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A Question this Christmas - Why?

Below is a message we presented to the young elementary aged children in our Church this past Sunday. This was our Christmas message that was centered around one question: Why was Jesus Born? Most of us have heard the Christmas story many times, but have we ever asked the question WHY? Why was that baby born in the manger 2000 years ago? Here is the lesson we presented:

Opening Question: Why was Jesus Born?

Intro:

Today we are going to talk about the birth of a new king.

Before we talk about this king, lets go way back to the beginning of man. Do you remember Adam and Eve? At this time in the world everything was absolutely perfect, just like God intended. Adam and Eve were living in a perfect world just like God planned it. However, they disobeyed God. When they did this sin entered our world and has broken the heart of every human born after Adam & Eve. That includes us today. Everyone in our world today has sin inside of them. There is no one without sin. What is sin??? When we know what's right in God’s eyes but still do the wrong thing.

Now, the problem with sin is that it breaks our relationship with God and we are separated from Him because of it. The really bad news is our sin has a punishment. This punishment is death apart from God, forever. God is holy and perfect and we cannot live with Him in heaven as a sinner. This was terrible news for Israel and it is terrible news for us today. BUT…there is good news. God doesn’t want to be separated from us. He LOVES us, all of us. God loves us so much that he created a rescue plan long ago to take care of our sin problem.

And….that rescue plan is this new king who we are talking about today. Who is this new king? This king is different from any other king you’ve ever heard of because his reign will never end. He is alive today, seated on his thrown and He rules the entire universe forever. He is the Son of God, the King of Kings, God in the flesh, Immanuel, God with us, the Messiah, the Deliverer, the Redeemer, the Savior, the one who rescues us all from sin. His name… Jesus Christ our Lord.

Part 1:

In all we’ve talked about this year, Israel struggled with sin and it’s consequences from the very beginning. They tried and tried to keep God’s laws and to obey Him but they could not do it. They were trapped in their sin which led to consequences and distance from God. They were being ruled by evil kings and they had very little hope or light in their world. They were desperate for a rescuer, a savior.

Now, they knew this savior, the rescuer was coming one day. Long before he came to earth, God promised the people that a Messiah would be coming to save them from sin. God’s prophets told the people over and over about a perfect king who would be coming to take their sin away. So the people kept waiting and hoping for the day when this king would come to deliver them from sin.

Has anyone ever had to wait for something? Is it hard to wait for something that you really want or need? So you know how excited you were when your wait was over right?

The Messiah was that thing Israel was waiting for. And then….FINALLY, the long wait was over. That savior they were looking for, He was born. His name is Jesus Christ. Here’s how it happened.

[Show Christmas Story Video Here]

We showed this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWq60oyrHVQ

Part 2:

Christmas is the time of the year when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. So lets go back to our original question. Why was Jesus born?

He was born to rescue all of us from the punishment of our sin. God loves everyone of us so much that he created this rescue plan for us. God chose to enter the earth himself in the form of a human, Jesus Christ. He came for one reason, to pay the price for our sin.

All of us deserve God’s punishment for sin, but we don’t ever have to take that punishment when we know Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Jesus, the Son of God, grew from this new born baby into a man. At the end of his life some evil men became very jealous of him and they decided to kill him. However, it was God’s plan for Jesus to die all along. Jesus HAD to die to take the punishment for our sin. Remember the punishment for sin is death? That was the only way for God to pour out his judgment.

So Jesus allowed these evil men to hang him on a cross where he died and took the punishment for your sin and my sin. Three day’s later he rose from the dead, proving He was indeed God and that our sin had been completely paid for and washed away. His death restored our relationship with God and we can now live forever in Heaven because of what Jesus did.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say you do something really bad and your parents find out about it. They call you in and say, “Hey, what you did was very wrong and you are going to get a terrible punishment for what you did”. All of a sudden, your brother, sister, or best friend comes running into the room. They say “Wait, wait, don’t punish this person! I am going to take their punishment in his/her place.”  Your parents have a strange look on their face and they say “Were you part of this?”  Your friend says “Nope, I’ve done nothing wrong, I had no part in this”. Your parents say, “Then why in the world would you take the punishment for him/her?”  And your friend says…. “Because I love this person so much”. I love you so much that I willingly, want to take the punishment in your place.

