Jesus Lived in Perfect Obedience to His Father

Rita and Paul taught this to eight students on February 6, 2010 — part 5 of 9 — we will hand out the kids’ 2wtl booklets at lesson 8 or 9]

The remaining lessons based on Matthias Media’s “two ways to live”:

• Point 4 (this lesson): “Jesus always lived under God’s rule”
• Point 4 (cont.): “By dying in our place He took our punishment and brought forgiveness.”
• Point 5: Resurrection.
• Point 5: Ascension of our King.
• Point 6: Two ways to live.

Central Lesson: Contrast Adam and Eve’s temptation and disobedience with Christ’s temptation and obedience. Our kids have learned well about Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden– now we have our Lord in the Judean wilderness.

Primary Scriptures: Luke 2:40-52; Matthew 4:1-11; John 2:13-17; Romans 5:12-21

Materials: map (showing Jerusalem and the temple), photos showing Judean wilderness/desert, coloring page, name cards, psalms and hymns, exercise books, snacks, coloring felts

Outline

1. Prayer — together
2. Singing Psalms and hymns
3. Lesson
4. Snack/break — shoes off
5. Activity
6. Review of today’s lesson
7. Exercise books: redraw points 1, 2, 3 of 2wtl, and introduce point 4: scripture beneath text will be: “… it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” (Matthew 4:18.) Next week, which continues point 4, we will add Matthias Media’s recommended 1 Peter 3:18.
8. Singing Psalms and hymns
9. Closing prayer

Lesson

The following scriptures are relevant; it would be good if they came up in discussion; also, they relate to the coloring picture:

“Meanwhile his disciples urged him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’ Then his disciples said to each other, ‘Could someone have brought him food?’ ‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.’” (John 4:31-34).

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. [...] The LORD said to me: ‘[...] I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.’” (This is Moses’ prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15-18.)

“[...] These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (John 14:24.)

“I glorified you on the earth, having completed the task that you gave me to do; [...].” (John 17:4; Mounce translation.)

a) Introduction

Remember when we learned about baby Jesus born in Bethlehem? In a dream, an angel had told His earthly father, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” [Matthew 1:20]. This means that the Holy Spirit formed[/produced] baby Jesus and put Him into Mary’s womb. He was a complete brand new unborn baby in the tiniest form [zygote], created pure by the Holy Spirit, ready to be fed and protected by Mary’s body.^[1]

In this way, even though He was a man, He was not born under the curse of Adam. He was a new creation, just like Adam was. Jesus could face His father, the Creator of heaven and earth, without feeling any guilt– just like Adam and Eve could before they sinned. There was no punishment waiting for Jesus, and He did not need to be saved.

However, just like the first man Adam, Jesus would be tempted. Remember what a temptation is? [An invitation to disobey God.] Satan, the same serpent from the garden who lied to Eve, told many lies to Jesus, tempting Him to disobey God. But Jesus never disobeyed God– He lived to obey God, and His obedience even led Him to the greatest suffering and death that anyone has ever known.

b) Jesus as a Child

(Luke 2:40-52.)

After Joseph brought his family (Mary and baby Jesus) back to Israel from Egypt, they settled in Nazareth. We talked about this in December. The Bible teaches that young Jesus became strong and wise as He grew up. God’s favor was upon Him.

Once every year, Jesus went to Jerusalem with His parents to celebrate the Passover feast. Can anybody remember from the last lesson why the Jewish people celebrate this feast?

When Jesus was 12-years-old, He went to the feast as usual with His parents. When the feast was over, a group of people, including Jesus’ relatives and friends, left Jerusalem and traveled together. Joseph and Mary thought Jesus was in the crowd of travelers. However, the boy Jesus had stayed in Jerusalem. After a day of traveling, Joseph and Mary realized that their son was not with them or with any of their relatives or friends. The Bible says they were terribly worried. We can likely understand why: they knew that their 12-year-old was a smart boy and would have known that it was time to travel back home. They also knew that He had never disobeyed them. All parents know this awful feeling when they are not able to find one of their kids– even one who is twelve.

Joseph and Mary went back to Jerusalem to look for their son Jesus. After three days, they found Him in the temple, sitting with the Jewish teachers, listening to them and asking questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers [verse 47].

His parents were also amazed at the sight.

His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

When Jesus mentioned His “Father’s house,” He was speaking about His father in heaven.

Jesus had not disobeyed His parents. He knew that it was very important for Him to be near to God and to learn the things that were important. If Joseph and Mary had understood this, they would not have been amazed– they would have known that He would be in the temple talking to the teachers, and would have been amazed if he weren’t! When we know who Jesus is, we are not surprised by His holiness, and we are not surprised when we find Him doing good things. He does not do anything else.

He saw that His parents did not understand, and He went back home with them. The Bible says:

Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

[We do not know how old they were, but Jesus had at least four brothers, and multiple sisters. (Matthew 13:55-56.)]

c) Temptation in the Wilderness and in Jerusalem

(Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13.)

Many years later, when Jesus was around 30 years old, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The devil is Satan– the same serpent who tempted the first man and woman in the garden.

Why do you think the Holy Spirit would lead the man Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan? [Answer: passing these tests (tempted to disobey) would show true obedience. Similarly, God led Israel into the desert for 40 years to test/prove them-- whether they would obey Him or not. (Deuteronomy 8:2.) When Jesus would pass these tests, and live a perfect life, it would bring glory to the Father (John 17:4).]

