It is a picture of us. This parallels the creation account. God gave man free will and once man spurned God, took life for himself. God says, ‘I have put you on earth to love and discover me’, and we say, ‘You have no right to ask me anything.’ Here we are high above the animals, able to relate to God, and yet, when we hear that Christ is the only way to come to God and to seek a new life, we say to him, ‘Get out of my life.’ Pride rises up in our hearts. What will happen if I go through life saying, ‘I don’t need God’? Has that been the hallmark of your life so far? This son had no fear of the consequences, and nor do we. There are consequences, but we are ungrateful, insulting, arrogant, and we won’t listen. We have insufficient fear of the judgment to come. Maybe we are fooled by the world’s message. The son maybe said, ‘My father will never do anything to me. I can reject him. I am his son.’ But you were made by him. ‘I don’t believe that. I believe we all evolved by sheer chance, and I owe nothing to any Creator. I am not going to listen. I have things I want to do with my life.’ Consequently we are alone with no divine helper. ‘Come and receive life from above’, he says. ‘Be put on the heavenly road.’ But we respond, ‘I will not.’
But later he repented and went in. The obvious implication is that he was received; he was allowed to go in. It is a picture of acceptance. We do not want to give any the idea that you can spin it out, and delay coming to God till you feel like it. You cannot be sure he will accept you, or that you will still sincerely desire to come. We may become fixed in antagonism and hard-heartedness. But many do come back. John Newton preached in central London. As a young man he was a rebel. He kicked over the traces and was thrown out, and joined the slave trade in Africa, and himself became a slave. He lived a scandalous life. He was rounded up to be sent home on a vessel, caught up in the storm, and all but wrecked. During that storm he found Christ as Lord and Saviour. What happened to him? Was it just that he feared death and hell? Well he did. But he saw his wretchedness – what he had done. He saw his own depraved condition, and he asked the Lord to save him. Many tastes life without God and see through it. We need to come to the Lord and go into his kingdom. No one does this naturally. When we come to regret our conduct it is always because God puts his finger on our conscience. The entrance to God’s kingdom is Calvary, where Jesus Christ paid the price for all who will believe in him, and cancelled their debt to God. To come to him leads to love, status, the guidance of God, a profound change of your character. We say, ‘Lord, forgive me my sins. I admit I have broken your laws.’ Fall at his feet, and he will hear you. In fact almost everybody has a period in which they rebelled. We hear this in the testimonies of God’s people. Many have previously rejected God, but repent of what they have done. When we do, he opens the door and lets us in and blesses us.