The Good News

This Friday in our Bible club I had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with the kids. So, here is the Easter story-- the good news-- as expressed to kids in Mexico:

As I have heard people say before, I need to explain first why the "Good News" is good. What's the bad news, first? The bad news: Even though God created us to be perfect and to be best friends with Him, we were separated from Him because of our sin, which is anything that we do that God doesn't like. (He tells us in the Bible, the book He wrote, what He does and doesn't like. He clearly tells us in the Bible how He wants us to live.)

God's team is perfection, life, everything that is good. He is there with the other people who are also God along with Him: Jesus and the Holy Spirit. That's the team where the first man and first woman (Adam and Eve) were when God created the world and them. But then they sinned and that put them on the devil's team. He has death and sin and sinners on his team. It doesn't matter if you're a rapist, murderer (sadly, the kids I work with at Amextra understand these terms better than I do) or just a kid that disobeys his parents-- if you're a sinner, you start out on Satan's team.

So, if sin is how you get from God's team to Satan's team, what do you need to do to get from Satan's team to God's team?

That's where the cross comes in. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to the world to give us a chance to be back on His team. There was no way that we could get back there by ourselves because we were sinners, not just because of what we do that is sin, but also because of who we are! Just as you look like your parents on the outside, you look like them on the inside, too. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned at the beginning of the world, every other person who has ever lived has been a sinner.

You know that Jesus Christ died on he cross, right? Why did he do that if He never did anything bad in His whole life? Well, He was killed by sinners because bad people hate good people... and Jesus Christ was perfect. While that is true, it's not the whole reason that Jesus died. He died because the punishment for sin, big or small is death. So, God knew that if He didn't send His perfect Son (who didn't deserve any punishment) to suffer in our place, we would be condemned to always be on Satan's team and eventually die not only a physical death, but also a spiritual death of separation from God forever.

So, since Jesus took the punishment for our sin and died, does that mean that Satan's team beat Him? No, because Jesus Christ then came back to life! God is stronger than the devil and Life is stronger than death.

Now, what we need to do is admit to Him that we are sinners and are on Satan's team, but tell God that we don't want to be anymore. We can thank Him for putting His own Son on earth to die instead of us. We tell Him that we accept His gift of life and that we want to follow Him with the rest of our lives, totally turning our back on anything that has to do with the way that Satan and His followers live.

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It was such a cool experience for me to teach this lesson when I did because in a sense I was preaching to myself and I felt the truth of this "old, old story" sink deeper into my heart and penetrate anew every fiber of my being from my emotions to my convictions to my actions. A vivid consciousness of the unfathomable love and sacrifice of Christ makes the celebration of Easter so much sweeter. Reflecting on His death that brought life makes the temporary parting that we experience with other believers so much more bearable. And as I reflect that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life," I am so much more energized to take that truth to Honduras!

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P.S. If I was incorrect, incomplete, or unclear on any of these points, please correct me! This is too important of a message to be telling wrong!