PRODIGAL SON: REDEMPTION’S RADIANT REVELATION!

“FOR THE LIFE OF THE FLESH IS IN THE BLOOD: AND I HAVE GIVEN IT TO YOU UPON THE ALTAR TO MAKE AN ATONEMENT FOR YOUR SOULS: FOR IT IS THE BLOOD THAT MAKETH AN ATONEMENT FOR THE SOUL.” (LEVITICUS 17:11, KJV)

ABSTRACT

This article delves into the profound symbolism of the Brazen Altar as the entry point to divine reconciliation, mirrored in the parable of the prodigal son’s father who sacrificially grants inheritance to honor freedom, revealing God’s self-giving love that absorbs pain and offers substitute for sin. It examines how this love demands our response through living sacrifice to God and neighbors, while prophetically pointing to Christ’s eternal atonement as the foundation for mercy in the final judgment, calling the community to embrace and proclaim this grace that keeps the path home eternally open.

BRAZEN BEGINNINGS BECKON!

Before the door of the sanctuary, exposed to the elements, stood the Brazen Altar. It was the first stop for every soul seeking reconciliation, a place of brutal, undeniable reality. Its very name in Hebrew whispers of slaughter, a place where life was surrendered to pay the debt of sin. Here, the sinner came face-to-face with the consequence of his choices, not in theory, but in the visceral reality of a life laid down. The altar was the divine object lesson in the cost of redemption, teaching in blood and fire that sin demands death, and love provides a substitute. We often rush past this stark image, eager to enter the holy place of fellowship, but to misunderstand the altar is to misunderstand the very foundation of grace. God redeems us from the curse of the law, since Christ becomes a curse for us, as it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree (Galatians 3:13, KJV). Christ makes him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21, KJV). Ellen G. White emphasizes that the price paid for our redemption, the infinite sacrifice of our heavenly Father in giving His Son to die for us, should give us exalted conceptions of what we may become through Christ (Steps to Christ, p. 15, 1892). She further declares that oh, the mystery of redemption! the love of God for a world that did not love Him! Who can know the depths of that love which passeth knowledge? Through endless ages immortal minds, seeking to comprehend the mystery of that incomprehensible love, will wonder and adore (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 63, 1890). What does this love—a love that surrenders, absorbs pain, and respects freedom even unto death—truly look like? To find the answer, we must turn from the tabernacle courts to a sun-scorched Galilean homestead, to a moment of profound heartbreak that is, in itself, an altar service. When the younger son in Christ’s parable makes his chilling demand—“Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me”—and the father complies, we are not witnessing an act of parental weakness. We are witnessing the first, agonizing sacrifice in the plan of redemption, a living portrait of the Altar of Sacrifice, where a father lays a portion of his own life down to honor the freedom of the child he loves. But how does this act of dividing the living mirror the deeper truths of atonement?

LIVING DIVIDED DRAMATICALLY!

The younger son’s demand for his inheritance was a dagger to the heart of family, honor, and love. In the cultural context of the time, this was no simple request for an advance on his allowance; it was a public declaration that, to him, his father was already dead. He desired the father’s possessions, not his presence; the benefits of sonship without the relationship. Yet, the father’s response is staggering in its quiet surrender: “And he divided unto them his living” (Luke 15:12, KJV). This was not merely a transfer of property. The Greek word for “living” is bios, the same root from which we derive “biology.” He gave them his very life—his work, his legacy, his future security. This act of division was a tearing, a voluntary wounding, that perfectly mirrors the central truth of the Altar of Sacrifice. The altar was not just a place for an animal to die; it was a place where the life of the worshipper, represented by the innocent substitute, was surrendered to God. As Scripture states, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11, KJV). The father, in giving his bios, was making an atonement in advance, laying down a part of his own life in the desperate hope that his son’s life might one day be restored. Almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission (Hebrews 9:22, KJV). The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23, KJV). Sr. White explains that the Sufferings of Christ. “God is love.” His love manifested toward fallen man, in the gift of his beloved Son, amazed the holy angels (The Sufferings of Christ, p. 2, 1872). She adds that His death had answered the question whether the Father and the Son had sufficient love for man to exercise self-denial and a spirit of sacrifice. Satan had revealed his true character as a liar and a murderer. It was seen that the very same spirit with which he had ruled the children of men who were under his power, he would have manifested if permitted to control the intelligences of heaven. With one voice the loyal universe united in extolling the divine administration (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 69, 1890). This act demonstrates that the cost of redemption is not an abstract theological concept but a tangible, heartbreaking reality. As Sr. White observes, “In order to more fully realize the value of salvation, it is necessary to understand what it cost. In consequence of limited views of the sufferings of the divine Son of God, many place a low estimate upon the great work of the atonement” (The Sufferings of Christ, p. 1, 1872). The father’s sacrifice, made before the son had even left, forces us to confront this cost, revealing a love that gives its own life even when faced with the bitterest rejection. Yet how does this sacrifice extend to granting freedom despite the pain it causes?

