Kenneth Copeland - Receive as a Child, Live Like a King

From the time I was 6 years old, I wanted a motorcycle. I dreamed about motorcycles all the time.

I can remember coming home from school when I was a boy, and as I would turn the last corner before I could see our house, I would cover my eyes so I couldnt see the yard. Then Id tell myself, Theres going to be a motorcycle in that yard.

Day after day, I hid my eyes. Day after day, I pretended I would see a motorcycle sitting there. Day after day, I never did. So I just kept dreaming.

Like most kids I knew, I grew up thinking that, if there was something I wanted and I had to ask my parents for it, then I could count on having a hard time getting it...like a motorcycle, for instance. Why was that?

Well, if you think about it, probably generations of children have been raised on, No, not now! and, What do you need that for, anyway?

Today, you can go into any department store, toy store or grocery store and hear some parent say, No, no... put that backwe cant afford that! or, What do you think Im made ofmoney?

I dont care whether theyre rich or poor, Christian or non-Christian, thats the general attitude a lot of parents communicate when their children come to them asking for something. Whats more, most of those parents probably dont mean to be that way.

Its no surprise, then, to realize that generations of Christians have been raised in church believing its next to impossible to get anything from God.

Now, I was raised in a wonderful, godly home by parents who were givers. They tithed on everything that came into their hands from the day they were married. They never did without, either. Yet, from the way I was raised at home and what I was taught in church, I assumed it was next to impossible to get anything from God.

You see, for centuries, the Church focused on scriptures such as Romans 3:23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Preachers majored on our falling short of Gods glory. In sermon after sermon, we heard how we needed to become Gods servants and humble ourselves as slaves before Him.

Do you realize our servitude doesnt mean a thing to God? It really doesnt. Not until we take our place as His children, first.

When you and I were born again, we didnt become Gods servants. We became His children, which was what He was after all along. We became children of the King, sons and daughters of the Most High God. And because of that, we gained access to a glorious inheritanceone that we didnt have to wait until heaven to receive.

Today, however, the Church is not walking in and enjoying the fullness of its rightful inheritanceall the blessings promised to us through our spiritual father, Abraham. The reason were not is because weve not known our true identity. We havent received our sonship in the kingdom of God.

When it comes to inheritance and serving God, weve all probably heard plenty of preaching on the parable of the prodigal son, and most of it probably focused on the son who squandered his fathers money. But theres another point to that story about a father and his two sons. Its not just about the son who got into trouble.

The parable begins in Luke 15:11-16:

A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

It was the younger son who went to his father and asked for his inheritance. But notice how this bold request didnt seem to upset the father in the least. Thats an important detail we need to keep in mind as we study this passage.

After the father divided his holdings and gave his younger son what was rightfully his, the first thing this young fellow did with his newfound wealth was hit the road. He went looking for a good time. The only problem was , he didnt have the wisdom to handle all his riches. Consequently, his riotous living came to a sobering endin a pigpen.

When it finally dawned on the young man that the hogs he tended were eating better than he was, he came to his senses. Then he came up with a plan, which we find in verses

18-19: I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

The way this son figured it, his fathers servants were better off than he was. So, if he could just go back home, humble himself before his father and get hired on as one of the help, hed be doing pretty good.

It was a good plan. Whats more, it worked...that is, up to a point.

When the prodigal son went home, his father met him before he even made it back to the house. The repentant son confessed his error and told his father how wrong he had been and how unworthy he was to be called a son. But then the plan began to fall apart.

Before the son could throw himself at his fathers mercy, and ask to be made a servant, the father interrupted: Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found (verses 22-24).

Now, let me ask you this: Had the prodigal son been able to carry out his plan, do you think his father would have agreed to it?

No, certainly not! Just look at his response.

This father was thrilled to have his boy back, pig smell and all. In fact, he was probably so busy kissing and hugging and just looking at his boy that he never even heard a word his son said.

Reduce his long-lost son to the status of servant?

Nonsense!

But notice this. Heres the son, working up enough nerve to ask his father if he can come back home and live as one of the servants, and the whole time hes trying to ease into the question, his father is busy barking orders to all the servantsGet this... get that! Do this ...do that! The man has servants hopping all over the place.

This man already had servants. The prodigal son even said so himself: How many hired servants of my fathers have bread enough and to spare (verse 17).

If the man had many servants, what did he need with another one?

No, on this particular day, when the father looked a great way off, he wasnt looking for another servant.

He had servants. What he lacked was s-o-n-s. He was looking for a son... and a son was what he got.

The prodigal son never got his opportunity to become a servant, at least not the way he had planned. His plan actually backfired on him, but in a good way. Before he knew what had happened, he was wearing a robe and a ring and was sitting down to a feast in his honor . That meant he was back in the family. He was a son once again.

In teaching His followers, Jesus could have ended the parable on this happy note, but He didnt. It was only half the story.

The rest of the story is in Luke 15:25-30. Its the part about the other son.

Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him. And he answering said to his