T.T. 60 - God's Diary.
T.T. 60 - God's
Diary.
Diaries can be very useful. We can use them to
record things we have done that we might like to remember, or as a way to remind
us of future important dates like birthdays or holidays. We would all agree,
however, that some events in our lives are more important than others. I think
that is also true for God. I think that if He had a diary, six events would
stand out as being the most important of all in his relationship with us. By
talking about these, we can give a summary of the entire Bible
message.
As you talk about each event, you could show a
simple 6-page book, entitled "God's Diary, each page having the name of that
particular event written on it.
1. Creation. In the
beginning God spoke and the earth was formed. (You could illustrate this with a
thumb tip (Object Lesson 77, Newsletter 89). The earth was perfect, and people
were God's greatest creations made in His own image and for friendship with him.
But the very first people disobeyed God, and that act resulted in sin coming
into the world and spoiling it all.
2. God became a man.
God still loved the people of the world, and so He became a man Himself. We
called him Jesus. By doing this, God was able to more fully reveal his nature to
us and demonstrate how passionately He loves us. While Jesus was here on earth,
he was totally human. For example, he could only be in one place at a time and
got tired, hungry, thirsty, etc, just like us. He was still God, but left his
divine (Godly) qualities behind in heaven. Jesus did heal the sick and perform
miracles, but through the power of the Holy Spirit (See Newsletter 80 - "Can
Christians perform miracles?).
3.He died for us. Jesus
didn't die of a disease, accident or old age. No. He died as our Substitute. He
allowed Himself to be crucified by wicked men so that He could pay the price for
our sins by being punished instead of us. (You could illustrate this by telling
the story of the Judge and his friend "A free pardon", Newsletter
41).
4. He rose again. On the third day,
Jesus rose victorious from the dead, demonstrating that He had beaten the power
of death, sin, sickness and every form of evil. The good news is, He didn't do
it for himself. He did it for us, and invites us to share in His victory.
The difference between Christianity and other religions is that
our Leader is alive! Moslems or Buddhists, for example, could take you to the
graves of their leaders and tell you that great or good as they were, their
bones ore now rotting away under the ground. On the other hand, Christians could
take you to a cave just outside Jerusalem and say "Our leader, Jesus died and
his body was placed in that cave. But He is not there now. He rose from the dead
and is alive for evermore!"
5. He returned to heaven. Six weeks
after he rose from the dead, Jesus returned to heaven. That's where he is now,
praying for us and preparing a home for us. However, He still works through His
followers to carry on his work of defeating evil and making this earth perfect
once more. The good news is that in this war against evil, WE WIN - because the
decisive battle has already been fought and won by Jesus when He rose from the
dead.
6. He is coming back again. This is the
only one of the six major events in "God's Diary" that is still to happen. But
as God knows the future and always keeps His promises, it is just as certain to
take place as the first five. One day, Jesus will return to earth for all his
followers. He will instantly change us by giving us a new spiritual,
everlasting, body that will never get hungry, thirsty, tired, sick, etc. And
then He will take us to be with Him in heaven for ever. What a wonderful future
we have to look forward to!
Expiry date.
Just as our diaries have an expiry date on them (Usually
December 31st.), so does God's. One day, God will say "Time up" and the world as
we know it will come to an end. That is why it is so important to make sure that
we are trusting in Jesus, and to tell others that God offers them a free pardon
and eternal life through Jesus Christ. (You could conclude the lesson by telling
the story of George Wilson, and how a free pardon must be accepted, Newsletter
36).
posted by Maurice Sweetsur @ 5:58 PM
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