FREEDOM’S FIERCE FORBEARANCE!

The father’s sacrifice extended beyond the material; he gave his son the one thing that made his departure possible: his freedom. He did not argue, restrain, or coerce. He respected the son’s choice, even knowing it was insulting, reckless, and self-destructive. This painful acquiescence reveals another profound truth of the altar. The sacrificial system was never based on coercion; the offering had to be brought willingly. The Lord commanded Moses, “If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD… Let him offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD” (Leviticus 1:2-3, KJV). God’s government is not one of force but of freedom, a principle that was established long before a single sacrifice was ever made. This is because, as Sr. White so powerfully states, “The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all intelligent beings depends upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the service of love—service that springs from an appreciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced obedience; and to all He grants freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 34, 1890). The father in the parable embodies this divine principle. He allows his son to walk away, just as God allows humanity to choose rebellion, even when it wounds Him deeply. This freedom is the soil in which genuine love must grow, but it is also the soil in which the thorns of sin and sorrow flourish. The father’s aching heart, watching his son disappear toward the far country, is a small reflection of the heart of God, who respects our freedom at the cost of His own pain. Other passages confirm this idea as heaven and earth record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live (Deuteronomy 30:19, KJV). If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15, KJV). Sr. White notes that the law of love is the foundation of God’s government, and the service of love the only service acceptable to heaven. God has granted freedom of will to all, endowed men with capacity to appreciate His character, and therefore with ability to love Him and to choose His service. So long as created beings worshiped God, they were in harmony throughout the universe. While love to God was supreme, love to others abounded. As there was no transgression of the law, which is the transcript of God’s character, no note of discord disturbed the heavenly harmonies (The Signs of the Times, October 22, 1896). She also affirms that there are thousands today echoing the same rebellious complaint against God. They do not see that to deprive man of the freedom of choice would be to rob him of his prerogative as an intelligent being, and make him a mere automaton. It is not God’s purpose to coerce the will. Man was created a free moral agent. Like the inhabitants of all other worlds, he must be subjected to the test of obedience; but he is never brought into such a position that yielding to evil becomes a matter of necessity. No temptation or trial is permitted to come to him which he is unable to resist. God made such ample provision that man need never have been defeated in the conflict with Satan (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 331, 1890). The altar, therefore, becomes a symbol not only of the penalty for sin but of the terrible price of a love that refuses to compel, a love that would rather suffer loss than violate the sacred gift of choice. But what profound aspects of God’s love does the Brazen Altar ultimately unveil through this parable?

LOVE’S LIMITLESS LEGACY!

