Skip to main content

Advent: Day 2 - God Had A Big Problem To Solve

For the Kids:

This is the second day of Advent.  Remember, Advent is the time when we remember why God sent his Son, Jesus, to come to the earth and live with people.

Yesterday we remembered that in the beginning, God created everything, including the man and the woman and this began everything.  
God loved it all, it was almost perfect.  

But, something happened that made everything very bad instead of very good. 

One of God’s created beings was an angel, but he didn’t want to be an angel, he wanted to be God.  This angel became God’s enemy and he didn’t like it that God created people who looked like him.  So, this enemy came to the man and woman that God had created and he told them a lie.  This is how the Bible describes what happened.

Genesis 3:1, 3-5
1  The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”  3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat, God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”  4  “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman.  5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

It was a lie, and the man and the woman believed the serpent, God’s enemy.  They chose to believe the enemy’s lie and not believe that God loved them and told them the truth.  
They thought if they disobeyed God they’d be happy, but it wasn’t true.  God had not lied to them; he had told them the truth.  
Because they turned away from God, they let something happen that would forever change their lives.  

Sin entered into the world, and that has been people’s problem ever since (remember that includes us too).  Sin is when we choose to not believe God.

God did not lie.  He always tells us the truth.  Disobeying God is called Sin, and God hates what sin does to us. 

Now, God had a problem… what should he do?  

His heart was broken and so he made a decision.  He would do everything he could to make it right.  He would make a way to defeat the enemy and show people that he really is love, and that he always tells the truth.


Here’s a page to print off and color.  







For the Parents and Other Not Kids

This lesson relates back to the Jesus Story Book Bible’s chapter “The Terrible Lie”.

Advent reminds us that Christmas isn't just about a baby in a manger.  Advent reminds us that God came because religion, good works, and trying hard to live a good life was never going to solve the problem of Sin.  

Advent reminds us that God hates sin and loves us – and so, he sent His Son into the world for us.

Genesis 3:14-15
14 Then the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live.  15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Advent reminds us that what God did for us was in order to restore the “image of God” in all of his creation.   

In Jesus, God’s image is restored and we become what God intended all along.  
The Apostle Paul reminded us: 

Galatians 4:3-7
3 … when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.  4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5  to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."  7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

We were not meant to live as slaves to sin, but instead to live as heirs of the Kingdom of God. 

Parents, think about this:  Advent reminds us that our kids need God too.  They belong to God even as we do.  While Sin is real, we should remember that God didn't excuse it,  ignore it, or pretend things would get better if we just wait.  Instead, God began to deal with it even in the Garden.  

It's important that we should remember it was because of his great Love for us that he did so intentionally for us. 

John 3:16
16  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Peace to you

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The difference between defending and explaining

The news of recent has focused the suffering of Christians in the middle east who have been martyred for their faith in Christ at the hands of Islamic Terrorists. Through the centuries many Christians have lost their lives as a result of their faith. For us, who live in America, there is little chance that we would have this happen here - but it's entirely possibly that terrorism will strike out at Christians sometime.  But, for many Christians in the western world - especially here in the U.S. - being a Christians who believes God's word there is a form of persecution that is defined by words like "ostracized", "passed over", "ridiculed", and more. What do we do in the face of opposition to faith? When the Apostle Peter writes to the early believers who are undergoing great pressure, even persecution for their faith in Jesus, he gives them this charge. 1 Peter 3:8-18 8  Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly lov

Wednesday, Day 25: Christmas Eve - God Loves Us (So We Can Relax)

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but let us not forg

The Tabernacle

The readings today are Exodus 36, 37, 38 I wanted to post some pictures of what these various parts of the Tabernacle looked like. It's not the easiest read in the world, but if you persevere through it, you can get a picture of all the different pieces that made up the tabernacle. It is a replica of the various parts of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness: First thing in the chapter listed is the outside of the tabernacle which consisted of curtains tied together and put on cross bars through loops. Next at the beginning of 37 is the table and lampstand: Also, the altar of incense: And, the altar for the burnt offering which was in the courtyard: Finally, the courtyard which made it all come together: Hope that helps with what it might have all looked like. Most importantly, this was their "place" of worship they were building. I hope you have a great day of worship. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad