Lent and Repentance

Lent and Repentance

For Chapel at

Skylark Christian School March 7, 2018

Jacob and Madison are brother and sister. They are cute kids with brown hair and brown eyes. They live in a house with their dad and mom and a dog named Skippy and a rat they call Reggie.

One day, Madison climbed onto her bicycle as her foot took the first peddle Jacob grabbed her handle bars. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Hey! Let go!” shouted Madison.

“You can’t go anywhere. Mom said you have to stay home. Remember?”

“No she didn’t!”

Jacob nodded his head. “Yes she did. She said we had to stay together so that means you have to stay home.”

“Go get your bike and come with me. I’m just going over to Emily’s. We want to play with her new doll. See, I brought Becca.” She pointed to her doll in the carrier.

“I’m not going so you have to get off your bike and come in. I want to play my new video game.”

Madison crossed her arms. “You never let me play. You say it’s only a one person game. I want to go to Emily’s!”

Just then their mom pulled her car into the driveway. She turned off the motor and scooted out. “What are you two arguing about?”

“Notin.” said Jacob.

Madison glared at Jacob.

Their mom said, “Jacob, go get the sack of groceries in the back seat and then into the house. Madison put your bike away and meet us in the living room.”

Jacob and their mom went inside. Madison jumped off her bike and wheeled it into the garage and shut the door. She slowly walked into the house carrying her doll, Becca.

Madison sat down in the corner of the couch. She picked up Becca and said, “What do you think? I bet Jacob blames me for everything.”

In a moment Jacob walked in followed by their mom. Jacob plopped down on the other corner of the couch.

Mom said, “Now, let’s start at the beginning. Madison go first.”

Madison glanced up and said, “I wanted to ride my bike and Jacob stopped me.”

“You couldn’t go by yourself.” Jacob chimed in.

“I asked you to go and you wouldn’t. You said Mom said I couldn’t ride my bike. That was a lie! I can too ride my bike and go to Emily’s.” a tear fell from Madison’s eye.

“Moummm!”

“Woe. Hold on. I think I get a clear picture. Madison, did Jacob ask you to play with him?”

Madison shook her head, no.

“Jacob, did I say Madison could not ride her bike?”

“No.”

“Jacob. What exactly did I tell you children before I went to the store?”

He mumbled.

“Jacob, speak up.”

“You said we needed to play nicely together while you were gone and to stay with each other and if we both agreed we could go to Emily’s.”

“That is correct. What do you think I meant?”

“We could play here together or we could play outside together.”

“Jacob you’re the big brother and should look out for your sister. She wanted to play with you but you didn’t share your video game and would not go with her to Emily’s. How should you have acted?”

“I should offer Madison the controller to my game or go with her to Emily’s. You put me in charge. I’m sorry.”

Boys and girls, what do you think of this story of Madison and Jacob?

Did Jacob obey his mom? Did he tell a lie? Was he being kind?

Today is the middle of Lent. Lent is a special time when we think about what the Lord Jesus did for us by dying on the cross to pay the payment for our sin.

Sin is anything we do in thought, word, or deed against God. Those are some of the things Jacob did in our story. The Bible says we are all sinners. When we are born, we have a sin nature. God is holy and cannot allow sin into His presence. What are we to do? If we are sinners and God can’t have sin in his presence, we cannot go to heaven! Oh no!

Sin has to be paid for. A blood sacrifice. We should be that sacrifice or payment. God knew this and made a way so we wouldn’t have pay to for our sin. He sent His only Son Jesus to the earth to be born and grow up and die on the cross to pay for our sin.

Wow! Imagine that. God himself became man and took our sin on Him and paid for all our sin by spilling His blood and dying.

But it gets better! He rose again! He is alive! He is in heaven waiting for us. But wait. There must be something we need to do to go to heaven someday. We need to trust in what Jesus did for us on the cross to pay for our sin. We need to accept Him as our personal Savior.

You see, when we accept what Jesus did for us we get His righteousness. Now when God the Father looks at us He sees His son Jesus Righteousness.

