T H E B A S I C S PRIMARY TRUTH Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and this event is called the Resurrection.

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1 CORRESPONDING LEVEL WEB #s Defenders: Detectives: Developers: JESUS CHRIST MATERIALS NEEDED Bible; Teacher Preparation Guide (optional supplements: K4T songbook and PowerPoint files of lyrics) SUGGESTED ORIGINAL KIDS 4 TRUTH SONG All I Find in You SUGGESTED HYMNS All Hail the Pow r of Jesus Name, Fairest Lord Jesus! OTHER SONG SUGGESTIONS Older kids: He Is Lord, Let s Talk About Jesus, Isn t He Wonderful? Younger kids: He Is Lord, He Is King T H E B A S I C S PRIMARY TRUTH Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and this event is called the Resurrection. PRIMARY SCRIPTURE PASSAGE 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 WHAT THIS DOCTRINE REVEALS ABOUT GOD * The Resurrection glorifies Jesus Christ and God s plan of redemption. The Resurrection was the prophesied next step necessary in God s plan. It proved that Jesus Christ was Who He had always said He was. It proved His innocence He did not deserve to stay in a grave. And it proved His supernatural power He could not be held in a grave against His will. Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be the Almighty God. The Resurrection gives believers amazing hope for future grace and eternal life. All those who trust Jesus Christ with their lives and souls will find that, because He is God, Jesus Christ truly is able and authorized to save and resurrect His people, too. ( ) * Teacher, please note that this lesson, 0806, is a companion lesson to focuses more intently on why it is so significant for us to believe in the Resurrection (implications about victory over sin and death). You may want to extend some of the content in this 0806 lesson plan to use or review when you teach KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES By God s grace... The child will understand what the Resurrection is. The child will learn that both Christ s death and the Resurrection were prophesied hundreds of years before. The child will agree that Christ s victory over death is yet another proof of His deity (His God-ness, or divinity). The child will learn that Christ left His grave behind and appeared to many people before returning to heaven. The child will see how the Resurrection distinguishes Christ from any other human leader who has ever lived. The child will learn that Christ s Resurrection was better in quality than anybody else s ever was or could be. 1

2 ATTITUDE OBJECTIVES By God s grace... The child will gain confidence in Christ as the only One to trust for eternal life, because He beat down death. The child will acknowledge the truth that everyone will rise again, either to eternal life or eternal punishment. The child will be motivated to obey because of the reality of the Resurrection. P R A Y E R T E A C H I N G P H A S E I N T R O (about minutes) OPENER* Are you sure that the sun will rise tomorrow? Can you really be sure that your school will be open tomorrow? One thing that we can all be sure of is that we all will die someday (unless Christ returns first!). This has been a Bible promise for thousands of years (that it is appointed unto all to die at least once, and after this comes judgment), and we have seen the reality of it throughout history. Can you name anyone who died 500, or even just 50 years ago, but who is alive again on Earth with us today? No. The Bible records a few miraculous resurrections from death to life, but those people also eventually died (again). Only one Man ever conquered death once and for all. The biggest reason we can be so sure about death, however, is that God declared a death sentence in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were found guilty of sinning against Him: God has given His Word that the penalty of sin is death. Both physical death and spiritual deadness are consequences (hard, sad, but right results) of Adam s sin. BIBLE DRILL (#1) What was sin s penalty for Adam and Eve and all their descendents after them? Genesis 3:19 BIBLE DRILL (#2) What has been passed down to all mankind? Romans 5:12 The penalty of sin death is a fearful thing for most of us! (Or at least it was fearful, before we found out about the hope that Jesus Christ offers.) Mostly death is scary to us because it separates us from loved ones, and it separates us from the life we know here on Earth. Being human, we cannot yet see or understand all that happens to a person after death. We can see only that death separates us from people who loved us, people we loved. The Bible teaches that people s souls go out of their bodies when they die. That s why you will sometimes hear it said that so-and-so has passed away. When someone dies, we who are still alive can see only the person s body, the physical part of him or her. But we cannot see one another s souls! There is Someone we can trust with our fears about death and about what life is like after death. The Resurrection proves there is One Who has defeated both sin and sin s penalty. That Someone is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God. BIG CHRISTIAN WORD Resurrection (REZ-ur-RECK-shun) When it is capitalized, the word Resurrection usually means the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead. After dying on the cross, Jesus was buried in a tomb, but He rose up alive again three days later. His Resurrection was a huge event because it proved Jesus Christ was exactly Who He had said He was He is God. He had promised He would rise up on the third day, and He was 2

