Everybody loves a good story, and the Bible is filled with them. Jesus used them to teach many important truths. In a minute, I’m going to share a very interesting modern story with you. I hope it will teach an important and encouraging truth, too. After you’ve read the story, I’d love to hear what you think about it.
But first, a quick word about the stories Jesus told.
A story that teaches truth is called a “parable.” In the recorded teachings of Jesus, He used parables more than 35% of the time.
Jesus has long been regarded as a master teacher, even by those who don’t follow Him. His parables taught complex ideas by sharing down-to-earth stories that anyone could relate to.
This is how Jesus used parables. He would get his listener’s attention by painting an interesting mental picture, and then He would apply that story to teach God’s truth in a way never understood before.
Instead of repeating one of the stories that Jesus told, I want to retell a modern-day parable I found recently.
Imagine that you are a young person who is completely out of control (some of us may not even need to use our imagination for this). Your parents have thrown you out of the house, and you have been in and out of trouble with the law for years. You show no regard for anyone but yourself.
One day you and two of your friends steal a car and go for joy ride. Later that night, you are cruising around in a nice suburban neighborhood. On a whim you suggest that it would be fun to find a home to rob. After driving around for a few minutes, you find a beautiful home that appears empty. The three of you sneak around to the back of the house, break a window, open it up, and crawl in. After you are sure no one is home, you ransack the place and take some jewelry, cash, and a couple of appliances. With wild excitement, you charge back to the stolen car with all of your loot. As you’re tossing it inside, four policemen seem to come out of nowhere, they slap handcuffs on you and your friends. A neighbor had seen the three of you and had called the police,.
While you are being booked and fingerprinted at the police station, you notice a middle-aged man meeting with a policeman in the next room. He talks with the Sergeant and signs some papers. Then the arresting officer comes in your holding cell and says, “I have some unbelievable news for you. The owner of the house you burglarized tonight just came in. He has chosen to press charges against your two friends, but not against you. But that is not all; he is also starting the legal process of adopting you as his son so that you can live with him in that beautiful house you burglarized.” The policeman removes your handcuffs and tells you that you are free to go.
That story pictures what God has done for every Christian. God not only decides by His grace to set them free from the penalty of sin, He also adopts them as one of His children. Wow! “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! I haven’t stolen a car or robbed a house, but I have taken from God the gratitude and thanks that He deserves (see Romans 1:21). It is beyond amazing that God would step in and pay my sin debt. Even more than that, He has also taken and embraced me as His child! “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, [i.e. guilty of breaking God’s Law] that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4–5). The gift of forgiveness and adoption is ONLY available through Christ. “… In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (Ephesians 1:4–5). Does this story raise questions in your mind? Would you like to make sure that you have been adopted into God’s family? Please feel free to contact me, and I’ll do everything I can to answer your questions.
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