Do you think Jesus would have been happy about going into the desert wilderness all alone, where He would be tempted by Satan? Jesus was the very image of God, and equal with God, yet He came to this earth as a human. In that weak body, without a friend beside Him, He would face the hot days, the cold nights, the hunger, and the lies of Satan.

Alone in the desert wilderness, Jesus did not have any prepared food around. He was with the wild animals. [Mark 1:13.]

Jesus did not eat food for 40 days and nights. This is called “fasting.”

The Israelite people had often fasted to show themselves to God as small and humble, often when they were sad about something, when they were sorry for something, or when they were asking (or praying to) God for something. [Judges 20:25; 1 Samuel 7:5; 2 Samuel 1:11; Ezra 8:21; etc.] For example, when his baby boy was sick, king David fasted and cried to God hoping that God would help the boy become healthy again. [2 Samuel 12.]

During this time in the wilderness, Jesus was showing Himself as humble– as just a man on this earth. It was not a time for Him to use His godly powers. Jesus often prayed to His Father in heaven, and here in the wilderness God’s words were feeding His soul even though His stomach was not being fed.

After Jesus had not eaten anything for 40 days, He was hungry.

The first sneaky way that Satan invited Jesus to disobey God was by saying to Him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus could have easily commanded the stones to become bread so that He could eat, but He knew that if He used His godly powers now, that would have undone this act of humility before His Father in heaven. Therefore, instead of doing what Satan had suggested, Jesus answered Him by saying what Moses had written in the Bible many years earlier: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.“

Jesus would not eat until He had left this wilderness place where the Holy Spirit had brought Him.

Satan even spoke words from the Bible in his second attempt to trick Jesus into disobeying God.

First, he took Jesus into Jerusalem and placed Him on top of the highest part of the temple. You see that Jesus was not using any kind of powers against Satan– He was a person, just like you and me, and He was going to pass the tests of obedience as a human. Satan could even lift Him up and set Him wherever he wanted.

Here on top of the highest part of the temple, Satan said to Jesus,

“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down [from here--Luke]. For it is written:
‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’“

Satan was quoting the Bible from a part of Psalm 91 to Jesus.

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Jesus knew that scripture from reading the book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament. He knew that God’s angels were well able to protect Him if He fell, but He knew it was not right to put God to the test. Christians believe in God without asking Him for magic signs to prove that His words are true. This would not help anybody believe anyway; Jesus said that those who do not believe will still not believe, even if somebody rises from the dead to warn them. [Luke 16:27-31.]

Satan was trying to fit the Bible into his plans by using just one part of it. We must do the opposite– we must fit our plans into the Bible by using all of it. Jesus showed Satan that just one chunk of scripture might not be completely understood if it is left alone. See if you can take bits and pieces out of any book you have and come up with a story or a lesson that is very different than it was before you chopped it up!

For the third test, the devil took [Jesus] to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Satan used his powers to show Jesus everything in the world all at once. [Luke 4:5.] Satan wants to be like God [Isaiah 14:14]. He hates God, and wants to be the one who is worshiped.

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

Jesus chose to be obedient to His Father rather than to worship Satan, even though Satan offered to give Him all the kingdoms of the world. Jesus did not love the things in this world. Those who believe in Jesus are also commanded to not love the world or the things in the world. One of the twelve men He chose, named John, wrote this:

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17.)

If Jesus had taken Satan’s offer, and become the ruler of the world at that moment, that means He would have disobeyed God’s plan for Him to lay down His life and die to pay the penalty for our disobedience against God. If Jesus had sinned just once, you and me would have no hope. We could only live in fear of the day that God will judge us. Then there would be nobody who could pay for the huge cost of our disobedience. Only the spotless Son of God is able.

After this, Satan left Jesus, to wait for another opportunity to test Him. [Luke 4:13.] Angels came to Jesus and began to take care of Him, and then He traveled back to Galilee.

Satan had lost this battle in the wilderness, but there were more battles to come. We will learn next week about how our King Jesus completely conquered Satan, and all evil and death, through His continued obedience to His Father in heaven which led Him to the cross, where He chose to die for us in obedience to His Father.

Even though Jesus never sinned, He is still able to understand how weak we feel when we are tempted by Satan, because He was tempted in every way. This is why we can be confident when we ask for help. [Hebrews 4:15-16.] It is very wise to ask Him for help when we are tempted instead of trying to fight without any help. That might be like David trying to win the battle against Goliath without God’s help.

Did you notice that both Jesus and Satan memorized verses from the Bible? Of course, Jesus obeyed the Bible, but Satan never does.

Memorizing scripture (the writings in the Bible) is a very good idea. When the apostle Paul teaches about the armor of God, he says that the Bible [rhēma theos-- the word/speech of God] is the sword in our battle against evil. [Ephesians 6.] God gave us the Bible because He wants us to read it and to use what we learn from it. It is sad to see a dusty Bible on top of a piano or a shelf.

In the year 2008, one company figured out that the Bible has been (or is currently being) translated into over 4000 different languages.^[2] As for the number of Bibles on the earth, there are many different estimates; however, one thing is sure: the Bible is the world’s best-selling book, with billions of copies in print. China alone, which is not known to be a very Christian country, claims to publish one million complete copies per year, and says that the Bible has “become one of the most popular books” in China.^[3]

d) Jesus Clears the Temple (first time)

[If time permits.] (From John 2:13-17.)

Some time later, it was spring, and the annual Passover feast was coming up again. So, Jesus traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem city.

When He got to the temple, He found businessmen right inside the courts of the temple selling cows, sheep, and doves, and other people sitting at tables changing money from various currencies around the world.

Jewish families had traveled to Jerusalem from all over the world for the Passover feast, for the very purpose of worshiping God. It must be nearly impossible to worship God inside a temple that is crowded with people making money and other people converting their coins and buying things. The very people who came to worship God had to figure out how to obtain a cow, sheep, or dove for their family. Sometimes they brought an animal all the way to Jerusalem, but the Jewish officials would say that it was not perfect, and so they needed to buy another animal instead.

There is also some concern that most of these businessmen were not being fair with their prices. This is explained more in scripture that talks about other parts of Jesus’ life.

Jesus, the Son of God, was very angry, and with good reason. So He made a whip out of cords, and forced all the people, cows, and sheep to leave the temple. He spilled out the coins of the money changers and pushed their tables over.

He told the people who were selling doves to take them out of the temple courts. “How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” He said.

As they watched, His students remembered scripture written by king David that explained how the Christ would be very concerned and intense about His Father’s house. If the Father in heaven was being insulted, then His Son Jesus Christ was being insulted. [Psalm 69:9.]

This story shows to us how serious Jesus was about obeying His Father. He would not tolerate a situation where men who claimed to represent God at the temple they called “the house of God” were behaving as if God’s house was a trash marketplace to fill the pockets of greedy men.

Jesus was bold to stand for what was right, even though many of the thousands of visitors would look and talk about what happened, and the temple authorities would certainly react. Jesus did not feel ashamed or shy about doing what was right.

We need to remember how much bigger and more important God is than many crowds of men who might look important. If we love God, we will not be happy to see evil work being done, especially when it is done in His name.

Even more important, we must not mix our greedy plans with times and places that are set aside for worshiping God.

Here is something to think about: Apostle Paul told Christian believers that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and that they are not their own. [1 Corinthians 6:19.] If my body is a temple made for God, then it should not be used for my foolish plans and desires.

Obedience to God is not just something that Jesus needed to think about. The one who I obey is the one who is my king. It is true that we are not perfect, and that there is good news because of Jesus’ perfect obedience and His payment for our sins. However, it is also reasonable (Romans 12) that we give ourselves to God in obedience.

e) Conclusion

We touched on scriptures in Romans 5:12-21 when we were studying original sin. We may read/discuss this portion of scripture, which is central to point 4 of 2wtl.

Additional Possible Stories that could be Taught

• Jesus’ Baptism (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22.)
• Jesus Prays all Night before an Important Day (Luke 6.)
• Jesus Proves that His Power Cannot be from Satan (Matthew 12:22-37; Mark 3:20-30.)
• Jesus Performs Good Works on Sabbath Days despite Accusations
  

Activity

Rita’s idea: each child gets a sheet of construction paper (the color is their own choice) and then has to draw a person on it. Only when they get the name do they realize that they have to draw themselves.  That way no one can hurt another’s feelings. After 20 minutes or so, we can gather them up, show them, and put them on the bulletin board  (or make them into a laminated book). Teaches that each child is unique and created by God; also we will see how the children perceive themselves…  most of them can draw extremely well.

Coloring Page

Moses' prophecy about Jesus; Click for the full size; The image is from http://jesustreedecorations.com/

Sample colored version:

Click to go to the source for full size

4×6 Photos

Jerusalem and temple during Jesus' life

Three modern-day photos of the Judean Wilderness: [does not look much like the garden of Eden]

Review

These can be answered in teams, as we sometimes do it, or we can sit together and have more of a discussion.

1. When Jesus was a boy, did He ever disobey His mom (Mary) or His dad (Joseph)?
2. Why did Jesus stay in Jerusalem when the Passover feast was over?
3. When Jesus said that He needed to be in His Father’s house, whose house was He talking about?
4. When Jesus was in the Judean wilderness/desert, how many times did Satan tempt Him to disobey His Father? [3]
5. Satan offered Jesus an earthly kingdom, but Jesus’ kingdom is _____? [heavenly]
6. Could Jesus have made the wrong choice, just like Adam and Eve did?
7. How many names/titles can you think of for the serpent who tempted Adam and Eve in the garden? [Satan, the devil, serpent, snake, dragon, Lucifer, etc.]
8. If Jesus had sinned just one little sin in His life, could there still be some way that we could come to the Father? Is there any way to the Father except through the Son?
9. Why can’t people who are basically pretty good people just go to heaven? [If they are guilty of one offense, they are guilty of all; God will not tolerate even one idle word, much less any lie or idol; all are cursed under Adam; etc.]
10. Did Jesus pass the tests that He faced when the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness?
11. Since Jesus passed the tests, did this bring shame or glory to God, His Father? How would it bring glory to God?
12. Is Jesus able to understand our struggles with temptation? Why is He able?
13. Look at your photos of the Judean wilderness/desert. Imagine being there alone, without having any camping gear, and without eating, for forty days and nights. How would you feel? Now imagine being offered food, and being offered to become the king over all the world. How would that feel?
14. What is the sword in our struggle against evil? [the Spirit, which is the word of God-- scripture-- Bible]
15. If you saw Jesus on this earth, when He was a boy in Jerusalem, or a man in Galilee, would He look like God, or would He look like another man on the earth? Would His head be glowing like some paintings show?
16. Even though He was a man, could Jesus still have turned a stone into bread? Could He have fallen off the highest part of the temple and came down safely, without a scratch? [Yes.] So what does this mean about Jesus? [He was man, but was also the divine Son of God.]
17. How did Jesus know the Bible so well when He was 30 years old?
18. Where did Satan take Jesus for the third test? [To the top of a very high mountain. Note: Ordering of the final two tests is swapped in Luke.]
19. Why did Jesus not bow down or worship Satan?
20. Who was the King in Jesus’ life?
21. Does Satan have powers?
22. What does Satan want? Who does he care about?
23. Because of Jesus’ victory, God has set Jesus as the King of kings. Is it possible for us to be obedient to two kings? Why not?
24. Does the Bible say it is okay if we love the world and the things in the world just a little bit?
25. How can a person live forever?
26. The spotless lamb from last week was a shadow of the perfectly obedient Jesus. In order for the Israelites to be saved from death, the lamb’s blood needed to be around the frame of the door on their houses. What does this mean about the price that Jesus had to pay in order that we can live forever?
27. What is the reason for the Bible? Who wrote the words in the Bible?
28. Has God made sure that the Bible is the most difficult book to find on the earth?
29. To discuss: A lie that looks like truth, or is presented with a part-truth, is the most clever kind of lie there is; Satan as the father of lies– the expert– even appearing as an angel of light. Compare: wolf in sheep’s clothing.
30. How many human beings have lived on this earth and never sinned? [1]
31. Why does even a baby need Jesus to pay the price for him to be saved? [Cursed through Adam.]

Footnotes

^[1] He was not formed the way we are, by the uniting of reproductive cells of a man and a woman. Though cared for in the womb of the virgin Mary, there was, by definition, no biological contribution from Mary in His holy conception– a conceived zygote has already bypassed both gametes– the sperm and the egg.

^[2] wycliffe.org

^[3] china-embassy.org

Even Worse News – Judgment

[Annemarie, Rita, and Paul taught this to ten kids on Saturday, January 30, 2010 -- part 4 of 9. Nathalie helped us in the beginning.]

Themes: justice, judgment, punishment, death, need of a Savior, earthquakes, false gods

Scriptures: Exodus 11-12; Psalm 46; Matthew 9:12; 1 John 4:14.

Materials req’d:

• Hymn 1A (Apostle’s Creed) printed as 4×6″ for each child;

Hymn 1A (Apostle's Creed) from the Book of Praise; click for full size

• Map showing the two cities in Egypt that the Israelites built;

Map shows Egypt with the two cities the Israelites built during the time of Moses; click for larger version

Page to color:

making bricks in egypt; click for larger

Outline

1. Prayer
2. Singing psalms/hymns — Nathalie help us learn hymn 1A
3. Lesson
4. Break
5. Activity
6. Review questions for today’s lesson
7. Draw points 1, 2, [review] and 3 [new] of 2wtl in their exercise books — the scripture text under point 3 will be: “I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.” (Exodus 12:12)
8. Singing psalms/hymns
9. Prayer

Lesson (outline #3)

Consequences

Have you ever seen a sign in a store that says, “if you break it you buy it?” [How about this, "Nice to touch; nice to hold; if broken, consider sold?"]

When we do the wrong thing, it costs something. We must pay for it.

Remember that God commanded Adam and his wife to not eat fruit from the tree of knowledge [of good and evil]? He promised them that if they disobeyed Him, they would surely die.

When someone’s stuff gets broken or stolen, they want to be paid back. They say that they deserve to be paid back– they demand fairness. But people usually complain about God instead of thanking Him for what He has given, fearing Him, and understanding that there are consequences to disobeying Him– a penalty to pay.

Story from Bible Illustrating Consequences of Disobedience to God

Long before the time of Samuel, Saul, David, and Jonathan, the people of Israel were slaves in Egypt.

The kings in Egypt came to be known as “Pharaohs” around that time. The Egyptian people thought of their Pharaohs as gods– they worshiped them. They had many invisible gods as well.^[1]

The Pharaohs wore fake goat beards, and crowns that the people thought were magic.

The LORD God of Israel hated all of the Egyptian gods, and we read in the Bible how God executed judgment on all of them. [Exodus 12:12]

Working as slaves in Egypt, the Israelite people were forced to build a house for the Egyptian sun-god [Pithom], as well as a city named Rameses, and a whole bunch of mud bricks. They wanted to leave Egypt and go back home to Israel.

A man of Israel named Moses said to Pharaoh, “The LORD God says, ‘Let my people go.’“

But Pharaoh answered, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.” [Exodus 5:2]

Moses told Pharaoh that God would go throughout Egypt at midnight, and every firstborn son would die, including Pharaoh’s first son. There would be loud crying throughout Egypt, but none of the Israelite people would lose a son.

God told the Israelite people that each family must choose a perfect [תָּמִים] one-year-old boy lamb, kill him, and put some of his blood on the posts that go around the sides and tops of their doors. God told them that this blood would be a sign that it was the house of an Israelite, and that He would pass over that house– His death angel would not enter it.

Think about shadows again… The blood of a spotless lamb in this story is a shadow of the blood of Jesus Christ protecting us from death.

