THINK TOGETHER
What do you do when you sin? Do you ever apologize?
READ TOGETHER
God takes our sin very seriously. Why? Because he is perfect. He is pure. There is not a single bad thing in God, and he has never done a single bad thing. And God wants us to be pure just like him. He wants us to be sinless too. But we are far from sinless aren’t we? We all sin. We all say and do wrong things. Things that make God sad.
At Mount Sinai, God taught his people how to be forgiven. He gave them a special day called the Day of Atonement. The word atonement means covering because each year, on the Day of Atonement God would cover up the peoples’ sins. How? Listen to how God describes the Day of Atonement here:
Leviticus 16:7-10. 7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for [the desert]. 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for [the desert] shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the [desert].
Two goats. One sacrificed for sins. The other set free. God will both cover our sins (goat #1) and carry our sins away from us forever (goat #2). Now, which goat do you think was a picture of Jesus? They BOTH are.
Jesus came to earth to both cover our sins and to carry our sins far away, not just for one year, but forever. Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins as your perfect substitute? Do you believe that he can carry away your sins? When we look to Jesus we don’t need goats anymore, do we? We simply need to trust in what Jesus has done for us on the cross. He took our sins and carried them away forever.
Because of Jesus I can know that I am forgiven forever.
With Jesus I can say “I’m sorry” to God and others when I sin.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Act out the Day of Atonement. You’ll need a priest and two goats, and maybe something to be the sin that is carried away. Talk about why we don’t need goats, and how Jesus is the FINAL sacrifice for sins.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, you died in my place and carried away my sins. I’m sorry for all the ways I still don’t trust you. Help me to love you like you love me. Amen.
TLICfamily 