The Biblical Path of Life

Tag: Sinful

  • God’s Greatest Gift

    “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
    Romans 6:23

    “Remember the familiar Bible lessons of Jacob and one of his sons, Joseph. Joseph was the eleventh son and the last to be born to Jacob before he returned to the land promised to Abraham and Isaac. Joseph was a godly young man in spite of adverse circumstances in his life. God used him to save his family from starvation during a time of famine throughout the lands.

    “In the Old Testament, Joseph is one of the people we compare to a picture of Christ. … God promised to send One who would deliver a sinful people from their sins. The first time was when man sinned in the garden (Genesis 3:15), and then we saw God promise Abraham that all people would be blessed through his descendants (Genesis 22:18). We even saw a picture of what God would do—lay down the life of His Son. In this lesson, we see once again the promise of a mighty Deliverer who would come (Genesis 28:14). And better yet, we see a picture of a mighty deliverer in Jacob’s son, Joseph. When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, they meant it for evil. ‘But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive’ (Genesis 50:20). God sent His Son, Jesus, to save the world from their sin. He was the greatest gift ever given. But sinful man crucified him (evil against Him), and God took what man intended to be evil and delivered us from our sins by Jesus’ death. Just as Joseph recognized that he was placed in a position to save the world from starvation, Jesus came to save the world from ‘the wages of sin … death’ and instead give us the ‘gift of God … eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ Notice the faithfulness of Joseph and the blessings of God upon him … for although he endured many problems (his brothers hated him; he was sold into slavery; he was falsely imprisoned and forgotten; and so on), he remained faithful to God. And God blessed Joseph’s life. …

    “Joseph is an excellent example of enduring hatred and rejection from family members and still walking with God. When he was sold as a slave, Joseph still lived as an upright young man, choosing to do what was right in God’s eyes. When falsely thrown into prison, God was still with Joseph, and Joseph honored God with his life.

    “… God promised to send One who would deliver a sinful people from their sins. …God planned to send His Son, Jesus, from the beginning, and he constantly reminded mankind that He would come, sometimes giving them a verbal promise and other times a physical picture (like Joseph) to help them (and us today) understand. Jesus is God’s greatest gift, for he came to save people from their sins. … Just as Joseph saved people from starvation, Jesus came to save mankind from sin.”

    “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

    (Excerpt from Year One Quarter Two, Lesson 4 of The Biblical Path of Life)

    What is the greatest gift God ever gave? His Son, Jesus—to pay the penalty for our sins.

    Have you accepted this gift?

    How to be Saved

  • Lesson 13 (Lesson 26): Jesus in the Old Testament: Jesus Fulfilled the Law

    Key Verse

    “2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.  3. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:”  Romans 8:2-3

    Read the Key Verse with them.  Help them understand that Jesus set us free from the law that condemned us to death because of our sins.  We could never fulfill that law, but Jesus did and paid the penalty to save our life.

    Summary:  We have been learning about the first five books in the Old Testament, the books we call The Law.  In those books we watched as God gradually, over time, revealed himself to mankind.  He allowed us to see that He is perfect and sinless, and also, we saw just how sinful man is.  God showed from the beginning that it took the shedding of blood to cover man’s sins.  He, at the same time, revealed that He would one day send the perfect once and for all sacrifice to take away man’s sin.  Today, we see in Hebrews 10, that that law was just a picture to help us understand just what it was that Jesus had to fulfill completely in order to take away our sins.  When we accept the gift God gave us in His Son, Jesus, he then writes His law on our hearts.  Then we have no excuse.  We know.  We are to live our lives pleasing God.

    Encourage your students to bring their Bibles and use them!

    Emphasis:  In the books of the law, we saw the importance of recognizing sin and even the cost of sin – the shedding of blood.  It was just a picture for us to understand what Jesus one day did on the cross.

     

    Optional Worksheets to be downloaded:

    Lesson 26 – Volume 1 Children’s Worksheet 1

    Lesson 26 – Volume 1 Children’s Reinforcement Worksheet

     

    Ideas for children:

    Stickers always work well with children. Often times I watch Wal-Mart or Oriental Trading Company for specials or deals on things I can use for crafts for Sunday School (i.e. foam sheets, Bible Story scene stickers, crowns, stick on jewels, construction paper, etc.).  I keep a stash and when I need something, I go search in my stash!  Pinterest always has great ideas!

    You could have a coloring sheet that goes with the lesson.

    One idea for today’s lesson:  (See picture below).  For this lesson I cut out a very large heart out of construction paper (as big as the whole sheet).  We then cut out some preprinted verses (that I had made) and glued them on the heart.  We then added stickers of different verses (purchased through Oriental Trading).  The idea is to remind them of the importance of hiding God’s Word in our hearts (memorizing Scripture verses).

    Mural idea:

    Refer to the wall in your classroom that has become a mural. Today, have them draw a large heart and write some of God’s commands on it to remind them that we are to write God’s Word on our heart so that we won’t sin against Him. You may also want to let them make a Bible marker with Psalm 119:11 on it to keep in their Bibles to help them remember to hide God’s word in their hearts.

    Have them each add anything else they may have brought to add to the wall.  Encourage everyone to participate.