Motivated by the Bad News

If you lived in Egypt and someone said that the blood of a perfect lamb would save you, you would not care very much if you did not know that you needed to be saved. But if you knew that God’s death angel was going to visit everyone’s house at midnight, you would be glad to hear about the blood of the lamb, and you would be sure to take the advice!

If your neighbor said that his house was earthquake proof, you might say to him, “that’s nice,” and walk away and forget about it. However, if you knew there was going to be a very bad earthquake that night, you would be knocking at his door crying to get inside his house.

People do not worry about being saved when they do not think there is anything to be saved from. Apostle John said this about Jesus Christ: “We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world,” [1 John 4:14] but when we take a look around, we see that most people in this world do not really care.

Jesus once said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” [Matthew 9:12].

Adam and his wife did not need to be saved from anything, but like we learned last week, we all need to be saved– we need a Savior.

There is a price to pay for our disobedience to God, and the price is too high for us to pay. Even all of the angels together would not be able to pay the price. Only Jesus Christ our Lord could pay the price. No wonder the shepherds and the army of angels were so happy when they knew that Jesus was born in Bethlehem!

Conclusion

Let us read the beginning of Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

Optional Story (time permitting); Jesus’ Parable of the 10 Minas (From Luke 19:11-27)

[We taught the parable at Matthew 18:23 instead.]

Jesus once taught a story about an important man who called ten of his servants and told them that he was going away. He gave them 10 sacks of coins (each sack had 10,000 coins)^[2] and ordered them to put the money to work, so that there would be more money when he got back.

When he returned, he called the servants to see how much money they had gained by using the coins he had given to them.

The first servant came and said, “Master, this one sack of your coins has grown to the size of ten sacks!!”

“Well done,” said the master. “Since I can trust you with a small thing, I will trust you with a big thing– you will rule over ten cities.”

The second servant came to his master and said, “This sack of your coins was put in the bank and is now worth five sacks!”

The master said a similar thing to this servant: “You will rule over five cities.”

But a third servant came and said, “Master, look, here is your sack of coins that you gave me. I kept them safe in a handkerchief. I was afraid of you, because I know that you want all of your money to grow, even when someone else is looking after it.”

(Does this excuse-making remind you of Adam and Eve in the garden?)

The master said to this servant, “I will judge you by the very thing you have just said! So you knew that I want my money to grow when someone else is looking after it? Then why did you not put my money in the bank so that it would grow?”

The master told his helpers to take the money away from this wicked servant and give it to the first servant. The helpers said, “But master, he has ten sacks!”

After telling this story, Jesus said, “To everyone who has, more will be given; but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. As for these enemies who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and kill them.”

Activity (outline #5)

Rita’s idea: two teams, one adult with each, will write down as many words as possible that describe or relate to God. They will go through each letter of the alphabet and try to think of words. [Holy, good, love, justice, wrath, mercy, father, king, Creator, throne, and so on.]

Another idea: mini skit where one child is the judge. Each child presents, but regardless of whether they plead guilty or innocent, they are found guilty. Another child can pass a red token (I have a bunch of these) to the guilty party, and the judge will be delighted to report that the penalty is paid, and the child is innocent and set free.

Review questions (outline #6)

[TODO]

—

Footnotes:

[1] At first, Egyptians thought the Pharaohs were just sons of a cow-goddess named ‘Bat.’ Later, they decided that when a Pharaoh was alive, he became the eyeball-falcon-sky god who married both a cow named Hathor and his own mom (who was a dog star), and he was the brother of a rotting half-jackal god and the uncle of a half-baboon named Thoth (who made great contributions to science). When a Pharaoh died, he became the green-faced-half-mummy son of ‘Nut’ who might have been the eyeball god’s daddy, but was also his mommy’s brother. The Romans decided to worship the eyeball god, and named him “Apollos.” The Hindus have decided to worship his uncle, who was the sun god and a scarab beetle at the same time, and the half-baboon god was actually his tongue, but the Hindus say he might be a lady who is like a watchmaker without a watch. This sun god was Nut’s grampa, whose mom was made of snot, but he also had a cow daughter, and eventually his sweat turned into all the people of Egypt, so they called themselves his family of cows.
[2]10 mina = 1,000 drachma = 100,000 lepta; I’m using “sacks” to neatly divide the coins into bundles of 10,000 so the kids can understand how much was given to the first three servants.

Rotation

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Bad News – Sin

[Annemarie, Rita, and Paul taught this to eight kids on Saturday, January 23, 2010 -- part 3 of 9]

Themes: “original sin,” fallen humankind, Satan/temptation

Topics from previous lessons: disobedience, creation, fear, kings, prophets, and shadows

Scriptures: Genesis 3; Psalm 102:25-27; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 5

Materials req’d: possible coloring pages: serpent in the garden, temptation, world not so happy; new psalm/hymn verse (Juvenile Ornate Ghost Pipefish Image © 2008 Steve Childs, reproduced here under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.):

Psalm 8 (verse 5 Genevan Psalter) prepared as 4x6"

Outline

1. Prayer
2. Singing psalms/hymns of choice
3. Review 2wtl point one as they have drawn it in their exercise books (we broke it up into two sequential drawings, the second introducing man/woman to creation) — remind them to start with the circle for the earth lower on their pages so there is room for the crown/etc above
4. Lesson
5. Break
6. Activity
7. Hand out coloring pages
8. Review questions for today’s lesson
9. Draw points 1 and 2 of 2wtl in exercise books — the scripture text under point 2 will be “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20)
10. Singing psalms/hymns
11. Prayer

Lesson (outline #4)

[Hand out the 'fill in the blanks' activity first, so the kids can write some answers in as they listen to the story.]

