Before you teach this lesson to a child, consider this for yourself:
1 John 1:5-10 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
To walk in the light, you must be purified from all unrighteousness (darkness). God calls us to repentance, with repentance, the darkness is removed and you may walk in the light of his love and glory. Let us run the race set before us with perseverance, cleansed from unrighteousness, in love and unity and walk in the light of his glory.
Leading A Child Into The Kingdom Of Heaven
There are many ways of leading a child to Christ. The easiest way is to use a picture or an illustration as you explain how to be born again into the Kingdom of God. The picture below illustrates the complete plan of God’s salvation. The following is an example how to present this to a child:
Heaven is a wonderful place where God the Father lives. Heaven is a holy place, and there can be no sin in heaven. Jesus, God’s Son, lives in Heaven too. When the time was right, God the Father sent His Son, Jesus, from His Kingdom in Heaven to the earth. And just like you, Jesus was born a baby. He grew up and was your age once. That is why Jesus understands boys and girls so well. When Jesus became a man He began to teach the people about the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus knew about the Kingdom of Heaven, because Heaven was His home before He was born upon the earth. Jesus told people to follow Him because He could show them the way to the Kingdom of Heaven.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Everyone, including you, that is born on earth begins a journey on the broad road. Everyone born onto the broad road is born with a desire or “want to” to do wrong things. The Bible says that the broad road leads to destruction. The wrong things we do are called disobedience. Can you remember a time when you were disobedient? Another word for disobedience is sin. Your sin or disobedience separates you from a holy God.
Jesus came to show you the way to heaven by dying for your sins. All of your sins and my sins were placed upon Jesus when he died on the cross. The cross in the picture above is colored red because Jesus shed his blood to take away your sins. The Bible says, “Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). Jesus died to make a way for your sins to be forgiven. The best news of all is ~ God raised Jesus up again 3 days later and Jesus showed Himself alive to many people! Only the Son of God could die for the sins of the entire world because the whole time he was here on earth, He never once sinned – He was never disobedient. That is why He could die for your sins. Would you like to receive Jesus as your Savior from sin? You may pray a prayer after me: Dear Jesus, Thank you for dying for my sins. I give you my sins. I want to turn from the broad road onto the narrow road that leads to your Kingdom. Please come into my life and save me from my sins. Thank you, Jesus.
John 3:16 “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.
If you can pray a prayer like that, then you have turned from the broad way that leads to eternal destruction and you have entered onto the narrow way that leads to eternal life in Jesus. Do you know what the gate through the cross is? It is actually the entry way into the Presence of God. It is the entry way into His Kingdom, where Jesus and God the Father lives. When you enter through His gate of salvation, you have begun a very exciting life’s journey that leads into the very presence of God. To enter into the presence of God the Father, means you must walk in holiness because God is a holy God and cannot look at sin. When God the Father looks at you, he sees Jesus. Once you enter through the gate of salvation, Jesus has come to live in you – in your spirit.
Look closely at the picture again. Can you see the people in the clouds surrounding the Kingdom of Heaven?
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
You are like a racer, running a race, according to this verse. And, there is a great cloud of witnesses that are cheering you on as you journey through the Kingdom of God. These witnesses are those who have gone on before you and have finished their race to the Kingdom of God. You can read about some of their life stories in God’s Word, the Bible.
When you turn onto the narrow way, you have begun an exciting journey that can be wonderful in Jesus. Not only do you have eternal life forever, but now you also have an entrance to the presence of God – you can access God’s presence as you worship and pray.
Once you receive Jesus, you can begin to pray, “Lord Jesus, I want to know you better. Lord Jesus, I want to hear your voice.” Sit very still and listen to His voice. Sing love songs to Him. Begin to pray and ask Jesus to show you his Kingdom, to show you his angels, and ask Jesus to show you Himself. Once you are in that special place with Jesus, ask Jesus to show you your destiny and the plan He has for your life. Most of all just love Jesus. Jesus will answer your prayers. Sometimes it will take time to receive the answers you are seeking, but don’t give up, keep seeking and praying, because you are on a journey through His kingdom and God has given you an entire lifetime to seek and find Him. God bless you as you journey with Jesus.
Excercise
Color the picture below the very best you can. Then, pray to Jesus and ask Him to help you share the story of the picture with someone.
(right click over picture, choose “save picture as” to your computer so that you may print on a separate page)
Lesson and picture copyright protected (c) 2003 ~ do not copy for profit ~ permission to copy as often as you need for teaching. More about this lesson and others like it in our new book entitled “Teaching Children To Worship” to help parents and teachers lead children into God’s presence.