When I share the gospel, I always start with God.
Kids need to know that God is. God is real, God is amazing, God is eternal and holy and righteous. God created them and loves them.
I struggle with focus when I share with kids about God. There is so much to tell them! There are so many things to share about how awesome God is that I am tempted to spend all my time talking about the greatness of God. But it is important to focus. When sharing the gospel, there are attributes of God that it is key children understand – God is eternal; God is Holy; God is righteous; and God is our Creator King.
Eternal means that God has no beginning and no ending. God was never born and God will never die; God has always been and will always be. God is forever.
God has always lived – before you were born, before your parents were born, before the universe was created.
God will always be – think about the future; think about heaven that will be even millions of years from now.
No matter how far back you go or how far forward, God is there because God is eternal.
“Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” Psalm 90:2
Illustration: Show a circle (a hula hoop is a good example, if it’s new!) Ask the kids to show you the beginning. Ask them to show you the end of the hula hoop. "There is no beginning or end because it is a circle. It goes on and on and on and on and on. That is a little like what it means that God is eternal – He is forever. God has no beginning and no ending."
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.” Revelation 4:8a
Holy means 2 things:
1. God is totally unique
There is no one else in the entire world like God. No one else even comes close to being like God. He is special. God is different from everything else. He is separate; He is one-of-a-kind.
“How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.” 2 Samuel 7:22
“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” Isaiah 46:9b
2. God is absolutely pure
He is 100% good. He has never done anything wrong, ever and He never will. There is no evil in Him at all. He is completely separate from all that is wrong or impure or sinful. He can’t even stand sin to be anywhere near Him, He is so good. God cannot stand sin; He hates it. God is perfect in every way.
“He is the Rock. His works are perfect. All of his ways are right. He is faithful. He doesn't do anything wrong. He is honest and fair.” Deuteronomy 32:4 (NIrV)
“Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.” Habakkuk 1:13a
Illustration: “Think of a treasure like a diamond. Diamonds that are very valuable have no defects; there are no bad spots; nothing is wrong with them; they are pure.” (Show a diamond – I have found large pretend diamonds at dollar stores.) “That is a little like what it means that God is pure. There is absolutely no sin – God is 100% good.”
Everything He thinks, says, and does is right.
Everything God thinks is right (point to your head); everything God says is right (point to your mouth); and everything God does is right (point out) (when you say' right', give a thumbs up.)
“For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.” Psalm 33:4
“The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.” Psalm 145:17
Illustration: Hold up a card that says, "2 + 2 =" Say, "Let's pretend that this is a question on a test. There is a right answer and there is a wrong answer. If I answered '5' would I be right or wrong? The right answer is 4. There is right and there is wrong. God is always right. God is righteous. Everything He thinks, says, and does is right!"
God is the creator of everything. He made everything by Himself.
God made you and God made me. The Bible says that we are created in the image of God. That means we were made to be like Him in certain ways. God has given us minds so that we can learn about Him and hearts so that we can love Him. God created us so we can have a special relationship with Him.
Because God made everything, everything belongs to Him. He is the boss. He is in charge. God is the King of His creation.
As King, God gets to make the rules. God is righteous, so His rules are right. God is good, so His rules are good.
God made us; He is our King. We need to obey Him.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27
“I am the Lord. I have made everything. I alone spread out the heavens. I formed the earth by myself. Isaiah 44:24 (NIrV)
Illustration: Use Lego and create something. Tell the kids, “Look what I made. I created it. I used Lego to make this ____. The Bible tells us that God made everything. What are some of the things that God has made?” Let the children answer. “I made this ____ so it’s mine. It belongs to me. God made the world and everything in it, so it belongs to God. God created you and me, we belong to God, God is our King.”
In the next post, this series continues with talking about sin.
Check out the other blogposts in this series!