There is something about Easter Sunday. It is a day of hope and restoration, when many take the first step toward forgiveness and healing.

If you are here today, it is not by accident. God is drawing you to Himself, and He is inviting you into restored relationship. His hand of mercy and grace is extended to all who would trust in Him.

For many, you may have heard the story of the cross a thousand times, but for some, this may be the first time or the first time in a long time. My prayer today is that we would hear His voice and respond to His call.

John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

Jesus came into the world to lay down His life. He said in Matthew 20:28 “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John1:29. He was betrayed in the garden of Gethsemane by Judas Iscariot with a kiss. The disciples fled from Him, and they arrested Him.

They beat him, mocked him, and plucked the beard from His face. They falsely accused Him before Pontius Pilate. They led him away to be scourged. After he was scourged, they placed a purple robe on him and drove a crown of thorns Into His head. They continued to mock him and ultimately led him away to be crucified.

He carried His cross to the hill known as Golgotha (the place of the skull). There, He was nailed to the cross to pay the price for sin. While he hung on the cross, they gambled for His clothes while continuing to mock and ridicule Him. Ultimately, this led to His death.

Although it felt like all was lost to the disciples, and it seemed like Christ’s death was Satan’s triumph. Sunday came!

Today, we rejoice in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ because He has paid the price for us to receive eternal life.

Romans 5:20-21 says, “Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Maybe you are here today and don’t feel worthy to receive from the Lord. I want to share a story that demonstrates the heart of the Father towards you.

This story is known as the story of the prodigal son. In it, the younger son essentially tells his father you’re dead to me. Give me my inheritance.

The father divides his portion, and the son leaves to live on his own terms. As a result, he squanders his inheritance in sinful living with prostitutes and wild parties.

What seemed like pleasure and freedom eventually let him down. As a famine arose in the land, he found himself humiliated and hungry, feeding pigs. He was so desperate that he longed to fill his stomach with the food the pigs ate.

His desperation led to a revelation. How many of my father’s servants have bread to spare, and I perish with hunger! He came to his senses and made the decision to return to His father.

Here is the part that we all are met with when we come to terms with the choices of our lives. The questions arise: How could I return after what I have done? How could my father accept me?

I can’t help but think about how many of us subconsciously identify with the son when we hear this story. For whatever reason, in life, we have walked away from the father to live life on our own terms.

We choose to go our own way, and so often our desires drive us from Him. Yet what we realize like the prodigal son is that we thought we wanted didn’t deliver the way we thought it would.

What looked like freedom has left us bound and desperate for change, but like the son in the story, we know we need to return to the Father, but our confidence is robbed. How could I return after all I have done?

Shame leaves us feeling unworthy, and the fear of rejection is overwhelming. If we believe it, we will begin to build narratives in our hearts that we lack value and don’t deserve to be in the family.

My favorite part of this story is that the heart of the Father is revealed. While the son was still a great way off, His father looked for him, and when he saw him in the distance, compassion rose in his heart, and He ran to meet his son, embracing him.

The father restores his son and rejoices over his return. I think for many of us, this revelation of God doesn’t fit the picture we have in our hearts. Many times, we imagine a father who is angry and resistant to our return when in reality the father’s heart is overflowing with joy!

The son that was dead is now alive, and though he was lost, he is now found. This is the Joy of the Resurrection. Jesus has paid the price, and the Father is crying out come home, and I will restore you.

The key, like the son in the story, is coming to our senses and making the decision to come home. In this moment, every one of us needs to inventory our “Far Country”. How much are the habits, distractions, and life on our own terms really costing?

Just like the son, the inventory of our lives will bring revelation, and when we catch a revelation, we do not need to prepare a servant speech. We can have confidence that God desires for us to come home.

Jesus has finished the work of salvation. He became what we could not so that we might be forgiven and set free. He looks with anticipation for our return to him.

Luke 19:10 “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

If we will come to him and confess our sin, He forgives us and cleanses us of all unrighteousness. There is room for you. He sent His son to die in your place so that you can find life and restored relationship with him.