Lost Identity. Found Identity — Part 2 of 4

And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father …. Luke 15:20 NKJV.

In the last Brief Word we talked about the Prodigal Son, who lost his identity. The beginning of his journey back to his true self, was that he came to himself. What an interesting statement.

David Guzik in his commentary on Luke 15 says this.

In his misery the prodigal son was finally able to think clearly. Before it might be said that he wasn’t really himself and thought as another man; then he came to himself.

In his rebellion and disobedience, he wasn’t himself.

In his years of riot he was not himself. It was not the prodigal who was the real man. The real man was the penitent, not the prodigal.

In his clear thinking he didn’t think of how to improve conditions in the pigpen. He didn’t blame his father, his brother, his friends, his boss, or the pigs. He recognised his misery without focusing on it, and instead focused on his father.

(David Guzik www.blueletterbible.org).

Here’s four things from this chapter about the son.

1. And he arose.

You could say he had a revelation. Something finally dawned on him. He had to have his own epiphany, his own revelation, of his true condition. We can never appreciate the extent of the grace of God, until we’ve appreciated the extent our sin has taken us away from Him, and the impossibility we have of ourselves of bringing about restoration.

An understanding of how lost we are, how undone, how far away, how incomplete we are, how absolutely hopeless and helpless we are apart from Divine intervention, is necessary, so that we know, we have to leave here. And here, is where we are at in regards to our identity, our walk with God, when we were apart from God and outside of His grace.

This son realised something. He understood that where he was, was not helping him one bit, and only going back to his father would bring any measure of life.

2. And came to his father.

A revelation about our identity always involves coming to The Father. Fathers give identity.

Sadly many people cannot relate to a father figure in their life and thus find it difficult to connect with God as their Father. All the baggage about fathers, the false mind-sets, the wrong paradigms, the wrong doctrine, must be left behind, loosed from us, released, so that we can come to the Father.

A revelation about who we are always involves a revelation about God The Father!

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He starts by saying, Our Father. (Matthew 6:9). This was very unusual for the Jews of that day to call God Father, because it was considered too intimate. By addressing God as our Father we are rightly understanding who we pray to, and it also reveals the privileged relationship we have with Him.

Yes God is the Sovereign, He is the Master of the Universe, the Creator, Governor and Judge of all, but He is also our Father.

3. But when he was still a great way off.

The revelation about how bad we are, how lost we are, how undone, how far away, how incomplete we are apart from Christ, is like the beginning of the journey back. We are on the way, but there still a long way to go to a full understanding and comprehending and living out our identity.

Unbeknown to the son, even when he was a great way off, something was happening. His father had not forgotten his son. We may think that we are so far off, so far away, that no one even God can’t see us and our state and condition. But not so.

Are we a great way off, from having a sense of identity? Are we a great way off, from living our life with purpose, meaning and a sense of destiny? Are we a great way off, from not just being a Christian but living as one and reflecting our father’s image?

May the greater revelation be to us about who our Heavenly Father is and who we are in Him. (More on that in Part 4).

4. His father.

His father. There’s something wonderful and personal in that statement; his father. The prodigal was in a terrible place. He’d left the household to go it alone, and he’d squandered much of the father’s goods. But the prodigal was still his father’s son and he was the son of that man, his father.

In the physical realm, all of us have one man, who is our father. That small word his links these two men together in a relationship that is very very special. Not everyone can say that of that man. My own father also had two sons, my brother and I. There’s only the two of us that can say of that man, our father, that we are his sons. No one else.

No matter what state the son was in, he was still the son of his father. The father was still his father.

The prodigal in his misery, rebellion and disobedience, wasn’t himself. But once he came to himself, he was able to think clearly and just knew he had to go back to his father.

You may not fully comprehend it, but you are the son, or the daughter, of your Heavenly Father. Yes you are. The Prodigal son came to himself. He had a revelation. He had moment, an epiphany. He had a light come on in his understanding.

Then he arose and came to his father. Being with the Father is the place of maximum security. There’s an incredible joy and security in knowing we are the son, we are the daughter. of God the Father.

In the next Brief Word we’ll explore some of the attributes of the prodigal’s father.