The Brazen Altar, vividly illustrated by the father’s sacrifice, reveals a divine love that is not distant or conditional, but one that actively condescends, bears infinite cost, and suffers with its creation to bring about redemption. This is the love that the apostle John defines, not by our affection for God, but by His initiative toward us: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10, KJV). The father’s act of giving his living was a propitiation, a sacrifice made to open the way for reconciliation before it was ever sought. This love operates on a principle that defies human logic, as Paul explains: “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8, KJV). The son was not righteous, nor was he good; he was a sinner, yet the father’s love met him at his point of rebellion with a sacrificial gift. This is the very essence of grace. Sr. White describes the magnitude of this divine condescension as a “mystery beyond our fathoming,” explaining that the plan of salvation “could be successful only by Christ becoming man, and suffering the wrath which sin has made because of the transgression of God’s law” (God’s Amazing Grace, p. 161, 1973). The father in the parable, in his own limited, human way, suffered the wrath of his son’s transgression—the wrath of rejection, dishonor, and loss. This suffering is not a sign of weakness but of the profound depth of divine love. We are told that in the great sacrifice for humanity, “God suffered with His Son, as the divine Being alone could suffer, in order that the world might become reconciled to Him” (God’s Amazing Grace, p. 161, 1973). Scripture further illustrates this as after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:4-5, KJV). In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him (1 John 4:9, KJV). Sr. White elaborates that God’s wonderful purpose of grace, the mystery of redeeming love, is the theme into which “angels desire to look,” and it will be their study throughout endless ages. Both the redeemed and the unfallen beings will find in the cross of Christ their science and their song. It will be seen that the glory shining in the face of Jesus is the glory of self-sacrificing love. In the light from Calvary it will be seen that the law of self-renouncing love is the law of life for earth and heaven; that the love which “seeketh not her own” has its source in the heart of God; and that in the meek and lowly One is manifested the character of Him who dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto (The Desire of Ages, p. 19, 1898). She continues that the love of God is a golden chain, binding finite human beings to Himself. This love passes our knowledge. Human science can not explain it. Human wisdom can not fathom it. The more we feel the influence of this love, the more acute will be our perception of the heinous character of sin, and the less inclination will the human agent have to yield to temptation (The Signs of the Times, December 15, 1898). This love is not cheap; it is the costliest thing in the universe. Christ Himself defined its ultimate measure: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13, KJV). The father laid down a portion of his life for a son who was acting as an enemy. This is the love that moved God to act when we were spiritually dead, a love that Paul celebrates: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Ephesians 2:4-5, KJV). The sheer scope of this love is beyond our ability to calculate. As Sr. White concludes, “The gift of God to man is beyond computation. Nothing was withheld. God would not permit it to be said that He could have done more, or revealed to humanity a greater measure of love. In the gift of Christ He gave all heaven” (The Signs of the Times, June 1, 1900). The father’s sacrifice, which gave the son the means to leave, was the very thing that made his eventual return possible, revealing that the altar of God’s love is both the starting point of our departure and the only ground for our return. But how does the community respond to such boundless love in daily surrender?

SACRIFICE SELF SPECTACULARLY!

In response to such a costly, self-surrendering love, a love that paid the ultimate price while we were yet sinners, our only logical and fitting response is to present ourselves as living sacrifices. This is not a sacrifice to earn salvation, but a response of love to a salvation already purchased. The Apostle Paul makes this appeal with heartfelt urgency: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1, KJV). This surrender is not a matter of mere sentiment or verbal assent; it is a total yielding of our all to Him who gave His all for us. As Sr. White beautifully expresses it, “Let us surrender ourselves a living sacrifice, and give our all to Jesus. It is His; we are His purchased possession. Those who are recipients of His grace, who contemplate the cross of Calvary, will not question concerning the proportion to be given, but will feel that the richest offering is all too meager, all disproportionate to the great gift of the only-begotten Son of the infinite God” (Counsels on Stewardship, p. 287, 1940). My responsibility to God, therefore, begins at my own personal altar, where I daily lay down my will, my ambitions, and my self-righteousness, acknowledging that I belong wholly to Him. The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again (2 Corinthians 5:14-15, KJV). Seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1, KJV). Sr. White highlights that there must be a power working from within, a new life from above, before men can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness (Steps to Christ, p. 18, 1892). She also stresses that love to Jesus will be manifested in a desire to work as He worked for the blessing and uplifting of humanity. It will lead to love, tenderness, and sympathy toward all the creatures of our heavenly Father’s care (Steps to Christ, p. 82, 1892). But how does this personal surrender manifest in our relationships with others?

NEIGHBORLY NOBLE DUTY!