Lent is more than thinking about what Jesus did for us on the cross. Lent is a time of thinking about our sin. Like Jacob said he was sorry, we need to say we are sorry for our sins we commit every day. When we asked Jesus to be our Savior, we repent. Repent means to turn around. We asked for forgiveness of our sin. We repented.

That was at salvation. But repentance is something we need to do every time we sin. Jacob told a lie. That is sin. Jacob fought with his sister. That is sin. Jacob didn’t obey his mother. That was sin. Jacob needed to tell his mother he was sorry, his sister he was sorry and tell the Lord he is sorry. He needed to repent. To turn form sin and to do what is right.

Lent is a time of reflecting on what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross and how we should live our lives. Many Christians give up something especially food during Lent. Fasting is a time of limiting or stopping something you enjoy doing. Most people refer to fasting as a time of limiting or abstaining from food and or drink. A person can also fast from say, your favorite game, movie, television show, sport, video game or anything that gives you pleasure.

Why fast? True fasting is a time when you focus on the Lord Jesus in prayer and reading His word. The time you would spend on the activity like eating or playing your favorite video game, you would then spend in prayer and reading the Bible.

When the temptation to eat or play the game surfaces, you then take your mind off the desire by praying and reading God’s word. Prayer refocuses your mind on what is important rather than a physical desire.

Lent is a special time where people take a look at their lives and see anything they are doing against God. What might be some things in our lives against God? Not telling the complete truth, not obeying our parents or others in authority over us like teachers right away and also with a good attitude, or taking something that doesn’t belong to us, arguing or fighting with our classmates or siblings, not being kind to one another, and maybe wanting something that belongs to someone else. All those and many more things are sin and we need to repent and ask for forgiveness.

Lent is a time to focus on what Jesus did on His last 40 days on the earth and His death and resurrection. The best way to do that is to limit time on things we love and use that time to pray and read His word, focusing on Him.

At this time I want you to close your eyes and ask the Father to show you any sin you may have in your life and ask for forgiveness.

In this way, you are showing your love for Jesus and what He did for you on the cross. You are repenting and doing what Lent is meant to be. We have three more weeks of Lent and the Easter season. What should you give up so you can have more time in prayer and reading the Bible? Giving up something gives you more time with the Lord.

 Please memorize one or more of the verses below:

Psalm 193: 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me, and know my thoughts! ESV

Ezekiel 18: 30b Repent and turn from all your transgressions lest iniquity be your ruin. ESV

Acts 17:30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. ESV

Salvation/Adoption

It was very cold because a storm raged in the mountains of China. A snow leopard has just been born. He meowed and tried to snuggle with his momma, but she is not responding.

Right before this little snow leopard was born, his momma was pushed off the mountain by an avalanche. She managed to climb out of the snow and back to the group of snow leopards that were trying to cross the mountains.

Then he was born.

                                                                            

Two of the other females had cubs of their own, but they knew one of them needed to take care of this little one. Tai, pronounced Ty, which means, big, has one cub. He's a boy named Fu, pronounced Foo, meaning wealthy and fortunate. The other female is An, pronounced Ahn, meaning Peace. She has two cubs. Her son is named Piao, pronounced Pee-ow, meaning handsome. Her daughter is named Ya, pronounced Yah, meaning graceful. They both wanted the new cub, but it was decided by all present that Tai would take him because she had only one cub. An was very sad and had a bad feeling about the decision.

Tai took the new cub into her mouth and carried him to her den. She named him Boajia, pronounced Bow-jee-ah, which means, protects the family. Tai wanted Boajia not as her cub but as a servant. She trained him from that first day that he was not as important as Fu. Boajia had to sleep just outside the den. Tai and Fu cuddled together for warmth, but Boajia was alone in the elements. His fur was warm, but it would have been nicer to have the comfort of the others. He was not given as much food as Fu received. Tai hunted and brought back the prey for consumption and only let Boajia have a small portion. He was not growing as fast as he should. He was a skinny snow leopard whereas Fu was fat. Fu was fat because he got more food, and he didn’t have to work. Boajia had to clean up the den and tote the bones away from where they ate.

                                                                            

Tai treated Boajia roughly and soon Fu did also. She let Fu shove and sink his teeth into Boajia’s flesh. Boajia was a very unhappy Snow Leopard. He obeyed Tai and put up with Fu. He was kind to them and didn’t complain. He worked hard every day then went to sleep cold and hungry. He was lonely.

