1 John 4:9).

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