A. Introduction

Remember how God made the earth and people in six days, and saw that it was very good, and rested on the seventh day? Adam and his wife were happy and healthy– they did not feel guilty, and they had nothing to worry about.

This week we are going to learn about why the world is not “very good,” like it was back then. This week is going to be about bad news, and next week it will get even worse. We would not even want to talk about this if we did not know that God has given us a powerful King to save us– the only solution to all of our problems. Jesus, that baby born in Bethlehem, is the perfect King.

If there were only bad news, then there would be no reason to learn anything. There would not even be any good reason to make plans or to work hard at anything.

However, if there is good news, then we must first know about the bad news before we can learn about the good news properly.

B. Adam, Eve, and the Serpent

Last week we mentioned the serpent, who was very clever, and the most crafty animal in the garden God had made for Adam and his wife.

One day, the serpent asked Adam’s wife, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?“

The woman correctly remembered what God had said, and answered the serpent, saying, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’“

Then the serpent told a lie to the woman. He said, “You won’t die!” He also told her that if she eats from that tree, she will be “like God,” and will gain knowledge of both good and evil. The serpent was tempting her, which means he was inviting her to disobey God. We are all often tempted like this, but we do not need to accept the invitation to disobey God, just as Adam’s wife did not need to. Jesus proved this, because He was tempted a lot by this same serpent, but He never disobeyed His Father.

The fruit on the tree looked delightful, and the woman also wanted the wisdom that the serpent had spoke of, so she ate some of the fruit, and also gave some to Adam. They both ate this fruit that God had told them not to eat.

Once they ate the fruit, they had a new understanding about everything. They suddenly noticed that they were naked and they felt embarrassed about it. This had never happened before. They sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

When they heard God walking in the garden, they hid in the trees! They felt guilty, which is something they had never felt before. Oh, how happy they would still be if they had trusted God as their king!

God called out to Adam, “Where are you?”

Adam answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.“

So God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Adam blamed his wife, and she blamed the serpent; however, they both knew that they had disobeyed God. Adam had not even warned his wife when she took the fruit; instead, he ate some with her. Their explanations to God were foolish excuses. They still felt guilty because they were guilty– they had disobeyed God. Disobeying God is called sinning.

We have learned about the very first sin ever committed by humans.

For the first time, God told Adam and his wife about a lot of bad news– the way things were going to be now that they had sinned like this. Life would not be so lovely any more, and Adam and his wife (whom he now named ‘Eve’) would not live forever– they would surely die, even as God had promised. God placed powerful guards and a flaming sword to block the way to the tree of life.

No human being since that time has ever figured out a sneaky way to live forever, even though they almost always act surprised when they find out that someone has died– as if some new or unusual thing has happened!

So God really did keep His promise with Adam and Eve. He would be a sloppy father and a liar if He did not keep His promises. We are glad that He is a good and perfect father, unlike any father we know.

C. How Does Adam and Eve’s Sin Affect us Today?

Condemned Under Adam

Apostle Paul wrote [Romans 5] that “sin entered the world through one man” (Adam), and that “in this way death came to all men.” Paul even explained that death became the king of men, ruling over them! [basileuō; aorist tense.] We are the children of Adam and Eve, so we all suffer under the punishment they received.

And what an evil king death is! Who can escape it?

Even when people think they are free– living as kings over their own lives– they are still slaves to death.

A whole Bunch of Bad Kings and an Unhappy Temporal Life

Remember when we learned about the people in Israel asking God for a king? God’s prophet Samuel knew that the people did not need any king beside God, and Samuel warned them that they would have troubles with a human king. And they did have troubles! King after king, the people of Israel had very many troubles. As we know, it has also been like this with all people of all times and places. Powerful men think that they have created a great new place and a great new kingdom on this earth, but soon it fades away, often before that proud man even dies!

Where is the Roman empire now? Where is the Persian empire? The Babylonian empire is nothing but crumbled rocks sitting in museums. Alexander the Great is nowhere to be found when he might come in handy. He’s just another story in a book. Why did Britain lose control over the world? We thought everything might be okay for awhile.

What about today? Are there any countries where all the people are very happy with their president, prime minister, queen, or king?

What about the things that people set as kings to rule in their hearts, minds, and lives? The schools are trying to help kids to be self-confident instead of being confident in God, the One who created us. Confidence is a very good thing to have, but not confidence in any terrible king!

When I have trusted myself to be the boss of my own life– trusting myself to know and understand what to do and say– it has never gone well for me, and it has also not been good for other people around me. Even worse, God notices when I disobey Him. Next week we will talk about the cost of disobeying God.

Over thousands of years, humans have shown that they are very good at fighting, hating, murdering, having wars, telling lies, getting drunk, bragging, being selfish, and being greedy. This is evidence that their kings are not good kings– the ideas that rule their lives are not worth trusting. There are also earthquakes and diseases, and our bodies get old. There is so much suffering!

