El Camino A Casa Leccion 9

The Way Home, a biblical study for inmates, written by Pastor Leroy Johnson and produced by Christ for all nations. All Rights Reserved, 2024. Let's listen to the introduction of Lesson 9, Restoring or Destroying. Welcome. Lesson 9, Restoring or Destroying. A father who discovers that his eldest son has ceased to have communion with him, with the family, and with his younger brother. What a terrible situation! The father wants to create a memorial, an anchor, that lasts a lifetime for the new birth or return of his youngest son, and for the renewal of the mind and heart of his eldest son, without hindering the festivities for the return of the youngest son. Will he do the right thing before the eyes of God to win over both sons? What picture do the Scriptures paint here? The purpose of this lesson is to restore both sons to the place that corresponds to them in the family, just as God wants to restore us to our place in his family. Let's review again the text of Luke, chapter 15. The eldest brother was angry and did not want to come in. His father went out and begged him to come in, but he replied, All these years I have worked for you like a donkey, and I never refused to do anything you asked me to do. And in all that time, you did not give me a little boy to celebrate with my friends. However, when this son of yours returns after having spent your money on prostitutes, do you kill the fattened calf to celebrate? In our last lesson, we talked a lot about what anger is and how it can negatively affect us if we do not put an end to it. Here we will make a brief summary and then we will go deeper. We saw in detail the anger of the eldest son, the characteristics he showed and some of the reasons why he had this resentment, both against his father and against his brother, and how he let out his anger. It was like a time bomb ready to explode. Part of his unhappiness must have arisen from the envy he felt towards his younger brother. The words of Saint James 3.16 are appropriate here, where there is envy and selfish ambitions, there will also be disorder and all kinds of evil. Perhaps he also wanted to venture and leave the farm like his younger brother, but out of fear or feeling that it was his responsibility to stay with his father, he did not. It is very possible that during the time that his brother was absent, he imagined the exciting things that his brother would be experiencing, and that would generate resentment in his heart. His dialogue with himself was perhaps something like this. You should have done the same. You are the eldest son and you are trapped here. Perhaps you will never have the opportunity to leave. It would be natural for him to feel that way. The eldest son was angry and did not want to go to the party. His father went out and begged him. This father is very similar to God. When Adam lost communion with God, God immediately sought him and made provision for him to recover it. The Father in our history leaves the presence of his guests. and the son who has just returned to be a mediator. The Scriptures say that Jesus is the mediator between God and man, and to restore companionship between his children and with him, using a similar approach to that which the apostle Paul offered to the believers in the Church of Galatia. In Galatians chapter 6 we read, Beloved brothers, if another believer is dominated by some sin, you, who are spiritual, should help him to return to the straight path with tenderness and humility. And be very careful not to fall into the same temptation.

Help each other to carry the burdens of the others, and obey in that way the law of Christ. Saint Paul himself writes to the Corinthians, Love is never defeated, it never loses faith, it always has hopes, and it remains firm in all circumstances. This father remained in faith, waiting a long time for the return of his youngest son. God is so faithful to us. He blesses the youngest son, allowing him to return home safe and sound, and the father recovers his lost son. He likes to have him at home, but not long before his faith and his love are put to the test again. The father listens in silence while his eldest son tells him, All these years I have worked for you like a donkey, and I never refused to do anything you asked me to do. And all this time you didn't give me a kid to celebrate with my friends. However, when this son of yours returns, after having spent your money on prostitutes, you kill the fattened calf to celebrate. The father realizes that his son does not understand the meaning of this celebration. When he looks at him, he feels his pain, and then gently explains to him, Look, dear son, you have always been by my side, and everything I have is yours. In other words, he is telling him how much he loves him, and how much he appreciates everything he has done for him and for the family. I can hear him say, I apologize for not telling you how much I love and appreciate you. When something belongs to you, you can do whatever you want with it. Everything I have is yours, it has always been, and it will always be. Nothing or no one can change that. When you give an order or make a decision, it is as if I gave it or took it. I support you. The father feels in his heart that his eldest son now receives his love and forgiveness. He feels that now he can explain to him the spiritual meaning of why he must enter to welcome his brother home. We had to celebrate this happy day, because your brother was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and now he has been found. Probably in his heart he is praying, Lord, you have been faithful to me and I thank you very much.

I ask you to give me the right words. Here it would be appropriate to share the words of Isaiah 53, 6 with his eldest son, where he says, all of us have been lost like sheep, we have left the ways of God to follow ours. However, the Lord put on him the sins of all of us. To that, I could have added the following and that we read of Jesus in Matthew 18, 12. Like those sheep, your brother was lost. He abandoned the plan of God for his life. He did his thing, but God protected him and brought him back. Son, you know the Scriptures and you understand agriculture. Think about this. If a man has 100 sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Will he not leave the other 99 in the hills and go out to look for the lost one? Another wonderful example that supports the Bible. The need for celebration and restoration is found in Luke 15, 8, 10, where Jesus said, Let us suppose that a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Will she not light a lamp and sweep the whole house and look carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call her friends and neighbors and tell them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost coin. In the same way, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God when a single sinner repents. Sometimes, the more emotional and immature a person is, the more a tragedy will affect him. Today, God uses His Word as an anchor to secure our place in Him. What is an anchor? Well, an anchor is a source of security or stability. It is something that keeps someone or something firm. You can see Hebrews 6, verses 18 to 20. When we are not sure of His love or of His provisions for us, we can go to the Word of God. The Bible tells us, in Numbers 23, that God does not lie, so we are sure that He will do what He says. He will supply our needs. In the Old Testament, God made the children of Israel collect large stones