                                                                                 

One day, An and her cubs came for a visit. An was surprised and saddened at how Tai treated Boajia. Tai would not let Boajia play with Fu, Piao, and Ya. He climbed up on a rocky area and laid down to watch them play. An watched him and felt a tang of sadness, and a love started swelling inside her for the lonely mistreated cub.

                                                          

            

That night, as they all lay down to sleep, An tried to get Tai to let Boajia sleep with them inside the den. She refused and said it was his place. An didn’t get much sleep that night, but she devised a plan.

The next morning, An said she wanted to talk to Tai about something important. First, she reminded Tai about her hunting ground. Tai’s hunting ground was not as good as An’s. An didn’t have to hunt far or long for their prey. An asked Tai if she wanted to trade hunting grounds. Tai sat up straighter and asked what she wanted for it.

An said she wanted Boajia. She said they would trade dens and hunting grounds but she would also get Boajia. Tai could hardly contain her excitement and jumped up and called for Fu. Together they left to their new home.  

An ran out and called for her cubs and Boajia. An told them what she had done. She explained to Boajia that he would be one of her cubs. She told Boajia that she was going to change his name to Bao, pronounced Bow, meaning treasure. She said Bao was her treasure and she loved him. Piao and Ya were so excited they ran at him. Bao jumped back. An said for them to take it easy because he wasn’t used to nice tackles and hugs. An told him he'd to eat and sleep with the family. She said they all did the chores around the den. He wasn’t expected to sleep outside or do all the work.  Bao didn’t know what to say. Then a tear slid down his face. An carefully put her paw around him and drew him close.
                                                                           

Months went by, and you would think Bao was a different cub. He put on weight and was in the process of learning how to hunt. He played with his new brother and sister. He felt loved. He was a happy and contented snow leopard.

                                                     

                  

Our Snow leopard Boajia didn’t do anything to be adopted into An’s family. An loved him and wanted him as her own. She gave him the rights of the other cubs. He became her cub. Boajia could have rejected that precious gift of a new loving family by running off and following Tai. An gave up her home and hunting ground just so she could love this little cub and have him in her family.

Before we trust Christ as our Savior, we belong to Satan’s family. When we trust Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are brought into God's family. The Bible calls that adoption. As Christians, we are adopted into the family of God. We don’t deserve the right to be placed into God’s family. God has chosen us to be His children. God loved us so much He purchased us with Jesus' death to be brought into His family.  All we need to do is accept that gift.

Have you been adopted into the Lord’s family? Have you trusted Jesus as your Savior? If you want to read more about this, you can read my lesson on Salvation.

Romans 8:14-15 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the Sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba Father.”

Ephesians 1:5 having predestined us to adoption as sons of Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will

I John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God.

2Corinthians 6:18 “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.”


Memorize: I John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God.

Verses in NKJV unless otherwise stated. 

Christmas

I love this time of year. I love the snow. I love Christmas! I love the lights, decorations, presents, and fireplaces. I love to drink hot chocolate and eat cookies with family and friends. I love to get presents! Don’t you? I especially love giving gifts or presents. Can you think of one of the best Christmas presents you ever received? Was it wrapped? Did it have pretty paper and a bow on it? Maybe it was too big to be wrapped. I remember special presents I have received.

One year, when I was a child, I got a "Chatty Cathy" doll. When I got older, I got a bicycle. When I was grown, one year my husband bought me my first cell phone. This year, I got one of the best Christmas presents or gifts and it was early! I got the gift of family coming for a visit to see me. Two of my children with their families, nine of them all together, came to stay with me and my husband for a few days. On top of that, they showed me a picture of my newest grandson who will be born in May! I am so excited! That is a wonderful gift!

Let me tell you about a very special gift which is the greatest of all. God sent His only Son to become human and be born. We celebrate His birth this time of year at Christmas. Wow, what a perfect and special gift! Jesus is God, He has always existed. He created everything, all the plants and animals and everything else we need to live. He breathed life into us.

