Welcome back youngins! Hope ya are doing well!
Today we are going to be picking up where we left off in our talk about how we know God loves us. If you guys remember, last week we spoke about Jesus, who He was, and why He was sent to us. This week, we are going to speak about what happened to Him and why. As a warning, Jesus’ story isn’t just that of miracles and wonders. [**Please be advised, the following information is of graphic nature and may not be suitable for children under the age of 13.**] Let us begin.
As a refresher…
Jesus, the one and only begotten [fathered] son of God, was placed on earth as a living, breathing embodiment [representation] of the Lord. His life was to serve as evidence of not only God’s power and glory, but also of His EXISTENCE. People had wandered so far away from God, that they stopped believing He was real. This saddened and angered the Lord, and called for punishment of the people. However, God, loving us, His creation, as much as He did, made a sacrifice so that our souls would be saved from eternal damnation. This sacrifice, was Jesus.
“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.” -John 3:16
Jesus died at the age of 33. He was FALSELY accused of blasphemy (lying about being the Son of God) and treason (claiming to be the King of The Jews and challenging the Pharisees/Roman Empire). As punishment, He was sentenced to death by crucifixion. The Pharisees forced Him to walk from Jerusalem to Golgatha (now known as Calvary), dragging the cross which He would be hung from, on His back. Upon His arrival, His hands and feet were nailed to that cross, and He was pierced (stabbed) in His side with a spear. His face was covered in blood from a crown of thorns that was placed on His head, and His body was badly bruised and beaten.
Before He died, Jesus spoke the following words:
“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” -Luke 23:34
“Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT!” -Luke 23:46
He then took His last breath…
Even near death, at the hands of the very people who betrayed Him, Jesus prayed over the crowd, asking the Father to forgive them for what they had done.
Jesus was not only a sign of God’s wonders…He was living, breathing proof of God’s LOVE.
Interactive Activity: Each child gets assigned a letter(s) of the course title for that week and designs it to their liking. These letters will then be collected, stored away with last week letters and used at a later date for the creation of a “bigger picture” activity.
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