This lesson teaches about why Jesus came to earth. It’s a good lesson to do around Christmas time, and it includes a game to keep things light.
- Matthew 5:17, 20:28
- Luke 4:18, 5:32, 19:10
- John 3:17, 6:38-40, 6:51, 10:10, 12:46, 18:37
- 1 John 3:8, 4:9-10
- Cups (14 per team – teams will be about 6-10 people each)
- Future board or cardboard (2 ft x 2 ft per team)
- Plastic balls (14 per team – a kind that fits into the opening of the cups and that you can write on with a permanent marker)
- Permanent marker
- Small candies (at least one per cup)
- Make tape loops with the tape, and use them to stick the cups to the future board or cardboard in a rounded pattern to resemble the world. (You can stick them in rows using the following pattern: 2, 3, 4, 3, 2.)
- Use the permanent marker to write the following Scripture summaries on the balls (one per ball):
§ “To destroy the works of the devil – 1 John 3:8”
§ “To give His life as a ransom for many – Matt 20:28”
§ “As a light so that no one who believes in Him should stay in darkness – John 12:46”
§ “To fulfill the Law and the Prophets – Matt 5:17”
§ “So that we might live through Him – 1 John 4:9”
§ “So that we can have abundant life – John 10:10”
§ “As a sacrifice to pay for our sins – 1 John 4:10”
§ “To proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind and to set the oppressed free – Luke 4:18”
§ “To seek and to save the lost – Luke 19:10”
§ “To do His Father’s will and raise up those the Father gave Him at the last day – John 6:38-40”
§ “To call sinners to repentance – Luke 5:32”
§ “To testify to the truth – John 18:37”
§ “To save the world through Himself – John 3:17”
§ “To give eternal life – John 6:51”
- Put a candy or multiple candies into each cup.
- Put the balls into the cups (one per cup).
- Practice the script.
Use the following script and instructions (or modify to suit your needs):
- “Have any of you ever wondered why Jesus came to the earth?” (Acknowledge responses.)
- “Why do you think He came?” (Allow volunteers to share reasons, and expand on each one if needed. For any reasons that aren’t mentioned, use the notes below to add to what the participants say. You can use the notes on the balls to help you remember the reasons.
§ To destroy the works of the devil – 1 John 3:8 – The devil had authority over the world until Jesus came, so Jesus came to take that authority away.
§ To give His life as a ransom for many – Matt 20:28 – We were held captive by Satan because of our sin, so Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life, and exchanged His life for ours.
§ As a light so that no one who believes in Him should stay in darkness – John 12:46 – Before Jesus came, the world was a dark place, but Jesus came as the Light of the world and pushed back the darkness.
§ To fulfill the Law and the Prophets – Matt 5:17 – The Law and the Prophets were what we call the Old Testament. The Old Testament promised the Jews that Jesus was coming, and Jesus was the fulfillment of those promises.
§ So that we might live through Him – 1 John 4:9 – We were dead in our sin, so Jesus came to give us life.
§ So that we can have abundant life – John 10:10 – And Jesus didn’t just come to give us life, He came to give us ABUNDANT life – meaning a life full of joy and love and peace.
§ As a sacrifice to pay for our sins – 1 John 4:10 – The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, which means that death is what we earn as a result of our sin. We have to pay for our sin with our deaths, but God allowed another way. Something or someone innocent could take our place. In the Old Testament times, they used to sacrifice innocent animals for pay for their sins, because no human was innocent. Everyone deserved death because of their sin. But Jesus came and lived a perfect and innocent life that allowed Him to die for us and pay our debt.
§ To proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind and to set the oppressed free – Luke 4:18 – Jesus came to preach the Gospel (the good news), to heal and restore people who were sick, blind, lame or deaf and to set those who were slaves to Satan free.
§ To seek and to save the lost – Luke 19:10 – Jesus came to look for those who were lost in their sin and to save them by inviting them to believe in Him and join Him in heaven.
§ To do His Father’s will and raise up those the Father gave Him at the last day – John 6:38-40 – Jesus said He never did anything that God, the Father, didn’t want Him to do, and He said that His Father’s will was that He save the lost so that He could present them to God the Father as His own on the last day, which is the day of judgment.
§ To call sinners to repentance – Luke 5:32 – Jesus came to invite those who were sinning to turn away from their sin and follow Him.
§ To testify to the truth – John 18:37 – Jesus came to be a witness to what is true and to show the difference between truth and the devil’s lies.
§ To save the world through Himself – John 3:17 – Jesus came to save the world by trading His life for everyone else’s.
§ To give eternal life – John 6:51 – Jesus came to die on the cross and pay for our sins so that we can live with him forever in heaven.
- “Let’s play a game to help us remember all these reasons.”
- “This board and these cups represent the world, and each of these balls has a reason written on it for why Jesus came to the earth.”
- “I’m going to divide you into teams, and you will try to toss the balls into the cups from a few feet away.”
- “The first team to fill each cup with a ball wins (if you are doing a competition – or you could just say that they are done when each cup has a ball in it.)” (Divide the participants into groups of about 6-10, and give each team a board with cups and balls on it. Place the boards on the floor or on a table. Have the participants grab 2-3 balls each and step about 2-4 feet away (depending upon the age of your group and how difficult you want this to be). Then, have them line up and take turns tossing one ball at a time and seeing if they can make it into a cup (only one ball per cup). If they miss, they can grab their ball and return to the end of the line. When all the cups have a ball in them, they can divide the candy inside among themselves. You might want to let them keep the balls as a reminder of why Jesus came to the earth. When everyone is done, have them take a seat.)
- “I’ve heard a story that gives another reason why Jesus came to the earth.”
- “A pastor once shared about how he went to visit the pre-school children in his church’s children’s ministry.”
- “He said that he walked into the room with his biggest smile and greeted all the children.”
- “But to his surprise, all the children hid from him.
- “After thinking about why they were afraid of him, he realized that he must look like a giant to them.”
- “So, he got down on the floor and greeted the children again.”
- “This time, the children all ran to him and begin jumping on him and climbing all over him.”
- “He said that the Holy Spirit spoke quietly to his heart in that moment, and he realized that this was precisely one of the reasons why Jesus came to earth.”
- “It’s hard to have a relationship with someone who’s ‘up there,’ whom you’ve never met before, who seems so unlike you.”
- “But when Jesus came to earth as a powerless, little baby, He became someone we could relate to.”
- “By coming to the earth, Jesus got down on our level so that God was no longer an intimidating person we had never met.”
- “So, there are many reasons why Jesus came to the earth, but the most important reason and the reason that motivated all the others is LOVE.”
- “God loves us so much that He didn’t want us to die in our sins.”
- “He sent Jesus so that we could be together in heaven forever.”