The Messiah as Lion and Lamb

When I saw the title for this week's lesson, I knew it was God who'd directed us to this study in the first place.  It was meant to lead up to Acquire the Fire and where this study ends, Acquire the Fire picks up!  I'm so excited!  After enjoying Dean Martin's testimony last Wednesday and hearing how God uses him to minister to and encourage college students, we were ready to get back to Pursue.

We started out asking the kids what animal they would be if they could choose one and why.  Then we divided the group into two teams and played animal charades.  We asked the kids at the end of the game to choose which animal portrayed in charades was the one that best matched their personality and why.  Jesus was described as different animals.  Tonight we learned about him as Lion and Lamb.

We talked about John's intent in writing the book of Revelation.  He didn't intend for his readers to analyze every detail about the end times.  He wrote Revelation to encourage the church and help us grasp some important truths about the Messiah.  It gives us a new way of looking at the world and it is meant to strengthen the believers' faith.

We read Revelation 5:1-8.  We discussed what images capture our attention the most in this passage and what emotions the descriptions of Him conjured up.  We talked about the 6 main characters of this Scripture:  God sitting on the throne, 4 living creatures, 24 elders, John witnessing these visions, an angel who helps John navigate these visions, and the Messiah figure who is the hero.  What details do you notice in this scene that are surprising or memorable?  Why do you think John wept?  Why was the Lamb able to open the scroll when no one else could?  In Rev. 5:5, John is told to look and see the Lion of Judah, but when he looks, he sees a Lamb instead (v. 6).  Why do you think the Lion turned into the Lamb?

The Lion and the Lamb are the same figure.  Just like a quarter is a quarter even though it has George Washington on one side of it and an eagle on the other.  The images are meant to display 2 ideas about America and should be understood together.  The same holds true for how we are to view Jesus as both the Lion and the Lamb.  The powerful, ruling Lion reminds us that the Messiah is the King, the Son of God, and the Lord of all.  The Lamb reminds us that He is the priest who sacrificed Himself for our sins and redemption.

In Revelation, we see the final victory of the Messiah and the fulfillment of all God's promises.  We wait in hope for the time when He will rule and be the solution to all of our earthly pain.  He is the most relevant answer to all of the problems in our world.  As the Lion, He is the ruling King who will bring justice and peace.  As the sacrificial Lamb, He brings forgiveness, spiritual wholeness, and satisfaction of our deepest yearnings.

We passed out newspapers then and gave the kids scissors and asked them to cut out the stories, read them, and decide which aspect of the Messiah will ultimately answer the problem reported in the article....Lion or Lamb.  For example, a story about a murder would best be answered by the Lion who will one day bring justice and victory over violence and evil.  A story about a suicide or a fatal car accident might be best answered by the Lamb who offers spiritual wholeness and satisfaction of our deepest needs.  Until Jesus returns, our world will be full of problems and heartache.  But we have an amazing hope: Our Messiah is the Lion and the Lamb who will eventually make everything right.

We wrapped up the night by watching the promotional video for Acquire the Fire again and reviewing the 9 different images this study has given us of the Messiah.  He is our High Priest.  He is our King.  He is a Servant.  He is the Son of God.  He is Lord, Savior, Life, and Redeemer.  HE IS THE LION AND THE LAMB AND HE IS EVER PURSUING US!  AMEN!!

The Messiah as Redeemer

Tonight was perhaps one of our most important lessons...Jesus as Redeemer.  We started off the night asking the kids what their favorite thing to wear is.  Then we gave each of them a handout of a blank t-shirt and asked them to decorate the shirt in such a way as to express something about themselves.  They could use words, pictures, whatever.  We transitioned then into talking about some things our Redeemer desires us to wear.

We read Romans 3:23-26 and asked the kids how they felt about this passage and what they feel Jesus' redemption is all about according to these verses.  We had the kids look at their fingerprints and discussed the uniqueness of them.  We are all different, yet we all share something in common - we sin.  Fortunately, we have another thing in common - we are all offered freedom from our sin.  We talked about what is required of us to gain this freedom.  We also talked about how "fair and just" it is that Jesus, who lived a perfect life, died for all the rest of us who sin.  We emphasized that we cannot earn Jesus' redemption, but we do take action by believing in Him to receive His favor.  It doesn't seem fair, but our sins require blood, and Jesus offered that blood so that we could have a relationship with Him.  He died a brutal death on the cross for our sins.  He took the punishment we each deserved and has "bought" or "redeemed" our lives.

