Scripture Reference:
Heb 10:10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
* note: the content of the following teaching is not my own, it is taken from excellent teaching by Gavin Porter from a series called God's Vision God's Mission. You can access the full teaching on YouTube by following this link: It is finished!
Reading Guide for Mom and Dad:
Sin was the thing that was blocking us from fellowship with God. Sin is the separation between Man from God. The first thing that has to be taken out of the way is Sin. When Sin is taken out of the Way we can now come to God and respond to our Call.
Hebrews 10: 1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offered continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
Under the law, they had to offer sacrifices continually.
It says that the LAW IS A SHADOW but there is another place that is THE VERY IMAGE, but before the Cross, we see that it is only the Shadow. The Finished Work of the Cross is the very image.
The LAW CAN NEVER MAKE PERFECT
Hebrews 10:2-4 For then would they not have ceased to be offered. For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
YEAR BY YEAR there were CONTINUAL SACRIFICES, and if it could have made perfect they could have stopped.
Every time they sacrificed these sacrifices, year by year, it gives them A REMEMBRANCE OF SINS. Can you imagine every time they brought their sacrifice they would think: "I'll have to do this again next year". There were so many offerings going on under the Jewish Law they had a continual burnt sacrifice.
THE LAW CANNOT TAKE AWAY SINS. All that blood and offerings could not take away sin.
Heb 10:10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
According to this Will of God, we have been SANCTIFIED. In other words, we've been made Holy.
Under the Law they had year by year continual sacrifices, here we have ONCE FOR ALL,
Jesus died and He is the ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINS FOREVER.
Hebrews 10: 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
ONE OFFERING: He HAS PERFECTED us. That means you are sanctified and you are made perfect. At the Cross, everything is finished. There's nothing more that God's going to do, He's not going to add to the Cross. Everything is finished! The journey now is for us to realize that everything is finished. We need to realize who we are in Christ, we need to realize that we are sanctified and that we are perfected IN Christ. There's no works. If there were works we're back under the Law. This is all Grace.
Under the Law, there was a remembrance of sins, but now there is NO MORE REMEMBERANCE of sin. God has taken our sins away from us, as far as the East is from the West.
Now that our sins have been forgiven there is no more offering, no more works that have to be done to pay for our sins.
Conversation Starters with the little ones:
Take a few days to read through Leviticus 1-7 with your little ones. They will soon get tired of the lists of offerings! Let them experience the never-ending sacrifices in these reading times. Point out that these offerings were made continually year by year and that it could never take away the people's sin. They had to do it all over the next year!
Does it sound like a lot of work? Explain to them that the priests had to stand and offer sacrifices continually - this was his job! He couldn't even sit down because there were no chairs in the tabernacle.
Would you want to do this every day? Year by year? Knowing that you'll just have to do it again over and over? Probably not!
Why did they offer all of these sacrifices? Why do you think they offered sacrifices to God? They offered it to make atonement for their sin. But the Bible teaches us that the sacrifices of rams and bulls can never take away sin.
Teach them to Rule and Multiply:
Take a glass vase and fill it with water - this is a picture of "us".
Pour some water-based black ink into it. Explain to the little ones that we all have sinned and that the black ink represents our sin - those choices we make, that separates us from God.
Pour some clear multipurpose bleach into a separate glass(do this beforehand). I placed a paper cross on the glass with "presstick". This represents Jesus's offering - He had no sin but became sin for us.
Pour the bleach into the ink-filled vase.
See the ink transform into clear water again. Explain to the little ones that once we accept Christ into our lives, He takes away our sin forever. We become pure - sanctified because of Jesus!
Another fun exercise: I used this visual object lesson from Ministry Minded Mom to explain to the children how sin separated mankind from God. (They had so much fun with the helium balloons!)
God didn't move away, man did. Jesus came to take away this separation, once and for all at the Cross. If we accept Jesus into our heart we can freely come to the Father!
You are welcome to download this visual aid for your own personal use:
I've included this resource for older children (ages 13 years and up):
Kettle Prayer Suggestion:
Lord Jesus, thank You for taking away our sin once and for all when You died at the cross. Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of my little ones with an understanding of what You did for them on the Cross. Amen
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