Introduction:

God’s Invitation for Reconciliation

Throughout the Bible, individuals with faith in God are referred to as fruit-bearing trees. Jeremiah 17:7-8 reads, “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”

God’s will for your life is your sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Sanctification means to set apart as holy or for holy use. God desires that you plant your faith firmly in the soil of His truth, allowing your roots to be nourished with living water so He can help you grow to be a healthy, fruit-bearing tree! When praying to the Father, Jesus said, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17 ESV).

In today’s culture, truth is regarded as subjective, meaning what is true for you is not true for me. In reality, truth, by its very nature, is exclusive. For example, if you are wearing a red shirt, that means you are not wearing a blue, green, or white shirt. If your grandmother’s house is on 14th Avenue, that means it is not on 7th, 10th, or 164th. The reality that truth is exclusive is fundamental to remember because Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father [God] except through me [the Son]” (John 14:6). That means that all the other religious, works-based methods for being reconciled to God and earning salvation apart from Jesus Christ are not the way, not the truth, and not the life!

Throughout history, many people have taught a wide range of claims regarding God and how to be reconciled to Him. So you may be asking, “How do we know Jesus’ words were trustworthy?” The answer is authority. All the other people who spoke before and after Jesus about everlasting life died. Jesus’ life was not only written about hundreds of years before his arrival through the prophets, but he spoke plainly about his resurrection from the dead prior to his crucifixion (John 2:18-22). After his death, Jesus appeared to the disciples and more than 500 people at one time (1 Corinthians 15:3-6). His resurrection from the dead gave him supreme authority, proving that his words regarding God’s restorative plan for all humankind to obtain everlasting life and be reconciled through himself were trustworthy and true!

The Road Home study is a compact yet comprehensive teaching based on the parable of the Prodigal Son story. This short story provides a powerful framework for detailing the love of the Father and the basis for understanding true salvation. Salvation means deliverance, and Jesus’ work offers an accessible path of reconciliation to God for everyone who believes. 

The Prodigal Son story begins in Luke’s gospel: “Tax collectors and other notorious sinners came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such despicable people—even eating with them!” (Luke 15:1-2). Jesus shared two short stories, and then, to illustrate the point further, he told them a parable. A parable is a short story that reveals a spiritual truth. 

This simple parable illuminates the Good News of the gospel message and highlights God’s love for all those who desire reconciliation with Him.

CHAPTER INDEX: Introduction | The Prodigal Story | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Who are you in God’s Story?