Do you remember Adam and Eve in the beautiful garden God made at creation? He loved them so much He made it beautiful for them. He gave them all things to eat. He gave them dominion over all the animals. Dominion means being masters over. Adam was given the responsibility to name all the animals, like elephant, lion, and ant. 

Adam and Eve lived in a perfect environment of beauty and peace. There was no death. They didn’t need to be afraid of the animals. Remember I said they could eat all things? Well, there was a tree God said not to eat from. You see, God made us with a mind and a will of our own. We are not robots. We can think and make up our own minds. We can decide to obey or disobey. Eve, then Adam, disobeyed God by eating from the tree God had told them not to. They disobeyed God! This broke the perfect relationship they had with God. At that moment, they became sinners and separated from God. As a picture of their sin and the payment for the forgiveness they would need, God took a lamb and sacrificed it. He spilt its blood and took the skins and made a covering or clothes for them. He also kicked them out of the garden forever. That was a picture of not being able to enter heaven because of sin.

From that time on, all have sinned. We (you and me) are sinners. We were born with sin natures. That means we sin. Sin is anything in word, thought, or deed against God and His laws. Lying, stealing, saying bad things, and not obeying our parents are sins.

We are sinners, therefore we cannot enter into heaven. Heaven is where God lives and He is perfect or holy and cannot allow sin into His presence. God loves us and wants us in heaven someday. So, He made a plan or a way for us to be able to get into heaven. Sin needs to be paid for, like in the garden, when God killed a lamb and spilt its blood as a picture of the covering or forgiveness of sin. We sinners need someone to die and spill their blood to wash away or cover our sins. I cannot do it, you cannot do it. It needs to be by someone perfect or without sin. There is no one perfect. That person would need to be God in order to be perfect. Oh no! What can we do?

God knew what needed to be done. God sent His Son Jesus, who is God, to be born. God became man but kept His perfection and grew up to die on the cross, spilling His blood for our sin. That, boys and girls, is a wonderful gift! God gave His son to be born, grow up, and die on the cross for you and me. Do you think God loved His Son? Yes He did.  Do you think it hurt God to let His Son die? Yes it did! Jesus willingly came to earth to be born. He willingly grew up and died on the cross to pay for your sin, my sin, and the sin of the whole world! What a wonderful gift! Jesus gave Himself as a gift or present for us. He died so you might live with Him in heaven someday.

We do have something we need to do, though. The gift of Jesus’ death for us is free, but we need to accept it. Remember I said God made us with a mind and a will of our own? We make a choice. We can choose to accept Jesus’ gift of Himself dying for us, or we can reject Him and His gift.

One day, I wrapped up a beautiful package. I had gone to the store and bought a beautiful doll. She had long black hair, blue eyes with long lashes, and a pretty smile. She had on a pretty blue dress with a matching ribbon in her hair. She came in a pretty box too. I wrapped it in beautiful shiny red wrapping paper and attached a gold bow. It was a very pretty package. 

I took this to a woman who I had heard was in the hospital. In the hospital people smiled when they saw the pretty red present. I went to the woman’s hospital room carrying the pretty package. I found the woman sitting in a chair in her room. She was getting better and would be able to go home in a few days. I introduced myself to her and said I had heard she was sick. I told her I wanted to give her this gift. I smiled and handed it to her. She turned her head away and said she didn’t want it. I explained again that it was a gift, with no strings attached, it was free. I said I saw it in the store and thought she would like it. She still shook her head and said she didn’t want it. I left with the beautiful package containing a pretty doll. I was sad she didn’t want the gift.

We are like that woman. We have a choice. We can take the free gift or reject it. Salvation, what Jesus did on the cross by dying for us in our place, is the free gift. We can accept Jesus and what He did, or we can reject Jesus and think we don’t need or want the free gift of salvation.

When Jesus was born, special things happened. Let me remind you of what happened that night long ago. Jesus was born in a stable where cows, horses, and donkeys sleep. Mary, Jesus mother, tightly bound Jesus in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger. A manger is the dish the animals eat out of. 

Angels in heaven had been waiting for this event for a very long time. They were so excited, and God sent some of them to earth to proclaim Jesus’ birth. Angels appeared to shepherds taking care of their sheep in the fields. The angels praised God and said, “Glory to God in the Highest!”