While we considered all of this, we used a red ink pad and our fingerprints to make a cross on poster board while listening to "Redeemer" by Nicole C. Mullen.

Believing in the Messiah is more than just acknowledging the facts about His life - it is recognizing our part in His death and suffering.  It's understanding what He did for us and what it means in our lives.  True belief in the Messiah, the Redeemer, means your life changes.  Being a Christian in name only doesn't cut it; calling yourself a Christian isn't what it's all about.  It means your whole identity is changed.

We read 2 Corinthians 5:16-18 and talked about the words "new person", "new life", and "reconciling".  What does it mean to have new life?  What does it mean that we need to reconcile others to God?  We talked about what needs to be renewed or be in our new nature according to Ephesians 4:22-24.  Once Jesus has redeemed us, what things are we supposed to remove from our old way of life according to Colossians 3:5-14?  What new things are we supposed to put on.

We gave the kids fabric bookmarks to decorate with markers and asked them to write down at least one of the qualities from the verses we read that they need to clothe themselves with.

Paul described taking off our old actions and putting on the new self.  How good does it feel to take off clothes once they get dirty and grimy?  Those of us who roofed the house on the missions trip last year could really relate!  Putting on new clean clothes feels good.  And that's the same feeling we should get as we respond to Jesus.  Because Jesus died, we are no longer grimy and dirty.  We have the chance to put on new clothes!  And these clothes will identify us with Jesus.

So dress appropriately - in other words, put on spiritual items that honor Jesus.  He has tailor-made your new spiritual clothes to fit you perfectly...and He's pursuing you to wear them.  What does your wardrobe look like?

The Messiah as Life

We're already 7 weeks into our 9 week Pursue study!  Can't believe it!  Tonight we talked about the Messiah as "Life".  We started out asking the kids what restaurant they would choose if they had to eat at the same one every night for the rest of their lives.  We had a little taste test then...of water.  We had 4 different kinds of water in four different pitchers.  The kids had to rate the waters from 1 to 4 in a taste test...without knowing which water was which.  We had tap water, filtered water, seltzer water, and flavored water.  Our taste test led into reading about Jesus being described as a different kind of water....living water.  He's also described as living bread.  We explored these ideas in the gospel of John.

First we read John 4:4-15.  When Jesus offered the woman "living water", what do you think she was thinking?  What do you think Jesus really meant?  In the next story, Jesus miraculously multiplied bread and fish to feed over 5,000 people (John 6:1-15).  We read John 6:25-51 together and took note of how Jesus calls Himself the "bread of life" and living bread in verses 48 and 51.  Do you think the people understood what "bread of life" meant?  What similarities are there between this story and the woman at the well story?  Why do you think Jesus chose bread and water as symbols of Himself?  Jesus used physical food to open up conversations about spiritual food.  Just as food and drink provide nutrients and sustenance, Jesus nourishes and sustains the hunger and thirst of our souls.

Next we read John 1:1-5 and discussed who the Word is and how it (He) has brought us life.  John 1:4 contains the first use of the word "life" in the book of John.  He uses that word throughout His gospel.  It was time to look at examples of Jesus as life.  We gave everyone a copy of the "Life Is" handout and they paired up.  Reading through 7 Scriptures in John, the kids had to take notes on the uses of the word "life" in each verse.  Based on what they read, they were asked then to formulate their own definition of the word "life" as used in the book of John.  We got back together and shared our definitions then and discussed what it means to have life in Jesus.

We rolled out a large piece of paper onto the floor then and wrote the word "LIFE" in the middle.  We gave the kids some art supplies and and asked them to draw pictures or write words that express the concepts of life we studied tonight to express the life Jesus brings to us all.  We had magazines available to them to cut pictures out of and glue onto their poster as well.

We spent the last five minutes of class in prayer, thinking about the life Jesus offers us.  We gave everyone more water and some bread to go with it and told them they could eat and drink it at anytime, considering how Jesus is living water and bread of life.  We encouraged the kids to praise Jesus for being life.  We asked them to consider how He can make their lives even more satisfying when they give themselves over to Him.  

Lastly, we reminded the kids that this Living Water and Bread of Life is the very Messiah who pursues a personal relationship with them.  Though we can have many wonderful things in life - family, friends, love, food, music, art, humor, beauty, and more - Jesus is the only true and lasting source of ultimate satisfaction and meaning.  Make Him your life and...PURSUE Him!

Here is a powerful scene we watched from Ben-Hur....Jesus, the Water of Life.