THINK TOGETHER
Is God scary to you? Why or why not?
READ TOGETHER
For 400 years Abraham’s family were slaves in Egypt. So God chose Moses to lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt to Mount Sinai where God would meet with them. Now, as you know, God doesn’t have a body. So in order for the people to see God he would have to appear to them as things like smoke and fire. How scary! Here’s how Exodus describes it:
Exodus 20:18.Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off.
Why is God being so scary? Because he’s trying to show the people that he is perfect and they are not. He is holy and we are sinful. And when we are full of sin, God is scary. Why? Because a perfect God must destroy sin, which means destroying you and me. But God loves us and doesn’t want to destroy us. So how can God destroy sin without destroying us? Here’s how:
Exodus 20:24.An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings.
The answer is the altar. An altar was a mound of dirt and rocks where the people could offer a sacrifice for their sins. The sacrificed animal was destroyed instead of them. The animal died in their place for their sins. But these animals were just a picture of our real and final sacrifice – Jesus. Jesus is the God-man. As man Jesus can be our substitute, and as God Jesus can be our perfect substitute. By punishing Jesus on the cross (the true altar) God was able to punish our sins without punishing us.
Because of Jesus all my sins have been punished.
With Jesus I never have to be afraid of God again.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Look on google for pictures of altars. Notice how many churches and even people’s homes have altars. Talk about how the cross of Jesus is the final altar that we need.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, thank you for being the substitute for my sins. Now I know that I never have to be afraid of God. Amen.
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