Have you messed up in your life? Do you know how much God wants you to experience His amazing grace? One of the most famous stories that Jesus told is the Prodigal Son. The Prodigal Son is a story of two sons who took very different paths in life. One was outwardly respectable; the other was a rebel. One looked good; the other acted badly. One seemed like the perfect churchgoer; the other a sinner you would never expect to see in church.

Last week we learned about the older brother who had been faithful and responsible but had also become very harsh, self-righteous and judgemental. He had a bad attitude towards his younger brother who had been so unfaithful and irresponsible. So, when he saw him being blessed by their father, he was angry. The older brother saw himself as a servant of his Dad, rather than a son. He needed to discover the love of the Father (representing God) just as much as his misbehaving brother did.

The younger, prodigal son was somebody who had really messed up, like so many people have in life. He made wrong decisions and got in with the wrong crowd, blew his money and ended up losing virtually everything. He was down but this story shows, he was not out. He was about to receive unexpected and undeserved mercy and a future of more blessings than he could have ever dreamed of. What happened to him can happen to you, especially if you are at a very low point in your life right now. Your paradise is not lost. God still has a paradise for you. This story shows how you can experience great turnaround in your life.

1. The Prodigal Son recognised how far he had gone from his father (Luke 15:11-17)

2. The Prodigal Son decided to return to his father (Luke 15:18-20; James 4:6-7)

3. The Prodigal Son experienced the amazing grace of his father

- Instead of rejection, he received the father’s embrace (Luke 15:20)

- Instead of condemnation, he received a big celebration (Luke 15:22-24,32)

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1. The Prodigal Son recognised how far he had gone from his father (Luke 15:11-17). The prodigal son clearly recognised what mess he had made of his life. He'd had money and he’d done everything he wanted, but he got into big trouble because of his own ego, selfishness, and because of his false values. He had failed to recognise all the blessings he had received through being close with his father. Instead, he thought he would be happy if he could have money, sex, and the party life with many cool friends. But despite doing everything he wanted and spending his inheritance on ‘wild living’, he was not happy. In fact, his friends were not his friends, abandoning him when the money ran out. He had been used. He came to an awful situation where he just begged for a job, and got the absolute lowest, most degrading job for a Jew, of looking after the despised, unclean pigs. He was desperately trying to survive, even if that meant eating the food the pigs were getting. But then he got real and recognised the true state of his life. He came to his senses. He recognised how low he had sunk and how far from the father he had gone. That’s what we must do if we want to see restoration in our lives. But how low do we have to go in life before we come to our senses? How low does a family have to go? How low does a nation have to go before we recognise something is wrong? A road to recovery begins with this recognition of our need of help and of God the Father Himself.

2. The Prodigal Son decided to return to his father. Life is all about making decisions. Not to make decisions is a decision. The greatest decision is to return to God and turn away from living our lives our way. This is something which the Bible calls repentance. Repentance means to turn right around (Luke 15:18-20). After recognising how far he had gone from the father, the prodigal son decided to repent and return to him. He determined that he was going to go back to the father, and that he was going to go humbly. He felt he was no longer worthy to be called the father’s son. He was ready to just plead to see if there was any chance that he would be allowed back as a lowly servant. And this is how we too should come to God, with honesty and humility when we recognise how much we need Him. So often in our culture today, we act as if we're God, and He's got to come on our terms. But if we're going to know God, we must come on His terms. We need to get real with God and acknowledge how we really need to turn around. We must repent of having gone our way and not God’s way (James 4:6-7). Then you can receive the revelation of the Father’s love mercy and grace for all who believe in Jesus Christ.

3. The Prodigal Son experienced the amazing grace of his father. Grace means undeserved favour. Grace cannot be earned; it is something that is freely given. Our world longs for grace. It’s no coincidence that Amazing Grace’ is the world’s best-known and most popular hymn sung in churches and non-religious events all over the world. The hymn writer, John Newton, the former vicious slave trader who became a pastor and leading opponent of slavery, knew first-hand it was only God’s grace that ‘saved a wretch like me.’ We see what true grace looks like in the response of the father when his broken son returned home.

- Instead of rejection, he received the father’s embrace (Luke 15:20). The Father had been looking for lost son all the time. He had never given up on him. While he was a great way off, the father saw this bedraggled, poor, hungry, skinny figure, coming towards him. And he was so excited that he ran towards him and warmly embraced him, hugging and kissing him. The Prodigal had made big mistakes, but the father was more concerned about him than the mistakes he had made. He just wanted to have his son close with him. This is what God our Heavenly Father is like. He’s the best father. God is full of compassion for you and wants you to receive His embrace today.

- Instead of condemnation, he received a big celebration. Instead of telling him off, punishing him and accepting the son’s offer to keep him as a servant, the father went over the top in his celebrations (Luke 15:22-24). The father gave him the best new clothes, new shoes and a ring of new authority. He threw a huge party for him. The Father was so happy because his missing son had come home. And when his older son complained, the dad explained why they could not contain their joy (Luke 15:32). Today, if you have got into trouble and gone far from God, it’s time to recognise your mess and return to your heavenly father who wants to welcome you home. He wants to clean you up and give you new clothes of righteousness. He wants to bless you as a son or daughter. He wants to embrace you with his unconditional and never-failing love. This is why Jesus came into the world: to seek and to save those who are lost. God is not out to beat, humiliate you or turn you away.

Right now, is your opportunity to come home to God and to receive his amazing grace and mercy. (See hymn: ‘Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling’, that was sung at the funeral of Dr Martin Luther King Jnr.)