An angel told the shepherds where and how to find the baby Jesus. They went there as fast as they could. When they found Jesus they kneeled down and worshipped Him because they understood He was God.

When Jesus was a few years old, wise men or magi came from the East to find Jesus the Messiah. They knew about Jesus from hearing stories about the Messiah coming. These stories were passed down through the generations. They saw the bright star and followed it to where Jesus was living at that time. They brought with them presents of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These were very costly or expensive gifts. You know what gold is. Frankincense and myrrh were special ingredients in perfume, incense, and medicine. When the wise men saw Jesus, they fell down and worshipped Him because they realized He was God. Then they gave Him their presents.

Jesus came as a fulfillment of scripture or prophesies of the Old Testament in the Bible. Prophets proclaimed the Messiah would one day come to save His people. Jesus came as a gift to all people. He was a gift given by His Father, God. Jesus chose to give us His life as a gift to all mankind. Have you chosen to accept Jesus’ gift of salvation?

We celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to be born for you and me. Jesus was the very first Christmas gift. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and remember why we celebrate and what the real meaning of Christmas is. It is Jesus' birthday! Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Memorize what the angel said in Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward all men!”

Verses in NKJ unless otherwise stated. 

Assurance of Salvation

Ducks come in all varieties: small, large, colorful, plain, grey, black, white, brown and everything between. Even though they may look different, ducks have a few things in common. They have webbed feet, wings, feathers, beaks, and they make the same sound: Quack! Have you been around a group, or flock, of ducks quacking all at the same time? Wow, it can be loud and obnoxious or annoying.

This one duck I want to tell you about is a mallard duck. He was very pretty and very colorful. At the time of this story, he was a young duck or a duckling. He lived in a big family and part of a large flock. He had an unique name: Quackers. He was called that because he loved to quack, or talk, all the time just to hear himself.

The lake they live near was very large. There was a special part far across the lake, behind some large boulders, where the water drops off into another lake and continues into a large stream. The water there can pull a duck over the falls into the smaller lake and then down the stream. It can be very dangerous. 

This place was called Crashing Falls. Quackers cannot see that part of the lake from where he lives.  Big brave and crazy ducks like to go there and see which one of them can get closest to the falls. They get close, turn, and swim as hard and furious as they can to get back to safety. It was dangerous and tough to do. One duck got swept over the falls, head over heels, and hit his wing on a rock at the bottom. It took months of healing his wing before he could fly again.

The ducklings are not permitted to go there, and most of the older ducks are wise enough, not go and try the foolish game. The ducks who have risked their necks in the game of survival came back to the flock and talked about it.

Quackers was enthralled and fascinated. He listened to every detail. The only time he floated quiet. Quackers then retold the story to other ducklings. “Have you heard what happened at Crashing falls?” Then on and on he quacked, repeating it over and over again. He listened to the new adventures when a group came back from Crashing Falls. He pictured it in his head, even though he had never been there.

One day, he met a very young duckling. This duckling was just old enough to leave his mother’s side and play with the other ducklings. Quackers liked the new duckling named Glider. He decided he'd show Glider all the fun things to do. They dove under water, splashed, raced, and played tag. Quackers liked to watch Glider in the water because he swam so smoothly that he barely made the water ripple behind him. Quackers tried to imitate Glider, but he couldn’t sail through the water without leaving a much larger ripple. Quackers didn’t like to be out done by the little fellow. So, he thought about what he could do that was special too.

Quackers remembered about Crashing Falls. Quackers had heard the stories so many times and had pictured it in his head. He forgot he had never been there. Quackers told Glider all about how much fun he had at Crashing Falls. The stories he had heard became his own stories. He described everything from how cool the spot behind the boulders was, to the lily pads that hung close to the boulders. He told Glider how loud the waterfall was. He spoke of the frogs and fish he had seen there. Then, he talked about how strong the current was and how hard he had to swim to fight it so he wouldn't be pulled down the falls. With wide eyes, Glider quietly listened.

Just then, Quackers’ and Glider’s moms came by and overheard what Quackers said. Quackers’ mom pulled him aside. “Quackers have you gone over to Crashing Falls?” 

