The Prodigal Son as the Image of Every Unbeliever

Everyone learns the story as a child in Sunday School: "There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate" (Luke 15:11-24, though the story continues to verse 32). 

The common understanding of this story is that a God-fearing younger son goes bad, and then regains his spiritual sense, and then returns to faithfulness. However, I think this is actually a broad cultural view, rather than an individual view. The Gentiles, who are descended from the same Adam and Noah as the Jews are, abandoned biblical faith to become pagans, and now, through the proclamation of the Gospel, are returning to the faith that, not they individually, but rather their cultural ancestors once knew.

That makes this parable an illustration of what Paul describes in Romans 1:18-23: "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things."

Contrary to the modern evolutionist view of religion, that it has evolved from animism to polytheism to monotheism, the Bible shows that man started with a relationship with the true, triune, biblical God, and then evolved away from the relationship. Or devolved might be a better word. This devolution is evidenced in the life of the prodigal, who knows safety with his father, as Adam did in the garden, a safety which he rejects for an illusion of autonomy, as Adam did when he believed the lying temptation of Satan and fell from his holy estate. Then the son recognizes the futility of his autonomous life (compare Genesis 3:17-19), repents of it, and is restored to fellowship with his father. This is the story of the individual repentant sinner, of course, when he is restored to the God whom he knows but avoids in unbelief. However, I think the picture actually points us to a cultural conversion, when Gentiles as a culture reject futile autonomy to return en masse to the God of their first ancestors, as Paul describes in Romans 11:25 (together with a number of places in the Old Testament, such as Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:1-3). The story of the Prodigal Son is the story of the fulfillment of the Great Commission: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:18-19)!