You see, that is exactly what Jesus did. He loves you so much that he died on that cross to take the punishment of sin in your place. He didn’t do anything wrong, he was perfect. But his love for you is the reason he did it. It’s the reason he came. So now, because of what Jesus did, you can know God and live forever in heaven with Him.

Now that is the greatest gift for us here at Christmas. It’s the gift of eternal life in heaven, from Jesus. But there is one more very important thing about this gift. You have to receive the gift.

Invitation:

Let me tell you what I mean. Lets say I come to your house carrying a huge present, wrapped in Christmas paper with a big bow. I ring your doorbell, you answer, and I hold out that gift for you and say Merry Christmas! Now you have a choice to make. You can take that gift from my hands and it is now yours forever. Or, you can close the door and walk away. I will leave, and you don’t get the gift I was trying to give you.

The same is with Jesus. He is holding out the free gift of heaven for you. He has taken the punishment for your sin and you can live with Him forever in heaven one day. BUT first, you have to make a choice. This choice is a personal choice between you and Jesus. It’s not about doing what your friends do, what you think you parents want you to do or what I want you to do, it’s not anything like that. It’s between you and Jesus only. Accepting this gift means that you want Jesus to be the new King of your life. You want to turn from your old sinful life and live a new life his way, every single day. This is a very important, personal decision.

Here is the choice to make: Are you going to accept this gift of life in heaven from Jesus?

Lets all bow our heads and close our eyes.

Now, I know there are some in this room today that have already made the choice to receive Jesus and you know Him as your Lord and Savior. Once you know Jesus he lives in your heart and never leaves you. So you never have to ask Him to save you again. Your future is secure. So this next part is not for you. Please keep your heads bowed and eyes closed and silently thank Jesus for saving you.

There may be some in the room today that have not received the gift of Jesus yet. But maybe God has been working in your heart right now and you are ready to make that choice to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and receive the free gift of life in heaven. With all eyes closed in the room, if that is you today, please just raise your hand.

We can accept the gift of Jesus through prayer. Through prayer we can confess our faith to Him and ask Him to save us. It’s your faith in Him that saves you. For those that just raised their hands, I want to invite you now to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Just tell Jesus you are ready to turn from your old sinful life and live a new life his way. If you truly believe in your heart that He died on the cross, paying the price for your sin, then ask Him to save you. I’ll pray first and then you can pray silently after me.

Father God, there are people here today that are ready to accept your free gift of eternal life in heaven. They have the desire to turn from their old sinful lives and live new lives for you. Please hear their prayers now as they confess their faith to you. They truly believe that you are the Son of God and you have taken the punishment for their sin on the cross. Please hear their prayers now Lord.

[pause]

Lord I thank you for this gift of eternal life that you have offered to all people. I thank you for those you have saved and I pray you will continue to work in the hearts of those that don’t know you yet. We celebrate life in you this Christmas. In Christ name I pray, amen.

In Closing:

That was the end of our message. Thanks be to God, he did indeed save on this Sunday. There are so many distractions at Christmas each year. A lot of times we try and break through the distraction by saying things like “Jesus is the reason for the season”. Or we simply tell just the story of the baby in the manger. I surely have done this. But this year, I would encourage you to also tell the next part of that story. Remind yourself of this question: Why? Why did God humble himself and come down to earth in the form of a baby? This Christmas, tell someone else why He did it. Tell them how they can receive the best Christmas gift ever given, the free gift of eternal life from Jesus Christ. Other gifts will fade away, but the gift of life in heaven never will.