D. Conclusion

Remember we said that baby Jesus was formed by the Holy Spirit inside the womb of Mary? So Jesus was not condemned under Adam. Apostle Paul called Jesus the “last Adam” [1 Corinthians 15]. Like Adam in the very beginning, Jesus felt no guilt before His Father in heaven. And unlike the first Adam, Jesus never disobeyed God. Because of this, Jesus never hated, lied, or envied other people. Who else has been like Jesus? Not even king David was! How silly we would be to trust or want any king in our lives other than Jesus Christ. How kind the Creator has been to give His son to us!

Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this earth. His kingdom does not fade or die like everything on this earth does. There are no earthquakes, no jealousy, no sickness, and no tears in His kingdom.  Psalm 102 says this:

In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.

But you remain the same,
and your years will never end. (Psalm 102:25-27)

Activities (outline #6)

1. Game involving a command, a lie/temptation, and children’s opportunity to discern & decide. A game called “the general says” HERE goes like this: Directions: The “general” stands in the middle of the circle of chairs and gives commands to each child. These commands are not to be obeyed unless the command begins with the words, “The general says.” Any child that follows orders without this authority are out of the game and must leave the circle. Sample commands might include: “Scratch your head,” “Step forward one step,” “Salute,” or “Turn around twice.”
2. Check “dominoes” and “two oranges” activities HERE.
3. Idea from Rita: Dart board with magnetic (or Velcro) darts… kids standing 10′ back will see that it is nearly impossible to hit the bulls-eye. Can move farther back if necessary. Object of the lesson is to illustrate our (sin) incapacity to attain perfect obedience.
4. Fill in the blanks:

FRUIT, GOD, GOOD, EVIL, DIE, DEATH, PROMISE, FLAMING, BETHLEHEM, TREE, LIAR, SERPENT, ADAM, WOMAN, GARDEN, GUILT, SIN, CRAFTY, KING, ONE, SIX, SEVEN, WIFE, HID, FEAR, DISOBEY

God made the world in ____ days, and rested on day ____.

God promised Adam and his wife that they would surely ____ if they ate fruit from the _____ of knowledge.

The serpent was ________.

The serpent asked Adam’s wife, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the ________’?“

Temptation is an invitation to ___________ God.

The woman saw that the ________ looked delightful.

Before Adam and his wife committed ______, the world was very good.

It was the _________ who gave some fruit to Adam.

We cannot understand the ______ news, if we have not learned the bad news.

It is good to desire wisdom, but the beginning of wisdom is to _______ God, not to disobey Him.

After they sinned, God kept His __________.

_________ was the very first bad feeling Adam and Eve ever felt.

This was sin number ____ of very many sins committed by people.

When they heard _____ walking in the garden, the man and woman _____ in the trees.

The woman blamed the serpent, and ______ blamed the woman.

Adam gave the name ‘Eve’ to his _______.

God placed guards and a __________ sword to block the way to the tree of life.

Death is an ________ king.

God would be a ______ if He had broken His promise to Adam and Eve.

Jesus was also tempted by the ___________.

Sin leads to ________.

There is only one _________ who can save us, and He was born in ____________.

Review questions (outline #8)

We may either go through the ‘fill in the blanks’ questions above as a group, or play our usual two team game using those questions without peeking at our papers.

Creation — Lesson 2 of 2

[Rita, Annemarie, and Paul taught this to ten children on Saturday Jan 16, 10:00am.]

We are going to have seven more lessons of this series of nine, beginning with Creation, as an overview of the fundamental “two ways to live” (Matthias Media) and their consequences. We will give the 17-page “Who Will be King” booklets to the kids at the end of the series.

[Text in square brackets is not intended for the children, but provides additional references or information that may or may not assist in the lesson.]

Themes: God’s original provisions for man and woman;  His original command; Sabbath rest; marriage; Satan and temptation– only as lead in to next week

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-3:1; Matthew 11:28; Hebrews 4

Outline

• Open in prayer– read the sample prayer taught by our Lord in unison;
• Lesson / story — we will continue the story up to, but not including, the original sin;
• Break:
  • Shoes off
  • Snacks
  • Bathroom break — clean hands
  • Make sure nobody is thirsty before we go back into the study room
• The activity — recover the shoe-boxes from the kitchen — repair parts that need to be properly glued (will have clay this time to help) – add small figures representing male and female (each child will have one little boy and one little girl figure) — add a card crown representing God’s rightful kingship? (not sure where to place this given the open tops of our boxes.)
• Lesson review questions– two teams– right answer is 2 points, being the first team with the answer is an additional 1 point;
• Sing psalms including hymn 60 (verse 1); [TODO - look into hymn 24 based on interest expressed by one of the children.]
• Page two in their exercise books– repeat page one with God creating the world and ruling as King (per Matthias Media), including the scripture quote beneath the drawing. This time we will additionally add the creation of man and woman and draw them in the picture, explaining that God gave them delegated authority over His creation, and that everything remained “good” in the ultimate sense, according to God’s confession. Earth, crown [God as rightful king], and man drawn on the earth, under God. The text under their drawing will be, “‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ -Genesis 1:1,” and an additional scripture; eventually we will review the entire six drawings and work on memorising them and the related scriptures;
• Close in prayer;
• The kids can take their shoe-boxes home this week.

Lesson

1. Introduction / Review

day 1: God created light and separated it from the darkness.

day 2: God created the sky to separate the waters of the ocean from the water in the clouds.

day 3: God gathered the waters on the sea into oceans, exposing dry land, and He created plant life.

day 4: God spoke into existence the sun, moon, and stars, so that days, seasons, and years could be marked.

day 5: God filled the water and the sky with fish and birds.

day 6: God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. [Genesis 1:25; NLT]

There was no disease, and no death; nothing rotted and nothing decayed. Paradise on earth was perfect.

