Our Prodigal God

Prodigal has come to mean, in the Christian vernacular, a reprobate wretch. The word more accurately describes wasteful spending, or even just someone who is free with money. Tim Keller, following Spurgeon’s example, uses the term to refer to God — God as incredibly free with His grace and love. God is our prodigal God, in this sense.

Keller has authored a book with that title, and it is to be published by a secular publishing house. I hope the title grabs people’s attention and gets more to take a look at his book.

The book focuses on the story of the Prodigal son, and in the introduction Keller points out a sermon by Edmund Clowney as being very influential in his Christian life, and a formative influence for the book. Crossway has kindly made the print version of that sermon available online for free (as a pdf) [HT: Justin Taylor]. It comes from Crossway’s book entitled Preaching Christ from All of Scripture by Clowney. I really enjoyed the sermon when I read it from my copy of the book a couple years back, so I wanted to be sure to link to the online version of the sermon. Here is the conclusion of the sermon, but I encourage you to read the whole thing, its a quick and easy, yet spiritually moving read.

Come home to the Father’s love, to the joy of Jesus’ feast. Are
you a prodigal, far from the gate of heaven? Jesus now comes to lift
you up. Are you a smug Pharisee, flaunting the filthy rags of your selfrighteousness
outside the Father’s house? Hear the words of Jesus:
his Father calls you to repent and come home as a little child. Or are
you somehow both at once: prodigal and proud, debased but despising?
No matter; cast all away and hold fast to Jesus.

Or are you a believer? Has Jesus found you like the lost sheep and
borne you home on his shoulder? Then consider the demand this
parable puts on you. You have tasted of heaven’s grace. You know the
embrace of your Father’s love. You know that he rejoices over you
with singing. What does heaven’s joy, his joy, over lost sinners mean
to you?

You say, “It means that I, too, must welcome sinners, be ready to
eat with them, even as I have been brought to his table.” Is that
enough? The true Son, who knows his Father’s heart, did not simply
share with sinners his robe, his ring, his sandals. He went to find
them to bring them home. Where will you look today?

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is
love” (1 John 4:8, NIV).