3 able to keep His promise because He has divine power that can bring dead things to life. When you see this word uncapitalized, it is probably talking about anyone s being brought to life. Only God has power over death, and He proved it by beating sin and death in Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ beat sin and death before us, He made it possible for us to be saved and raised again to eternal life. *NOTE: In the intro, we want to recap the primary truth and set the stage to use the primary truth to point the learners back to God. I N S T R U C T I O N & R E I N F O R C E M E N T (about minutes) The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and then rose again the third day. When Jesus explained to people that He must die and be raised to life, He used a very common object to illustrate this truth... BIBLE DRILL (#3) What object from nature did Christ use to illustrate His Resurrection? John 12:24 ILLUSTRATION Seedling [Present a plant. Present a seed.] What had to happen in order for this seed to become a plant? [You might show a picture of a tree, or a flower, or something else that was once a seed.] Christians say that Jesus was glorified after He rose from the dead. You might hear someone talk about the glorified Jesus. When they speak of Jesus that way, they are describing Him how He is now that He has risen from the dead. When He appeared to people after His Resurrection, some of them did not recognize Him right away, and He certainly did not look like He did when He was dying on the cross. But He still had the scars from the wounds on His hands and feet and in His side. He could suddenly appear or disappear. We do not know much about Jesus glorified state, but we do know that it was something like His normal human state, only a lot better. The truth of Jesus glorification also demonstrates that His Resurrection was of a better and different quality than anybody else s resurrection. Jesus Resurrection was more than just a coming back from the dead. A Bible teacher and book author named Wayne Grudem wrote this to help us understand the difference between Jesus Resurrection and the resurrections of people He raised, like Lazarus: Christ s Resurrection was not simply a coming back from the dead, as had been experienced by others before, such as Lazarus (John 11:1-44), for then Jesus would have been subject to weakness and aging and eventually would have died again just as all other human beings die. Rather, when he rose from the dead Jesus was the first fruits (1 Corinthians 15:20, 23) of a new kind of human life, a life in which his body was made perfect, no longer subject to weakness, aging, or death, but able to live eternally. Jesus death and Resurrection were prophesied hundreds of years beforehand. BIBLE DRILL (#4) What do these verses prophesy about the death of Christ? Zechariah 12:10 Isaiah 53:2-6 3

4 BIBLE DRILL (#5) What do these verses prophesy about the Resurrection of Christ? Mark 9:31 Psalm 110 (entire chapter) The Resurrection proves Jesus deity. Do you remember what the word deity means? Jesus deity was His God-ness, His divinity. Jesus rising again proved that He indeed was Who He had claimed to be. And Jesus had claimed to be God! (See John 8:58.) If Jesus is God, and if all the prophecies about His life, death, and Resurrection have come true, then of course we can trust that all the other things Jesus taught were true, too! Every other human being who ever was resurrected has been raised up by God s power (either Jesus Himself or one of His servants to whom He had granted the power to raise people from the dead). So, if only God can raise people up from the dead, Who actually raised Jesus up? God the Father? God the Son? God the Holy Spirit? The answer is YES! All three Persons of the Trinity were involved in Jesus Resurrection. The Bible says that His rising from the dead was an act of: 1. God the Father (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:24,3:15; Romans 8:11; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 2:12; Hebrews 13:20) 2. Jesus Christ, Himself (John 2:19, 10:18) 3. The Holy Spirit (1 Peter 3:18) AWESOME QUOTE If Christ did not rise, the whole scheme of redemption is a failure, and all the predictions and anticipations of its glorious results for time and for eternity... But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. Therefore the Bible is true from Genesis to Revelation. The kingdom of darkness has been overthrown, Satan has fallen as lightning from heaven, and the triumph of truth over error, of good over evil, of happiness over misery is for ever secured. ~ A. A. Hodge The Resurrection provides the Christian with life-changing HOPE! The apostle Peter was transformed (totally changed) from someone who publicly denied Christ to someone who could boldly stand up to the very people who killed Christ and proclaim in front of them that Jesus Christ is the Lord of Glory! Peter did not hold his earthly life dear anymore, because he believed that even if he were killed, Jesus Christ had the power to raise Him from the dead. AWESOME QUOTE / DISCUSSION Christians NEVER say good-bye! ~ C. S. Lewis C. S. Lewis shouted that across the street to an old friend as they parted ways. It was the last time they ever saw each other on Earth, but he would not say good-bye. Why not? What did he mean by that? How does the hope of eternal life after death comfort you when you think about loved ones who have died? How might a firm belief in the Resurrection change your thoughts and actions while you are alive? How should it change you even this week? BIBLE DRILL (#6) What was Paul s goal? How did he meet that goal? Philippians 3:

