Imagine for just a moment that the Bible has been forcefully removed from every country around the world. It is illegal to carry, and nearly impossible for anyone to get their hands on one. Being a believer in Jesus who has young children, you want them to understand the importance of God s Word, and the only way they can know anything about it is if you tell it to them by word of mouth. What stories will you choose to tell them?
A poll was taken about a year ago by a Christian organization to see what people considered to be the top ten stories of the Bible to be passed on to the next generation, and here are the choices:
• The Crucifixion of Jesus
• The Birth of Jesus
• Adam & Eve
• The Good Samaritan
• The 10 Commandments
• The Prodigal Son
• Noah s Ark
• David & Goliath
• Daniel & the Lion s Den
• The Feeding of 5,000
Why do you suppose these were the chosen stories? Would your own choices be different? What would they be? Does the Bible have a theme to be followed, or is it just a gathering of true stories? If there is a theme, what is it? Of course, the entire Bible is important, but consider the following as the base around which the Bible stories are built:
• God is eternal, the Creator, perfect, just, holy, sovereign, loving, and the only God.
• God, as Creator, created man in His own image (with a mind, emotions and will), but man chose to go his own way, and now all men are in the same category sinners.
• Because God is just, punishment is required for sin, no matter how great or small the sin may seem, and that punishment is death, both physical and eternal.
• The only payment for sin is the shedding of blood by someone who is perfect; without any sin. No one can pay for sin because nobody is without sin.
• Because God is loving, He provided man with a temporary covering for sin through the death of an animal to show that He would one day provide a permanent payment for the sin of all mankind.
• Because God is perfect, He is the only one who could pay for sin, so He did, through His Son, Jesus.
• Because Jesus is perfect, and He paid the price for sin, anyone who wants to be free from the punishment of sin must believe in Him
• Because we are made in God s image and have been forgiven of our sin through belief in Jesus, He tells us to become like Him until we one day live with Him and are made perfect.
The stories in the Bible are given as illustrations of this theme. It s the most important theme in the Bible, and the one that should be clear to children (and adults) before any other.
So, if there were no Bibles and you had to relate word of mouth the Bible s stories, which ones would you tell?
Author Resource:
Aleena Denison has a heart for seeing the message of the Bible presented in a clear way,and is dedicated to sharing Jesus with the lost and helping believers see their responsibilities in evangelism,discipleship,and Bible study. For more information and free downloads, see http://www.goodseed.com
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