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Sharing the Gospel with Kids – Talking about Jesus Part 1

 

“The Son is the gleaming brightness of God's glory. He is the exact likeness of God's being. He uses His powerful word to hold all things together. He provided the way for people to be made pure from sin. Then He sat down at the right hand of the King, the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:3 NIrV)

God made a way for sin to be punished and sinners to be saved - through Jesus! Jesus did something no one else could do. He took the punishment for the sins of the entire world, and made it possible for us to have a relationship with God. God sent Jesus to die for us because He loves us. Jesus came into the world to save sinners from death so that we can go to heaven and live with God forever.

When talking with kids about Jesus it’s important to tell them who He is and what He has done. In part one I will talk about who Jesus is.

Who is Jesus?

“In the beginning, the Word was already there. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 (NIrV)

“The Word became a human being. He made his home with us. We have seen his glory. It is the glory of the one and only Son. He came from the Father. And he was full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (NIrV)

“In his very nature he was God. But he did not think that being equal with God was something he should hold on to. Instead, he made himself nothing. He took on the very nature of a servant. He was made in human form. He appeared as a man. He came down to the lowest level. He obeyed God completely, even though it led to his death. In fact, he died on a cross.” Philippians 2:6 (NIrV)

Jesus is totally God and totally human at the same time. This is hard to understand, but the Bible tells us it’s true, so we can believe it and trust it.

Jesus is God

  • That means he is perfect and holy. Jesus has never done anything wrong ever.
  • Jesus did the kind of things only God does.
    • Jesus made a huge storm stop – just like that. He had control over the wind and the waves and the storm. They obeyed Him. Only God has that kind of power.
    • Jesus healed people and made food appear out of nowhere. Only God has that kind of power.
    • And Jesus forgave sin – remember the guy who was lowered down through the roof. Jesus made him walk again, but Jesus also forgave his sins. Only God can forgive sin.

[**Here you may want to have a brief discussion about the Trinity. Kids will pick up on the fact that you have talked about God and now you are talking about Jesus who is God. The trinity is a concept that even adults have a hard time understanding, but it is important that you give kids a basic understanding:

There is 1 God.

Deuteronomy 6:4 - Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is the one and only God.

There is only one God but three persons – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This is hard to understand, even for grownups. We know it is true and we choose to believe and trust it. We can ask God to help us understand and to help us believe even when we don’t understand.

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Matthew 20:19**]

Jesus is Human

  • Jesus was born a long time ago – over 2000 years ago. Jesus was a baby and He grew. He became a boy and kept growing, just like we do, until He became an adult. Jesus was a real person.
  • The Bible tells us that He felt pain, He got tired, He cried. Jesus got hungry and Jesus felt sleepy. So Jesus understands what it’s like. Jesus understands us.

In part 2 I will address the question, "What did Jesus do?"

Check out the other blogposts in this series!