Essential Gospel Truth #2

2) God created people for his glory

Suggested Verses: I Corinthians 10: 31, Isaiah 43:6-7

Explanation: “People make things to have a special purpose. Cars are made for driving in. Refrigerators are made to keep food cold. These things are made in a special way so that they can do what they were made to do. God created people for a special purpose also, so God created people in a certain way. God created men and women and boys and girls in His image and likeness. That means that God created people to be like Him in certain ways. God created us different from the animals and all other things. For example, we were created with minds that can learn about God. Dogs can’t do this. God created us with hearts that have certain feelings and emotions so that we could love God. Gorillas can’t love God.
Why did God make people in His image and likeness? God made us this way so that we would show how great He is! God created us so that we could know Him and have a very special kind of relationship with Him. God wants us know and love Him so that you and I would want to say things like: God is the greatest and best! I love Him most of all! God makes me more happy than anything or anyone else! This is the purpose that God created you for!
And God wants His people to be able to do this forever. That is why God created heaven. Heaven is a place for God’s people to live with Him forever. Living forever with God is the best thing ever!”

Illustrations:
• Trucks (little boys love ‘em): Say something like…
You: Is it real?
Child: No.
You: Is it like a real one?
Child: Yes.
You: It was made to look like one & act like one in certain ways. If it was made to look like a real truck would it make this noise? Quack, quack, quack… No, it was made to go “vroom, vroom, vroom.”
• Stuffed animals: Say something like “These were made to be like a real dog: soft, ears, nose, four legs. That’s a little bit of what it means to be made like something. We were made to be like God in certain ways. Not in how we look but in how we act.”

---Illustrating the uniqueness of being created in God’s image---
• Bringing a pet to church: “Why you don’t bring your dog to church/Sunday school: Could the dog pray when we pray? No. Could the dog sing praises to God as we sing together? No. Could the dog open his bible & enjoy the words & pictures? No. Could a dog make choices to obey God’s command? No. That’s a little bit what it means to be created uniquely.”

---Created to show how great God is---
• Mirror activity: “Mirror is created to show the reflection of something. Hold flower in front of mirror, what will be shown in mirror? The likeness of the flower, it’s beauty, it’s colors. That’s a little bit of what it means that we were created to show how great God is. Our hearts our to be like mirrors to show God: You are beautiful, you’re all powerful, there’s nobody else like you.

---Joy of having a special relationship with God---
• Recalling a special event: Have child recall special event in their lives: (friends, vacation, etc) “Living together with God is a million times better/exciting/so much, much better than that." (Constantly pointing out to them that God is more enjoyable & exciting than anything else).

Implication: God created you for a special purpose. He created you to show how great He is.

Wow! Jill Nelson really thought all this out! I loved it each time I read through it to edit. These seem to be such basic things that most of us didn't learn till we were more "mature" in our walks. But can you imagine raising children & teaching children how we were created for his glory at a young age?! As a Child Development Major in college, we always learned it was all about the child and thier self-esteem. The aim was to always boost that self-esteem with lots of praise so they could be healthy adults. While that has it's place,the MOST MOST MOST important thing is that HE (focus off ourselves & children) created us in HIS image. We are here to reflect HIS glory. Eternally we will all acknowledge this-whether now or later.

So with that, tomorrow I will have for you Essential Gospel Truth #3 which is "God is Holy & Righteous." You could probably think about how to explain "Holy" to children...but what about explaining the BIG word "Righteous" to a child? You'll see tomorrow!