5 ( ) (Here would be a great place to insert what you learned from your Teacher Truth Study.) GETTING BACK TO GOD* {Recap WHAT THIS DOCTRINE REVEALS ABOUT GOD: The Resurrection glorifies Jesus Christ and God s plan of redemption. The Resurrection was the prophesied next step necessary in God s plan. It proved that Jesus Christ was Who He had always said He was. It proved His innocence He did not deserve to stay in a grave. And it proved His supernatural power He could not be held in a grave against His will. Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be the Almighty God. The Resurrection gives believers amazing hope for future grace and eternal life. All those who trust Jesus Christ with their lives and souls will find that, because He is God, Jesus Christ truly is able and authorized to save and resurrect His people, too.} Do you know anyone at your church or in your town who might work a night job raising dead people out of their graves? Of course not! God is the only One Who can give that kind of supernatural (beyond natural, divine) power to come back to life. God was the One Who formed Adam from the dust of the ground, breathed life into him, and made him LIVE. God is the ultimate Source of all life, both physical and spiritual. Jesus Christ s victory over the grave is just one more reason why we can and ought to trust Him wholly. He is God. Only He can bring us to life spiritually when we are dead in our sins, and only He can promise life after physical death. *NOTE: Teachers, please remember that this section should include the fruit of your Teacher Truth Study and one or two personal illustrations or anecdotes from the Personalize It! activity in the Teacher Preparation Phase. A P P L I C A T I O N & A S S E S S M E N T INTERNALIZE IT! from Teacher Preparation Phase (about 5-10 minutes) You might begin this section with: Boys and girls, as I ve been preparing for this TruthTime Lesson, here s what God has been showing me... You might continue by saying: Because of what God is teaching me, here s what is going to be different in my life during this next week... You might conclude with something like this: Finally, here s what God has taught me about Himself through these truths... DISCUSSION TIME QUESTIONS Why does Christ s Resurrection give Christians hope? Why do you think the stone was rolled away from the front of the tomb where Jesus had been buried? Why was Jesus Resurrection better and different from any other person s resurrection? How did the Resurrection transform (change completely) Christ s disciples? 5

6 A P P E N D I C E S O R I F T I M E (optional) ACTIVITY Suggest to the children that they try to draw a picture showing the empty tomb, the angel(s), and the women who came to the tomb. (See Matthew 28:1-7.) ACTIVITY Ask the children to look up the following verses and to describe ten (10) people or groups of people to whom Jesus Christ revealed Himself after He rose again... From Easton s Bible Dictionary: Ten different appearances of our risen Lord are recorded in the New Testament. They may be arranged as follows: 1. To Mary Magdalene at the sepulchre alone. This is recorded at length only by John (20:11 18), and alluded to by Mark (16:9-11). 2. To certain women, the other Mary, Salome, Joanna, and others, as they returned from the sepulchre. Matthew (28:1-10) alone gives an account of this. (Compare with Mark 16:1-8 and Luke 24:1-11.) 3. To Simon Peter alone on the day of the Resurrection. (See Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5.) 4. To the two disciples on the way to Emmaus on the day of the Resurrection, recorded fully only by Luke (24: Compare to Mark 16:12,13). 5. To the ten disciples (Thomas being absent) and others with them, at Jerusalem on the evening of the Resurrection day. One of the evangelists gives an account of this appearance, John (20:19-24). 6. To the disciples again (Thomas being present) at Jerusalem (Mark 16:14-18; Luke 24:33-40; John 20: See also 1 Corinthians 15:5). 7. To the disciples when fishing at the Sea of Galilee. Of this appearance also John (21:1-23) alone gives an account. 8. To the eleven, and above 500 brethren at once, at an appointed place in Galilee (1 Corinthians 15:6; compare to Matt. 28:16-20). 9. To James, but under what circumstances we are not informed (1 Corinthians 15:7). 10. To the apostles immediately before the ascension. They accompanied him from Jerusalem to Mount Olivet, and there they saw him ascend till a cloud received him out of their sight (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50-52; Acts 1:4-10). 6