2. The Remainder of Day Six of Creation

After He had spoken all parts of creation into existence, God created human beings on day 6. He said, “Let us make man in our image, to be like us.”

Does anyone remember why God said “us” instead of “me” here?

[From last week:

The book of Genesis tells us about God, and how He created things by speaking. The writers of the New Testament teach us that because of Jesus, we may call God our father. He is our good Father in heaven.

We have also learned in this lesson that God’s Spirit was involved during creation. The Spirit was hovering over the water on the first day. The Bible tells us that the Spirit gives life [Job 33:4; Psalm 104:30].

God’s son, who is Jesus Christ, was also working with His father at this time. Apostle Paul wrote this in one of his letters:

Christ is exactly like God, who cannot be seen. He is the first-born Son, superior to all creation. Everything was created by him, everything in heaven and on earth, everything seen and unseen [...]. All things were created by God’s Son, and everything was made for him. (Colossians 1:15-16; CEV)

Apostle John also wrote that Jesus was with God in the very beginning, and that Jesus is God.]

God said that man would rule over the fish, the birds, and the other animals.

He blessed men and women and told them to multiply– to fill the earth– and to be rulers over the earth. He told them that the fruits of the plants were made for them to eat. He also told them that the animals were made for them.

God saw that everything He had made was very good, and day six ended.

The evening passed, and day six was over.

• [Remind the students why God is the rightful King. Recall our previous potter/clay activity, and the current shoe-box activity.]
• [Contrast God with today's earthly rulers.]

3. Day Seven — God’s Rest

God was finished creating the universe and everything in it, so He rested on day 7. Remember how we talked about each week having 7 days?

God made the 7th day very important– He said that it was holy, because it was the day that He rested from all His work of creation.

The New Testament part of the Bible teaches us that those who believe the message of Jesus have rest from their own work, in the same way that God rested from His work on day 7. [Hebrews 4]

Jesus once said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

[Possible discussion of the tiring things in life, and how trust in God and belief in salvation can give us rest from stress, anxiety, and weariness.]

4. Adam and His Wife

The second chapter in the book of Genesis teaches us how the first man and woman were made.

God made the first man, Adam, from the dust of the ground. Adam came to life when God breathed into his nostrils.

God planted a garden and put Adam in the garden. There were lots of beautiful trees with delicious fruit in the garden. It did not rain– God watered the plants with mist that rose up from the earth, and there was also a river that watered the garden.

In the very middle of the garden, there were two important trees:

• The tree of life; and
• The tree of knowledge [of good and evil].

God told Adam to work in the garden. Adam was allowed to eat any of the fruit in the garden, but God warned him that he must not eat from the tree of knowledge. He promised Adam that if he ate fruit from that tree, he would surely die.

God then said that it was not right for the man to be alone. He said that He would make the perfect helper for Adam.

First, God brought all the wild animals and birds to Adam, and Adam chose a name for each one.

None of these animals were a suitable helper for Adam, so God made Adam fall asleep. While he was in a deep sleep, God took out one of Adam’s ribs, and He made a woman from the rib.

When Adam saw the woman, he said:

“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”

The word for man was ["eesh"], and the word for woman was ["eesh-SHAW'"].

This woman was Adam’s wife, and this is why even today a man is to leave his parents and join his wife to be one with her in marriage.

5. Conclusion

God was the proper king over the earth, the garden, the man, and the woman. God had made one rule for the man and the woman: that they should not eat fruit from the tree of knowledge. Adam and his wife would always be good in God’s eyes if they kept this commandment.

For example, they did not have any clothes on, but they did not feel guilty. They were blameless before God their creator.

One of the wild animals in the garden was the serpent. He was very clever and the most crafty of all the animals. Next week we are going to learn about how he told a lie to the woman, and how the man and woman both disobeyed God.

This will help us understand why the world is not perfect anymore, the way it was in the beginning. Remember that God made a promise to the man about what would happen if he disobeyed. Since God is good, He keeps His promises. Everywhere we look today, we can see how true it is that God kept His promise with Adam.

Everyone in this world can see the problems caused by Adam’s disobedience. Everywhere we look, we see plants, animals, and people becoming sick, dying, and rotting. There are wars, murders, and robberies. People spend their whole life working hard because of all these problems, and they are always sad about these things, but they ignore the perfect Solution that God gave to us through the perfect work of His son Jesus Christ.

Jesus once said, “I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, [where all the Jews come together]. I said nothing in secret.” (John 18:20)

King David’s son wrote this: “Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech.” (Proverbs 1:20-21)

It is so sad that people ignore this true wisdom, and they refuse the rest that they can have in Jesus.

Activity

[TODO: See overview section above; we will bring 3 prepared shoe-boxes for the 3 kids who were absent last week.]

Materials

• Exercise books that we already have for each student;
• Additional supplies for the activity (glue, figures, card and scissors for crowns; non-drying clay to help stick “trees” and rocks into the shoe-box creations);
• Food;
• Stickers;
• Genevan Psalms;
• word search HERE;
• Coloring pages courtesy sundayschoolresources.com:

serpent

example coloring of serpent

the lie

sample coloring of the lie

School Resources

Some of the material here is useful for children’s Bible lessons: SundaySchoolResources.com