and make commemorative monuments so that their children would remember what God had done for them in the past. David encouraged himself by remembering how God had delivered him from the bear and the lion, so he would do the same with the giant. These memorials or anchors are testimonies of God's kindness. The father understood this principle. He knew that he had to establish a memorial for his son. That is why he had the fattened calf killed. He called all the neighbors and declared that day as the day of restoration for his younger son, giving him full access once again to all the rights and privileges of a son. He did all this so that in the future, when his son's past tries to discourage him and condemn him, he would have memories of that feast that his father gave him. That son who once was lost but who has now been found, who was dead in sin but who is now alive for God, will have the security of his father's love and of his good position in the family. You will use a similar principle on your way home after your state of confinement or any important difficulty in which you find yourself. God said, if you openly declare that Jesus is the Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, as we read in Romans 10, 9. Perhaps you remember that in lesson 6 we gave you a short prayer. When you did that prayer, you confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and established an anchor in your life. You can look back and remember your experience of salvation. God gives you a new life if you receive it and follow his plan for you. Now, how can you anchor this in your heart, intentionally studying the word of God and keeping it in your heart? There will be occasions, and there can be many, in which Satan will want to make you believe that you have not changed. He will remind you of your past, throw it in your face and try to condemn you. It is your responsibility to learn what God says about you in his word and apply it in your life.

It is similar to planting seeds and waiting for the harvest. When you plant the word of God in your heart by listening to it, reading it and studying it, it grows in the same way that seeds grow on earth and produce fruit in your life. Those fruits are the anchor that you return to and that keeps you firm when you doubt or are not sure. What can be learned from this father and his eldest son? On the one hand, the father shows himself with a loving, forgiving, suffering, generous, persistent, mature, compassionate, wise, tender love, and shows the character of God. While on the other hand, what do we see in the eldest son? A selfish person, who holds hatred, bitterness and also anger, who does not forgive, immature, jealous and insecure, mean, stubborn, with a hard heart and with the character of a Christian baby. To mature spiritually and show the characteristics of both the Father and God, our Father, it is necessary that you belong to a church or community of believers centered on Christ and where the Bible is taught. As you go through life, you will meet people who fit into the two previous profiles. Sometimes it will seem to you that they are more the people who are like the eldest son of our election. Many will say that they are Christians, but their actions will be completely opposite to what the Bible says that he is a Christian. You will find people like that everywhere, in your family, at work, in the church. Some are egocentric, everything is about them, they do not consider others. Others hold resentment and bitterness, are negative and depress others. Others will speak ill of you or curse you, steal from you or lie to you and sometimes they will even do it with a smile on their face. Perhaps you wonder how they can be like that if they say they are Christians. They can act that way because they have not grown spiritually. The fruits of the Spirit are not present in their lives. Romans 12.2 tells us to renew our mind with the word of God and that we will not conform to this world. The better you understand this, the more success you will have in your relationships and in your personal life. Knowing why people act the way they do will help you live more peacefully with them. There are times when you will want to get angry or take retaliation for a suffered damage, but knowing this information and the information that follows in the next lessons will help you live a peaceful and pleasant life with God. Questions to apply what you have learned Now we ask ourselves some questions that will help us think a little about the lesson of this day.

If you have your guide at hand, we invite you to review the following questions with us. Do you think the Father in this story was persistent? Yes or no? According to 1 Corinthians 13, what is the correct answer? Does love never give up? Does it never lose faith? Does it always have hope? Does it remain firm in all circumstances? All the above? Based on this lesson, write three words that describe the eldest son. Based on this lesson, write three words that describe the father. What does Isaiah 53, 6 say about us and our path? Who has a character more similar to that of God? The father or the eldest son? According to this lesson, what is an anchor? What does Romans 12, 2 say about our transformation? Answer with your own words. Why is there joy and celebration when something is lost? Here you can read Luke 15, 8 to 10. The title of this lesson is Restoring or Destroying. Was the father able to restore his found son to the position that suits him in the family, without destroying his relationship with his eldest son, who was angry? We can conclude this biblical study by saying that both sons... The biblical passage ends with Luke 15, 32, where the father explains why he had to celebrate the return of his youngest son. Throughout these lessons, we see the character of God manifested in the actions of the father towards his two sons. We know that God was working with him because he was doing the right thing with both sons. In the same way, in our lives, God always wants us to be in communion with him and with others. This father faced trials and tribulations and triumphed through them. It is a good example for you to see how important it is to do the right thing and persevere in every situation. Now we invite you to continue this journey home with Lesson 10. How to live successfully one day at a time. Until next time. Biblical passage for inmates, written by Pastor Leroy Johnson and produced by Christ for All Nations. All Rights Reserved. 2024.