“But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet...” (Luk 15:20)
This is a well known parable, most Christians have either heard of it or study on it. And there is still a lot for us yet to learn and to live by.
There are ultimately two messages here. To those who are lost and are now living under slavery to the power and the curse of Sin, the Word is saying “Come back to home to make peace with God.” To those who have been delivered from the judgement of Sin through accepting Jesus (as written by God’s Word in the Bible), God is saying “come to recognize what you have been restored with and live by it.”
In this parable, Jesus spoke of the restoration of our Heavenly Father in three aspects. And we will look into every one of them.
But first of all, I want you to see that Jesus did not use the example of a relationship between a master and a servant. That may be the way a lot of people relate themselves to God, as a servant to a master. But watch this, Jesus used the example of a relationship between a Father and a son. Think about the love of this Father. While the son was still far away, the Father saw him. He has been out there all the time looking out to hope for the homecoming of his son. And Jesus said the Father was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him affectionately. That is the kind of lovingkindness of our Heavenly Father.
Do you see God as your father?
A lot of Christians see God as the God of their religion, some see Him as the God of their parents. Most common Christians just see God as, well, the God of all creations. And you have yet to open you eyes to see God as your Father.
We have enough believers calling themselves all kinds of names, I am a Christian, I am a Baptist, I am a methodist, I am a Lutheran, I am a believer. Now how about identifying yourself as “I am a son of God”, “I am a daughter of God”, “I am born of God.”
Yeah the world call him God, and yes He is God, but He is my Papa!
He gave birth to me out of His Spirit. I am born of the Holy Spirit, I am born of Love. I am made with the very substance of God, the very life of God.
Consider this carefully, Jesus said “I have come that you may have ‘life’.” What is the “Life” - that Life which Jesus has offered you? It is the same Life which the Father God has in Himself!
John 5:26 says this: “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself”.
Since you were born again, the life that is in you, the life form that is in you which was infused by Jesus, is the same life that is in the Father God.
We have too many Christians today who only see themselves as worms, as nobody, or just as another ordinary world people. But to all you who have been born again by receiving Jesus, let me tell you something, you are of God, you are in Christ. Gal 4:7 says you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God.
You see, until you get a hold of this revelation, until you get a grip on that self image, until you really see yourself as God’s kid, as God’s son, God’s daughter, God’s heir, you will never fully understand, or appreciate, or walk according to these three things which your Father has restored you with.
The Robe represent Glory and Honor, The Ring represent Power and Authority. The Shoes represent Freedom.
Sons of God, Daughters of God, today I need you to begin to see yourself the heir of God.
You are the heir of God who is supposed to live out His Glory and Honor.
You are the heir of God who is supposed to exercise His authority on the earth.
You are the heir of God who is supposed to walk in the freedom which Jesus. purchased for you.
Let’s look into all three in depth.
First there is the Robe. the Father said “bring out the best robe and put it on him.”
Now to understand this perfectly, you need to bring your perspective back to the Bible times. This is in a culture and a time where the clothing of a person would represent his position, his class and his rank in the society.
The word Robe here refers to a fine garment that comes down to the feet, the kind worn by kings or important people who is in position of Power, Glory and honor.
Now the Father says, “go get the best robe and put it on him.”
If there is a robe in the house, who would it belong to?
This is the Father’s robe!
And the Father said go get the best robe, the one with the finest material. The one that would radiate and shine the best. The one that represent my honor the most, put it on him.
Do you know your Father wants to share with you His glory? He wants you, His heir, to share His honor.
1Pe 1:8 “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory”
1 Pet 4:14 “f you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”
You are sharing the very Glory that God has of Himself.
Consider Rom 8:29-30, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
Now reflect that upon 2 Pet 1:2-3, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature…”
God called you to be His son and His Heir by sharing with you His Glory, and that through this you may partake the very nature of God!
Today I want you to understand if you have received Jesus, you have been born again. And if you have been born again, our Father God has restored you to Glory and honor. You have His Glory!
Ps 8:5 says God has crowned you with glory and honor.
You are suppose to look good. You are suppose to be different. You are supposed to be so different from the world, demonstrating Glory and Honor all the time in every aspect of life. In everything, whether it is in your health, in your relationships, in your wealth.
You know if you want to ever become all that God has prepared for you to be. You have got to put away this one lie - this one deception thinking that “I need my friends to accept me, I need people to approve of me.” “What if they don’t like me if I am different.” “I guess I need to conform with the world, a little here and there, cuz’ I need the world to accept me to approve me.”
And then along the way, you make yourself a low profile Christian. You stop shining.
Here is a clear definition of “low profile”. It means to observe a state of low visibility in order to avoid public notice. We have a young generation of Children of God who become so afraid of being rejected by the world, and so you have been avoiding public notice by carefully maintaining a state of low visibility.
“I am with this crowd here, I guess I will skip praying over this meal, after all, it is no big deal...” “Well I will pray, I will just make it fast not too noticeable.”
Your friends hanging out with you happened to be laughing on some bad jokes. Holy Spirit inside prompting you “don’t laugh with them, don’t go with evil, don’t follow the wicked ways...” But then another thought comes along “But they would think that I am weird or something…” And you follow along with the crowd.
You see that is how born again Christians compromise. That is how we fail to display the manifestation of the Glory, that is how we fail to radiate the Honor.
I have got news for you, you do not need the world’s approval. Don’t you ever look for the world’s acceptance. Jesus approved you. Your Father God has accepted you.
Now, if you can not shine for God, God cannot shine in you.
But if you would begin to shine for God, God will shine in you, God will shine through you.
You ladies, you can spend all your money going after the latest and greatest cosmetics products, you can go Youtube searching for video clips on all the greatest way of makeups. One secret here, you want to radiate true genuine and natural beauty? Let God shine in you, and let Him shine through you.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus prayed in the darkiest hour, when He was suffering excruciating emotional and spiritual pain and turmoil. In such a time when he was grieving to death, Jesus in his prayer to the Father, he was petitioning for you and I and he said “Father the glory which you gave me, I have given to them…”
Your Father God, in all His lovingkindness towards you, has restored you to have His Glory.
Come out of the shadow of that old self, rise up to shine, rise up to radiate.
Love God! Love God! Love God with all your heart and all your strength, love Him enough that you would rise up to be glorious. Love Him enough that you would rise up to show forth the excellence of His Honor.
In next session we will talk about the ring.
