Real Life for Kids: Knowing Jesus as Your Savior
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the
Holy Bible, New International Version
. NIV. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the
King James Version
of the Bible.
Illustrations by Stephen Gilpin
Real Life for Kids:
Knowing Jesus as Your Savior
ISBN: 978-1-60683-918-8
Copyright © 2005 by Roderick D. Baker
P.O. Box 701286
Tulsa, OK 74170
Published by Harrison House, Inc.
P.O. Box 35035
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74153
Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. Contents and/or cover may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without the express written consent of the Publisher.
Table of Contents
Becoming a New Creation in Christ
The Five Most Important Things
I Must Decide To Live for Jesus Today
I Need To Tell Others About Jesus
To Amber-my winner!
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my wife, Gloria, who is the glory of my life. Also, special thanks to Pastors Billy Joe and Sharon Daugherty, to Victory Christian Center, and to the Victory Kidz Ministry staff-thank you for your support and compassion for reaching boys and girls.
In the Beginning
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. When He saw how wonderful everything was, He created man and woman and put them in a beautiful garden called Eden where they could enjoy the things He had created. The garden was a perfect place to live with everything they needed.
Every day God walked and talked with the man and woman whom He called Adam and Eve. God's plan was for them and their family to live with Him forever in this perfect place.
God told Adam and Eve they could eat anything they wanted in the garden except for the fruit of one tree.
But looking like a snake one day, the devil came into the garden and tricked them into eating fruit from the tree God had told them not to eat from. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they disobeyed God and were no longer perfect.
Disobedience to God is called
sin
. And since God is perfect, He cannot live with sin. Adam and Eve had to leave the garden because their sin separated them from God and His perfect plan for their lives.
God's plan back then and today is that people would walk in the good life that He creates for them and ultimately live with Him forever. But the devil lies and tricks people into thinking sin is more attractive. The truth is, the devil really brings them sickness and sadness, and eventually when they die, he tortures them forever in hell.
Yet God loves people so much He cannot stand to be separated from them, and that's why He designed an awesome plan to bring people back to Him.
God decided that the only way to save man from sin was to send His only Son, Jesus, to earth to live as a man, perfect and without sin. As a perfect man, He would die to pay for all sin of all people.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish (die), but have eternal life.
John 3:16
Gods Answer
God loves us so much that He designed a plan for us to escape the punishment we deserved for our sins. God's plan was that Jesus would take the consequences, or punishment, for sin that should have been ours.
Jesus willingly cooperated with God's plan even though He lived a perfect life. Even though the devil tried to trick Him, just like he does everyone, Jesus never fell for his tricks and He never once sinned. He never did anything wrong and did not deserve to die.
Jesus
chose
to die on the cross and pay for the sin of all people with His blood. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22 that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Jesus' perfect blood was the only thing that could pay for our sin.
You might wonder why He would die for a sinner or for someone who may not even like Him. The answer is love.
God sees us as His children, and it hurts Him to see us suffer. So, instead of our having to suffer and die, He sent Jesus to take our place so that we could live.
First Corinthians 15:3-4 (KJV) says, "How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures."
We are saved by grace. Ephesians 2:8 (KJV) says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." Grace can be described as God being kind even when we don't really deserve it.
No one deserves to be saved. And no one can earn salvation by doing good things. The truth is, we receive salvation through faith in God when we do two things. First, we must
believe
in our hearts that Jesus died for us and God brought Him back to life; and second, we must
say
with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, or boss, of our life. (Rom. 10:9,10.)
God gives us a choice-we can either serve Him or the devil. He never forces us or makes us do anything. The choice is ours to make.
If you want to be saved and live to serve God, pray this prayer and believe it.
Father, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe that He rose from the dead so that I can live with Him forever. I ask You to forgive me of my sins. I ask You to come into my heart and be the Lord (boss) of my life. I confess with my mouth that I am born again. Thank You for saving me. Amen.
If you prayed this prayer and believe it in your heart-wow-you have just made the most important decision of your whole life!
You are saved from the devil and his way of life, and you are now born again into God's family. You are a new creation. (2 Cor. 5:17.)
You still look the same as before you prayed. You're just as tall and weigh the same; your hair and eye color didn't change. But you changed plenty on the inside. Let's find out what's new with you-and Who and what you received.
Three in One
God is a three-part person. He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, yet He is still
One
.
God made man in His image. So we are a three-part person, too. We are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body.
You cannot see your spirit, but it is the
real you
. It is the part of you that lives forever. The spirit man is the part of you where the Spirit of God makes His home. The Spirit of God lives in your spirit.