BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER WHY WAS JESUS BORN? Jesus was born to rescue us from sin. The wise men came to worship Jesus as King. Jesus is the true King, promised in 2 Samuel 7, worthy of all our worship. MEMORY VERSE READ THE STORY:
The wise men were magi. Their study of the stars led them to Judea to find and worship Jesus, the newborn King. Before they found Jesus, though, the wise men met King Herod. God had promised the Jewish people a new king—one who would save them from their enemies. King Herod was not that king. Imagine how he felt when he heard about a new king in town. The wise men asked him, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” (Matt. 2:2) The wise men unintentionally challenged Herod’s reign. Not only was Herod not a full Jew, he was not a descendant of King David. Herod was deeply disturbed by the news that this child had the birthright of being king. As Herod’s fury grew, he gathered his chief priests and scribes to determine where Jesus had been born. Then he lied to the wise men: “When you find Him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship Him” (Matt. 2:8). What deceitfulness! The truth was, Herod did not want to worship Jesus at all; he wanted to kill Him! The wise men continued on their journey and found Jesus. Jesus may have been about two years old when the magi found Him and worshiped Him. The Bible does not say how many magi worshiped Jesus, although three are often depicted because of their three gifts—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. God warned the wise men in a dream to avoid Herod, so they returned home by another route. The wise men came to worship Jesus as King. Jesus is the King who will rule forever, as God promised to King David in 2 Samuel 7. Jesus is the true King who is worthy of all our worship. GOSPEL APPLICATION K-2nd:
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BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER WHY WAS JESUS BORN? Jesus was born to rescue us from sin. God keeps His promises. He remembered His promise to send a Rescuer and sent His Son, Jesus, into the world as a baby. Jesus grew up and provided salvation for sinners by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. MEMORY VERSE READ THE STORY:
God’s faithfulness is present throughout the Bible, but the theme is prominent in the Book of Exodus. God is consistent and unchanging. Even when the Israelites are faithless, God is faithful. The Israelites regularly celebrated God’s miraculous acts like the Passover and the parting of the Red Sea to remember that God keeps His promises. As you read and teach from the Old Testament, keep in mind this point on the horizon: God’s keeping His ultimate promise to send a Rescuer to deliver His people from sin. God spoke to His people through the prophets to remind them of His good plan. When would the promised One come? How would He come? Would God’s people recognize Him? The prophet Isaiah—who lived hundreds of years before Jesus was born—brought a message of hope to God’s people. Isaiah spoke specifically of the Messiah’s birth: “The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14). He described the birth of a “Prince of Peace”—a Son of David who will reign forever. (Isa. 9:6-7) Isaiah said that He would be a King! (Isa. 11:1-5) Jesus fulfilled God’s promises spoken by the prophet Isaiah. He is the child who came into the world. He is the Wonderful Counselor who leads us with wisdom. He is the Mighty God who fights for and protects us. He is the Eternal Father who loves us. He is the Prince of Peace who brings us into a right relationship with God. Isaiah’s prophecies from God did not speak just to the people of his time; they also speak to us. Hundreds of years before it happened, Isaiah told of how Jesus would be born and how He would suffer and die to take away the sins of His people. We respond to God’s faithfulness with trust, remembering His past miraculous acts and looking forward to the day when King Jesus will come back and rule forever. Jesus is the promised Messiah. He makes all of God’s promises come true. GOSPEL APPLICATION K-5th:
BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER WHY WAS JESUS BORN? Jesus was born to rescue us from sin. The baby Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy, as well as other Old Testament prophecies, about the coming Savior. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled God’s plan of redemption that God planned before the world began. MEMORY VERSE READ THE STORY:
People had been waiting a long time for Jesus. God hinted at His coming in the garden of Eden when He promised a seed to conquer the serpent. (Gen. 3:15) The prophets told of His coming hundreds of years before His birth. God was working out His plan to bring His people back to Himself. In the Bible, God sometimes used angels to communicate His message to people. Angels spoke to Abraham in Genesis 18. The Angel of the Lord spoke to Balaam in Numbers 22. Now Mary and Joseph, the earthly parents of Jesus, each received a special visit from an angel to announce the birth of God’s promised Messiah. The angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary surprised her. By His grace, God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus. The angel’s message revealed much about this promised child. First, He would be great in both being and nature. He would be the Son of the Most High. Jesus is the Son of God, and the Lord God promised to give Him the throne of His father David. These words fulfilled the prophecy given to David in 2 Samuel 7:12-16. He would reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom would have no end. The good news that Jesus was coming into the world was good news because of why He was coming. An angel revealed Jesus’ purpose to Joseph in Matthew 1:21, “He will save His people from their sins.” The gospel is the good news of what God has done for us through Christ. The announcement of Jesus’ birth is not the beginning of the gospel; God had been planning for this moment since before the beginning of time. (See Eph. 1:3-10.) Help your child/ren understand that God’s plan has always been to save sinners and bring them back to Himself. Jesus, whose name means “Yahweh saves,” is the culmination of that plan. GOSPEL APPLICATION K-2nd:
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December 2023
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