This vertical act of surrender at the altar must find its expression in our horizontal relationships with our neighbors. The principle of sacrifice is not meant to be confined to our private devotions; it is the very law that must govern our interactions with others. Just as the father in the parable absorbed the pain of his son’s rejection and held the door open for reconciliation, we are called to bear the burdens of others and become agents of restoration. The law of Christ is fulfilled in this practical, often costly, act of love: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2, KJV). This means that our altar of sacrifice becomes the place where we lay down our grievances, our right to be offended, and our demand for apology. It is a call to a love that actively seeks to heal and restore, even when we have been wronged. Sr. White challenges us with this high calling: “We are to have a spirit of compassion toward those who have trespassed against us, whether or not they confess their faults. However sorely they may have wounded us, we are not to cherish our grievances and sympathize with ourselves over our injuries; but as we hope to be pardoned for our offenses against God we are to pardon all who have done evil to us” (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 113, 1896). Therefore, my responsibility to my neighbor is to live as a sacrifice for their good, to absorb pain rather than reflect it, to offer grace instead of demanding justice, and to mirror the heart of the Father who stood willing to be wounded for the sake of reconciliation. Other passages confirm this idea as the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (Matthew 22:39, KJV). Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32, KJV). Sr. White instructs that the conditions of obtaining mercy of God are simple and just and reasonable. The Lord does not require us to do some grievous thing in order that we may have the forgiveness of sin. We need not make long and wearisome pilgrimages or perform painful penances, to commend our souls to the God of heaven or to expiate our transgression; but he that confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall have mercy (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 635, 1889). She further advises that be very cautious how you take up a reproach against your neighbor. Ask the one who brings the accusation if he has obeyed the word of God in regard to this matter. Christ here specifies how he is to proceed if his brother trespasses against him. Go to him, not with a tale of his wrong to tell to others, but tell the erring one his fault between him and thee alone. Do not suffer sin upon thy brother; but do not expose him, and thus increase the difficulty, making the reproof seem like a revenge. Correct him in the way outlined in the word of God (Manuscript 31, 1911). But what prophetic fulfillment does this father’s sacrifice foreshadow in the eternal plan?

LAMB’S LEGENDARY PLAN!

In light of these concepts, the prophetic anti-type of the father’s initial, costly sacrifice is found not merely in the historical event of the cross, but in the eternal, pre-ordained nature of that sacrifice, a divine plan whose efficacy provides the sole basis for mercy in the final, pre-advent judgment. The father’s act of giving his living was a single, decisive event that made the son’s eventual return possible. Anti-typically, the sacrifice of Christ was the one great event in human history that opened the way of salvation for all. However, this was not a reactive plan. The apostle John, in the visions of Revelation, beholds the redeemed as those whose names are “written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8, KJV). This stunning phrase reveals that the Altar of Sacrifice was, in the mind and purpose of God, established before a single sinner existed. The cost had been counted, and the Lamb was pledged, in the councils of eternity. As Sr. White confirms, “The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of ‘the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal.’ Romans 16:25, R.V. It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God’s throne” (The Desire of Ages, p. 22, 1898). The father’s sacrifice in the parable is thus a temporal shadow of this eternal, foundational truth of God’s government. With the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you (1 Peter 1:19-20, KJV). He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love (Ephesians 1:4, KJV). Sr. White observes that Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. To many it has been a mystery why so many sacrificial offerings were required in the old dispensation, why so many bleeding victims were led to the altar. But the great truth that was to be kept before men, and imprinted upon mind and heart, was this, “Without shedding of blood is no remission.” In every bleeding sacrifice was typified “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (Our High Calling, p. 47, 1961). She elaborates that through infinite mercy, provision has been made for man to have another trial. He was not left to the effects of the curse he had brought upon himself. The one bright ray of hope in the otherwise universal ruin was the promise of a Redeemer. Christ was to confront the deceiver, to face the accuser, and to vanquish the enemy of God and man. The plan of redemption was devised before the foundation of the world (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 65, 1890). But how does this eternal sacrifice underpin the mercy extended in the final judgment?

JUDGMENT’S JUST MERCY!

