Lesson 29 - Elementary

Memory Verse

"Ye must be born again"  (John 3:7).

Notes

The Kingdom of God

Heaven must be a beautiful place. We see many lovely places here on earth, but God has told us in His Word that no eyes have seen such beautiful things as there are in Heaven; no ears have even heard about such great things; and people have not been able to imagine how wonderful Heaven is. Jesus said he was going away to prepare a place for those who love Him, and we know that when Jesus prepares a place, it will be the very best that could possibly be.

We love to be with kind people, so we know it will be the greatest joy to be with Jesus and with God the father, Who are the kindest and best of all who are on earth and in Heaven. And when we go to Heaven we shall be there forever and always be happy. Jesus came to this earth to die for us so that we might be with Him always in His lovely Home.

The Punishment

When Jesus died on the Cross He took upon Himself the punishment that we would have had for the bad things we have done. But because Jesus died for us, we can be forgiven for our sins.

Getting Ready for Heaven

Heaven is a clean place. So the people who live there must be clean and holy. Heaven would not be a safe and beautiful place if people who do bad things were allowed to go there. God could not have wicked people in His Home. So they must be made clean and ready to be there with God.

When Jesus was on earth He taught what they must do to be ready for Heaven.

Born Again

A teacher, one who should have known what to do to be ready, came to Jesus and said he knew that Jesus was also a teacher, Who had come form God, for no one else could do the great things that Jesus did. Then Jesus told the man, Nicodemus, that every man must be saved or he could not go to Heaven. The man did not know what that meant, so perhaps Jesus explained that one must be sorry that one ever did such wrong things as stealing, lying, swearing, getting angry, hating people, and many other bad things. He said that those who did such things must ask God to forgive them; then He washes the heart and makes it white and clean.

Jesus gives one a heart that wants to please Him instead of wanting to disobey Him. When God has made that change in a heart then one is "born again.” God wants all men to be saved – to be "born again.” And Jesus came to earth to tell people how they could be born again, and He did everything He could to help them to have their sins forgiven and be made ready for their home in Heaven with Jesus.

Questions

1. What must we do to be ready for Heaven? [JHN:3:3].

2. Did Nicodemus know how to get saved before Jesus told him? [JHN:3:9].

3. Does Jesus ever turn a hungry soul away? [LUK:1:53]; [PS:107:9].

4. How did Jesus make it possible for us to be saved? [JHN:3:16].

5. What does "born again” mean? [1PE:1:23]; [1JN:5:18].