Our God of forgiveness

All Activity Sheets

key words

biblical reference

Leviticus 4; Hebrews 10:1-14

lesson objective

To help the children know that God has provided a way for the forgiveness of our sins

memory verse

“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24, NIV*).

prepare yourself to teach

The tragedy of sin is that it separates people from God. Your children learned about the origin of sin in the first lesson of the unit. In the subsequent lessons, they studied the consequences of sin, and how God responds in a just and merciful way. This lesson reaffirms the theme of God’s mercy. They will learn that he created a sacrificial system to solve the problem of sin and, finally, he gave his only begotten Son so that all who believe have eternal life.

Most of your children have a tender conscience. They feel their own guilt when they do wrong, and they know that sin separates them from God. Use this lesson to bring them closer to God and to discover that he offers forgiveness and has provided a way for us to receive salvation.

biblical commentary

Read Leviticus 4. The covenant established in Exodus shows a call to the people of God to be a holy nation (Exodus 19:6). Leviticus was like a manual explaining to the people of God how they should worship Him. Confession, repentance, and sacrifices to receive forgiveness were essential in worship. Chapter 4 deals with the offering to obtain forgiveness (for unintentional sins). It is evident that every deliberate sin excluded the sinner from the holy nation. The punishment for the rebellion was death (see Exodus 21:12-17).

The sin offering shows that it is possible for the holy people of God to violate some of their laws unconsciously or unintentionally. The people of God were to seek atonement for their sins as soon as they realized it.

In this type of offering, the worshiper admitted that he had done evil before God, and presented the animal for sacrifice. As part of the ritual, he had to place his hands on the animal. This was a way of identifying with the animal being sacrificed. Through this, the sinner offered his life to God.

In this system, a sacrifice was made on behalf of the person, and the priest was the mediator. It is difficult for us now to understand how the sacrificed animal took the place of the sinner. However, the first believers could understand it when Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sinner. They understood that Jesus had taken their place because of their sin.

Today, wrong things that are not intentionally committed or neglected are often overlooked as “mistakes.” God liberates his people from unintentional wrong, but these must be acknowledged as wrong and heartily repented of before God.

In Hebrews 10:1-14 the problem was that sacrifices became a routine and lost their meaning. The prophets repeatedly denounced this fact, describing the sacrifices as “empty”. Sacrifices that did not change the person were not true.

The writer of the book to the Hebrews focused on explaining that Christ fulfilled the sacrificial system once and for all. The Lord Jesus Christ was the Lamb of sacrifice, and at the same time, the High Priest. Christ is now the mediator between the Father and us.

introduce the lesson

Choose some activities to enrich the development of the lesson.

Tell the children: “The tragedy of sin is that it separates people from God. We learned about the origin of sin in the first lesson of this unit. In the following lessons, we studied the consequences of sin, and how God responds in a just and merciful way. This lesson reaffirms the theme of God’s mercy. We will learn that God created a sacrificial system to solve the problem of sin and, finally, he gave his only begotten Son so that all who believe will have eternal life.”

Ask: “What does our conscience remind us if we do something wrong?” (allow some responses)

Say: “We feel guilty when we do wrong, and we know that sin separates us from God. This lesson will help bring us closer to God. We will discover that God offers forgiveness and has provided a way for us to receive salvation.”

teach the lesson

Water and oil

Use the “water and oil” illustration suggested in the previous lesson to represent the separation between God and sin. If you have the resources repeat the demonstration of the oil floating on top of the water in the jar.

After several volunteers have tried to mix the liquids, explain that just as with water and oil, our God who is holy does not mix with sin. However, because God loves us he does not want us to be separated from him and has provided a way to forgive our sins.

The sacrifices of Israel

One day, when Moses was on a mountain, God said to him, “Moses, tell the Israelites that although I am the sole owner of the whole earth, I chose them to be my special people. They will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. If the people obey me, they will be my special treasure.”

Moses came down from the mountain quickly. He wanted to tell the people what God had told him. After he had done so, they responded, “We will do all that God has said.”

To remind people that they were His chosen people, God gave them the Ten Commandments. These laws helped them know what was right and what was wrong. God also told Moses to build a special tent, which they would call a tabernacle, so that people would remember that God was always with them.

God expected his people to obey him. But he knew that sometimes they would break his commandments. That is why he made a way in which he could forgive people for their sins.

So he said to Moses, “When people disobey any of my commandments, they will have to offer a sacrifice. Tell them they should choose their best animal, whether it is an ox, goat or lamb. It must be a perfect animal, without spots, wounds or diseases. Then they must take their animal to the tabernacle. When they are there, they should put their hands on the animal to show that they are sorry for what they did. Then, the priests will take the animal and sacrifice it as I have indicated.”

God gave very clear instructions about how they should prepare and offer animals as sacrifices. Day after day, year after year, they followed the instructions that God had given them. They chose animals and sacrificed them, as an offering of repentance for their sins.

Some were very sorry for the wrong they had done. But others were not. They made sacrifices only because everyone else did. The prophets knew that some sacrifices that people made did not show their repentance.

“God is not satisfied with your sacrifices,” said the prophet Jeremiah. “God told us how to offer them. He wants you to love him and obey him.”

Although God’s plan for sacrifices was good, many people offered burnt offerings only out of habit, but in their hearts, there was no repentance or love of God.

However, God had a better plan for the forgiveness of sins for our good. He sent his Son Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of the whole world. God allowed Jesus to be sacrificed so that our sins would be forgiven without offering more animal sacrifices. Also, when people trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in their hearts and changes them so they can love God more.

connect the lesson

Explain that God instructed Moses to place an altar in the tabernacle. The altar was the special place where priests burned the sacrificed animals.

Then say: “We no longer have to sacrifice animals. Jesus made forgiveness possible by dying on the cross for us.”

Talk about the differences that exist between those sacrifices. Then explain: “Two types of sacrifices were provided by God for the forgiveness of sins. Both must be perfect for God to accept them. However, animal sacrifices had to be made repeatedly. But when Christ died, he did it once for all people. The sacrificed animals could not change the hearts of people, but Jesus has the power to change us and transform us into his image.”

practice the memory verse

Download Additional Memory Verse Activities PDF

Download Suggestions for Bible Memorization PDF

Write the words of Romans 3:23-24 on different cards or sheets. Attach them with tape on a table or on the board, so that it is easy to take them off and put them back on. Read the verse several times. Ask a volunteer to move the cards and another to put them in order again. Do this exercise several times, and repeat the verse each time the cards are in order.

Mural
Return to Student Activity Sheet #167-C with the sheep which says Promise and have the children put it on the mural.

Activity: Two types of sacrifice
Hand out Student Activity Sheet #171-A and remind the children about Jesus' sacrifice for our sins.
Use Student Activity Sheet #171-B to give an evangelistic invitation.

wrap-up

Pray

Get together to pray and give thanks to God for having provided a way for our salvation.

Encourage

Sing a song of praise, and congratulate those who have accepted Christ as their Savior.

Invite

Ask the children to tell their parents about their decision to follow Christ. It is also important that you keep track of these children to help them grow in the Christian faith. Tell the children that you also want to talk with their parents about the decision their child made, and that you will help them make a plan of discipleship. Remember that in the first years of the spiritual formation of your children, your task as a Christian education discipler is very important.
Remind the group that they will start a new unit of lessons in the next sessions. Challenge them to come with friends.

* Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™