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.”
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.”
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.
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.
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
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