The Forgotten Prodigal Son

Transcripts for Dr. Wiersbe's sermons are forthcoming. Below is an outline of his message.

There are three sons involved in the story of the prodigal son: the prodigal, the older brother, and the eternal Son.

The greatest truth we can learn is truth about Jesus Christ.

We should be living now as if we will see Jesus tomorrow.

Learning more about Jesus helps us love Him more.

Comparing the prodigal son with Jesus teaches us seven lessons about the Savior.

• Both sons were loved by their Father.
  • When the prodigal son left home, he had to learn the hard way how much his father loved him.
  • The father’s love drew the prodigal son back home.
  • Both sons were given an inheritance, Jesus trusted His Father in what to do.
  • Jesus and God both love us just as much as God the Father loves the Son.
• Both sons left home.
  • The home that Jesus left was far greater than the home the prodigal left.
  • Jesus left to go to a much more difficult situation than the prodigal.
  • The prodigal son seemingly got what he deserved.
  • Jesus came and suffered for sins that were not His.
• Both sons were lavish in their spending.
  • Prodigal can mean lavish or wasteful.
  • God was lavish in creation.
  • Jesus was lavish in the way He spent of Himself.
  • Jesus gave the greatest gift He could: dying for our sins.
  • The prodigal son was wasteful in sin, but Jesus is extravagant in grace.
• Both sons became poor.
  • The prodigal son took his great wealth and wasted it.
  • Jesus became poor because He knew we were poor.
  • We have a poverty of spiritual things.
  • Jesus entered into the tragic waste of sin.
• Both sons became servants.
  • The prodigal son intended to be a leader, but when he ran out of money, he became a servant taking care of pigs.
  • The prodigal son became a slave to things, people, and pigs.
  • Jesus came to Earth and served us.
• Both sons were forsaken.
  • When the prodigal son left home, there was no one taking care of him.
  • Sin leads to loneliness and isolation.
  • Everything the prodigal son lived on was a substitute.
  • Jesus suffered alone on the cross for our sake.
  • God has never forsaken anyone except His Son.
• Both sons were welcomed home again.
  • According to Old Testament law, the prodigal son could have been killed when he came home.
  • The message of this parable is that God welcomes sinners home when they repent.
  • Jesus went back home because His work on Earth was done.
  • Because Jesus went home, we have a home to go to as well.