This eternal sacrifice is the central fact upon which the entire process of the final judgment rests. The judgment scene described by the prophet Daniel, where the “Ancient of days did sit” and the “books were opened” (Daniel 7:9-10), is not a proceeding to determine if God’s law is just, but to demonstrate before the universe how God can be just while justifying the sinner who has claimed the merits of this eternal sacrifice. The father in the parable was vindicated not by his son’s worthiness, but by his own unwavering, sacrificial love. Likewise, in the great anti-typical judgment, God’s character is vindicated by the cross. The sacrifice of the Lamb provides the legal and moral foundation for every verdict of mercy. It is the only plea that can be offered for the repentant sinner. Sr. White, describing this heavenly court scene, states, “The deepest interest manifested among men in the decisions of earthly tribunals but faintly represents the interest evinced in the heavenly courts when the names entered in the book of life come up in review before the Judge of all the earth. The divine Intercessor presents the plea that all who have overcome through faith in His blood be forgiven their transgressions, that they be restored to their Eden home, and crowned as joint heirs with Himself to ‘the first dominion’” (The Great Controversy, pp. 483-484, 1888). Therefore, the ultimate anti-type of the father’s altar of sacrifice is the eternal plan of salvation itself, a plan conceived in love before the foundation of the world, executed at infinite cost on the cross of Calvary, and eternally vindicated in the proceedings of the heavenly sanctuary, where mercy is extended to the repentant, not because they are worthy, but because the Lamb was slain. God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus (Romans 3:25-26, KJV). He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead (Acts 17:31, KJV). Sr. White declares that in the final execution of the judgment it will be seen that no cause for sin exists. When the Judge of all the earth shall demand of Satan, “Why hast thou rebelled against Me, and robbed Me of the subjects of My kingdom?” the originator of evil can render no excuse. Every mouth will be stopped, and all the hosts of rebellion will be speechless (The Great Controversy, p. 503, 1911). She also conveys that God in mercy brings our defects to light, that we may remedy them before it is too late. We must look from ourselves, our self-righteousness, our alms-deeds, and look to Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith. When we see Jesus as He is, we will see ourselves as we are, and will feel the need of Jesus as our sin-bearer. Then we will cry, Lord save, or I perish. The blood of Jesus will speak for us in the judgment, if we by faith apply it to our hearts now (The Judgment, p. 2, 1879).

EMBRACE ETERNAL ALTAR!

The Brazen Altar, standing at the entrance of the sanctuary, was a stark and constant reminder that the way to God is a path of sacrifice. It declared in unmistakable terms that sin costs a life. Yet, as we have seen through the lens of the prodigal’s story, it declares with even greater power that love gives a life. The father’s decision to grant his son’s inheritance was his altar, a place where he surrendered his own life, honor, and future to respect the freedom of his child. In this one act, we see the heart of our Heavenly Father—a heart that gives of itself at great cost and allows for choice, even when that choice leads to pain. This is the love that underpins the entire plan of salvation, a love that was not conceived in response to our fall but was established as the very foundation of God’s throne from the ages of eternity. It is this pre-ordained, sacrificial love that makes our return possible and provides the only basis for our acceptance in the final judgment. He arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him (Luke 15:20, KJV). Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16, KJV). Sr. White illustrates that imagine the hope or comfort we should get from the parable of the prodigal son if a father had left the repentant prodigal wait outside for six months or a year before he could be received into favor. How unlike this is the love of our Heavenly Father. The gospel is the revelation of God’s love to men, and means salvation to all who accept it (The Present Truth, vol. 10, p. 523, 1894). She urges that consider the sacrifice of the Father in permitting His Son to make this sacrifice. Consider the sacrifice of the Son in consenting to such a plan. And as we consider these things, shall we not be filled with love and gratitude to our soon-coming Saviour? Shall we not desire to be where we can praise Him, and raise our voices in anthems of praise to the Lamb who has made so great a sacrifice for us (Messages to Young People, p. 369, 1930). This is the truth we are called to carry. We are to show the world that the first step toward the Father’s house is not a step we take, but a sacrifice He has already made. We are to point every wandering soul, every prodigal son and daughter, back to that altar where divine love paid an infinite price, and to assure them that because of that sacrifice, the way home is always open.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16, KJV)

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PRODIGAL SON: REDEMPTION’S RADIANT REVELATION!

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