Quackers nodded. “Quackers you are not old enough to go there and I have never seen you wander that far. Are you certain?”

Quackers again nodded then explained what he had seen.  

Quackers’ mom had been there before and knew that it was different than he described. She realized Quackers had heard the stories so many times he actually believed he had been there. Quackers’ mom decided the only way to show him he had not been there was to take him there. She told him to stay very close and to obey her voice and not to go near the falls.

As they reached the boulders surrounding the area where Crashing falls were, he realized it looked different than he remembered. She showed him the ducks trying to swim away from the falls and how scary it was. He looked all around and listened to the roar of the falls and finally realized he had never truly been there before. Quackers was confused and sad.

As they swam back home, they talked about what had happened. Mom explained, Quackers had heard the stories over and over again, so he felt like he had lived it. He had experienced it all in his head.

Boys, girls, teens, and adults: this same thing could have, or is, happening to you. Let me explain. Some of us, who have grown up in a Christian family and have gone to church for most of our lives, can believe something that is not true. Maybe someone close to you, maybe a sibling or your parents, have accepted Jesus as their Savior. They now have a relationship with Him. They have probably excitedly talked about trusting Jesus. You have heard many times how Jesus died on the cross for your sin. You have heard many people say they have trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior. You have heard it so many times, you believe it of yourself. You think in your head you are a Christian, just because you have heard it so many times.

I ask you to look deep in your heart and really make sure you have truly accepted Jesus as your Savior. You probably know these verses: Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Acts 16:31 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved… This word "believe" is not just believing in your head, but believing deep in your heart.

One way to know you have truly accepted Jesus as your Savior is if you are able to explain it to someone. Can you tell someone how to accept Jesus as their Savior? Go to your parent and tell them how they can accept Jesus as their Savior. They may already know Jesus as their Savior, but that is okay. Instead, you may want your parent to go over it with you again. This can also help you to know for certain. Remember Quackers, our duckling friend? Quackers had listened to the stories so many times he really believed he had been there and done the things he had heard about. He was wrong. He had never been there before. He had never done it.

Many years ago, there was a young boy whose older sister had accepted Jesus as her Savior. She talked about Jesus all the time. The young boy heard all the stories about Jesus and thought he had asked Jesus to be his Savior, too. But he hadn’t. He thought so because he had heard it so many times.

After a while, he realized deep in his heart he had not accepted Jesus as his Savior. So, he went to his dad and asked him to help him. That boy made sure  that what he thought and had heard was very real and true in his heart. He accepted Jesus as his Savoir that day. Now, it was not just in his head but in his heart. That boy grew up to be a pastor. What if he just thought he had accepted Jesus all his life and never made sure? He wouldn’t be going to heaven someday or be a pastor. That is a very scary thing. So make sure for yourself that you have truly accepted Jesus as your Savior so you can go to heaven someday. For more information, you can look  back at the lesson on Salvation.

Memorize: 1John 5:13a These things have I written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life…

Verses in NKJ unless otherwise stated. 

   

    

     

 

Salvation

In the last lesson on Faith (Faith 3)we looked at the verse, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. We focused on who Jesus Christ is. In this lesson, I want to talk about the word believe. In the earlier lessons on faith (Faith 1 and Faith 2), I talked about believing, or trusting, in something or someone even if you cannot see them. The subject of our belief, in this verse and throughout the Bible, is Jesus. If you have any questions on believing, look back at the lessons: Faith 1 and 2. Notice the last part of this verse, you shall be saved. Why do we need to be saved?

Let me ask you some questions. Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever taken anything that didn’t belong to you? Have you ever disobeyed your Mom or Dad? Those things: lying, stealing, and disobeying are called sins. A sin is any thought or action against God. God says in His word that we should obey our parents. We should not steal, kill, lie, or think evil of anyone. God has 10 Commandments that He gave Moses in the Bible for His people. A commandment is a firm law or instruction we need to follow. You can see the 10 Commandments in Exodus chapter 20.

