You shall not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14).

Also, Luke 15:11-32, see below.

IDEA: The famous story of the Prodigal Son is based on a covenant relationship that the father had with his sons.

PURPOSE: To help listeners see that God’s commitment to us never changes, though our commitment to Him can change for better or for worse.

If you think of the 32 to 34 parables Jesus told, which would you say are at the top of the list that everyone knows?

Certainly a top contender would be the story of the Prodigal Son.

Why do you think it has such popular appeal?

 "A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.' And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here 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.' And they began to be merry.

Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.”  But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you. I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.' And [the father] said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found' ” (Luke 15:11-32).

I. The father has a covenant relationship with his two sons.

Where is that stated? It is assumed. The story doesn’t make much sense unless the covenant existed.

The covenant is unconditional. The boys in the story do not have to earn their father’s love. The father simply displays it.

II. The younger son turned his back on his father, but the father’s commitment to his boy didn’t change.

When did the father start loving his son? Was it after he returned home?

Did the boy in his repentance win the father’s love? The boy does absolutely nothing to earn his father’s devotion. The father’s love is unconditional.

III. The father also had a covenant relationship with his older son.

He divided the inheritance with the older boy, giving him everything he had. What was his was his not because he earned it but because his father wanted him to have it.

The older son wanted a contract relationship with his father: “I have served you many years and you have never given me a calf . . .”  What was the contract? How does the father respond?