Isaac and the Lamb

Tuesday:	Isaac and the Lamb
Story Passage:	Genesis 22
Other Passages:	Hebrews 11:19
Objective:	Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, so that we don't have to.
Memory Verse:	Romans 4:25, He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Introduction: Sin & Penalty

Who remembers from yesterday's lesson what sin is? (Sin is when you disobey God.) What happens when we sin? (There is a penalty - death!) But God wants us to live with him forever in heaven. How can we live forever with God in heaven, if we have all sinned and earned the penalty of death? God found a way to pay the penalty for our sin. The Bible calls Jesus the lamb of God, because God gave his one and only son, Jesus, to die for our sins. What does it mean for Jesus to be the lamb of God? Did he go astray? (No. He was pure and innocent, and did nothing wrong.)

Background: Sacrificial Lambs

In the Old Testament times, before Jesus was born, what did the people of Israel have to do when they sinned, to show God that they were sorry? Did you know, they sacrificed animals? That means they gave them up - that's what sacrifice means, to give something up. They took some of their animals, sheep, goats, oxen, and especially lambs, and killed them as a sacrifice, giving them up to God. When the Bible calls Jesus the lamb of God, it means he is God's sacrifice, something God gave up, and that he died to pay the penalty for sin.

The Story: Isaac and the Ram

The Bible has another story about someone who was willing to give his only son. Long before Jesus was born, there was a man named Abraham. Abraham followed God, and he and his wife Sarah waited long into old age to have a son that God had promised them. When they finally had the son, they named him Isaac.

One day, after Isaac had grown some, the Lord wanted to test Abraham, to see if he loved God more than he loved his son Isaac, so he told Abraham to take his son Isaac up on the mountain that he would show him and offer him as a sacrifice to God. Abraham had sacrificed things to God before, and he knew what it meant. Abraham and Isaac spent more than three days traveling to the mountain, and when they were almost there, they had only the wood, the fire, and a knife, but no animal to sacrifice. Isaac asked his father where the lamb was for the sacrifice, and Abraham told him God would provide a lamb. When they got to the mountain, Abraham told his servant that he and his son Isaac would go up on the mountain, offer a sacrifice, and that they would both come back down in a little while. Abraham believed that if he sacrificed Isaac, God would raise him from the dead, because God had promised that Isaac would be the father of many people someday, and Abraham believed God.

When they got to the top of the mountain, Abraham tied up Isaac, and put him on the altar. He was ready to sacrifice Isaac, because God said so. But God stopped him just in time, and provided a ram - a sheep, for the sacrifice. The ram was caught by the horns in a bush, and it took Isaac's place, so that Isaac didn't have to die.

The Point: Substitutionary Atonement

Jesus is called the Lamb of God because he is like the sheep, who died for Isaac. Jesus died for us, to pay the penalty for our sin, so that the penalty could be taken away, so that we can be forgiven. How did Jesus pay the penalty for our sin? (He had to die.) Where did Jesus die? (On the cross.) Did Jesus stay dead? (No, Jesus raised from the dead after three days.) So, if we trust in the payment Jesus made by dying on the cross, then we can be forgiven, and live with God forever in heaven someday. If we had to pay our own penalty, we would be separated from God forever, but when Jesus pays our penalty, it's completely covered, and God can forgive us.

Invitation: Salvation

Invite any children who want Jesus to pay for their sin to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.