God is Holy. Holy means perfect and without sin. Heaven is the place where God dwells. It is full of angels praising Him. It is a beautiful place where Jesus is waiting for the time we can come and join Him there. Golden streets, a beautiful river, flowers, trees, mansions, and many more wonderful things fill heaven. Jesus said He was building a place for us there. You may know someone who trusted Jesus as their Savior and later died and is now in Heaven. Heaven is a Holy place that is filled with God’s glory because God is there.

God cannot let sin into his presence in Heaven. This makes a problem for us. We are sinners. At the beginning of this lesson I talked about sin. We have sinned. I've lied, stolen, and disobeyed. This makes me a sinner. You also have sinned. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All means every person ever born. Because we have sinned, we cannot come close to the glory of God.

So, the day in November years ago when I was born, I was born a sinner. Even though I was extremely cute, I was still a sinner. That means I cannot, on my own, make it into heaven. You, cute as you were on the day you were born, were also born a sinner and cannot make it into heaven on your own. We can never be good enough or do enough good things for the perfect God.

What does that mean? What shall we do? If we cannot get into heaven on our own, what can be done? God knows what had to be done. God knows everything. God knew this was a problem even before He made Adam and Eve. God knew that people would sin, and sin had to be paid for. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Wages are payment. Let’s say I asked you to mow my lawn. When you were finished mowing my lawn, I would be in debt to you until I paid you for that job. Payment to you would be your wage. Sin is a debt to God and needs to be paid.

In the Old Testament of the Bible, God made it very clear that when sin was committed, it needed to be paid by something dying. Blood needed to be shed to cover that sin. God created Adam and Eve. They were the very first people ever to live. He created a beautiful place for them to live in called the Garden of Eden.  Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden by disobeying God. God told them not to eat from a particular tree. God said they could eat from all the trees except for one. They ate from that tree, disobeying God. The sin had to be paid by something dying and spilling its blood. God killed a lamb as payment for their sin. The blood of the lamb was shed as a picture to cover their sin. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22c …without the shedding of blood there is no remission. Remission is another word for forgiveness.

Our payment for our sin is death. That means someone has to die for my sin, your sin, and everyone’s sin. That someone needs to be without sin, or perfect, for the payment. How can sin pay for sin? It can't. If I died for myself, that wouldn’t work because I am not without sin. The person paying for my sin has to be without sin. That Person is God the Son, Jesus Christ. He is our Savior. Jesus, being God, is perfect. He is without sin. He never told a lie, stole, or disobeyed His parents. He never did anything wrong. He never sinned. When Jesus Christ grew up and became a man, He took all our sin on Himself. He died for that sin on the cross.  His perfect, sinless blood was the payment, the wage, for our sin. Wow! He died for my sin. He died for your sin! He died for everyone’s sin!

Jesus also conquered death. After He died, He was buried. He was placed in a grave, and on the third day, He arose!  He walked with His friends on the earth. That means He is alive! Then, He went to Heaven to sit on the right side of God. He is in Heaven waiting for us. He loves us so much that He did all those things for us.

There is only one thing you can do about all of this. That one thing is to believe, or trust, in what God did for you on the cross to forgive your sin debt. When I was a little girl of five years old, I asked my daddy, “How can I go to heaven?” He explained to me that I was a sinner. I needed to have someone pay for my sin. Jesus paid for my sin on the cross. I needed to have faith, to believe in him to take away my sin. That day, I asked Jesus to be my Savior. I thanked Jesus for dying for my sin. Because I did that, one day after I die, I will be in heaven. I did what the verse at the beginning of our lesson says. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” Earlier I mentioned a verse, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The last part of the verse talks about the gift from God is eternal life. The word eternal means forever. If we trust Jesus for what He did for us on the cross, we get the free gift. The free gift is to go to heaven someday and live with Him forever.

Have you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior? Do you have faith in him? I hope so because I want to meet you in heaven someday! 

If you need to do this, ask your parents or Pastor and they will be able to help you.  I am praying for you. If you have a question for me, you can write it in the comment box at the end of this or any of the lessons.

Memorize:  Acts16:31 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

If you already know that verse, pick another one from the lesson to learn, and say it to someone. If you know all of them, then say all of them to someone.

 Verses in NKJ unless otherwise stated.