...God planned to send Jesus to save us!
Save us from what?
Well, when God made the world it was perfect in every way.
And then Adam came along and ate the fruit God told him not to eat. Bad idea! At that moment Gods perfect world wasnt perfect anymore. Adam decided to do things his way and not God's way, and that never works. Sin got in. And sin ruins everything.
God try to warn Adam. He told him that if he ate the fruit of that tree he would surely die.
And that's exactly what Adam did.
Well, he didnt drop over dead right there! He lived for a long time afterwards. But he didnt live forever either. One day he died, just like God said he would. God wasnt being mean or unfair. God just knew thats what sin does.
And we all sin.
We all do what we want to do instead of what God wants us to do. So we are in trouble! Sin is like a terrible disease, and we all are going to die from it.
And thats what Jesus came to save us from!
God loves us so much, He sent His Son to make things right again.
And the price was very high. Sin brought death into Gods perfect world. The only price to make it right again is for the guilty ones to die - and thats us.
But Jesus died FOR us. Jesus took the punishment we deserved. What amazing, awesome love that is!
That's not the end of the story!
Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead!
Jesus defeated death! So now, even though we all are going to die just like Adam - we all can rise from the dead just like Jesus!
If we believe in Jesus, and we believe that he died for our sins, God will raise us from dead just like Jesus rose from the dead! That's something we just can't do ourselves no matter how hard we try - but God can. And that is God's gift to everyone who believes in His Son.
And now God can adopt us as His children. One day, everything God has will be ours, and we will live with God forever!
That is the Good News!
Now, since we ARE Gods children, we should live like Gods children. Always be good and honest and loving. Lets not be like the people who dont care about God, who do mean and terrible things.
But we all know, it's not always easy...


We are in a battle!
We have an enemy who wants to steal away everything God wants us to have. Only its not a battle we can see. Our enemy is Satan - and Satan lives in the invisible world of the spirit. Even though we cant see him, Satan is very real. And he wants nothing more than to take us away from God.
And Satan is sneaky. He will use every trick to get us to turn away from God.
You dont have to be afraid of Satan - but you have to be ready to fight him! And so, like a great warrior, you need to put on your armor. And because your enemy is a spirit, God will give you spiritual armor.
So put on the whole Armor of God!
Tie the Belt of Truth around waist. God is real. God loves you, and Jesus died for your sins. God is on your side - that is the Truth!
Hold on to the Truth, and like a good tight belt, the truth will hold you up and keep you strong when Satan attacks.
Guard your heart.
Put on the Breastplate of Righteousness. Always do what is right and good. That way, Satan wont have anything to grab onto to worm his way into your heart. You will be able to stand straight and tall, with your head held high.
Next, put on the Shoes of The Gospel of Peace.
Be ready to go wherever God sends you to tell the Good News of Gods amazing love for us.
And then, to protect yourself from Satans flaming arrows, take up the Shield of Faith!
The God of the Universe is on your side. God is your protector. Put your faith in Him and Satan cannot hurt you!
Now, put on the Helmet of Salvation.
You are saved! You are Gods child! Satan has already lost, death is already defeated, and nothing can ever take you away from God. Keep your thoughts always on that!
And finally, take up the Sword of the Spirit.
God has given us a weapon to fight back against Satans lies and accusations. Our weapon is the truth of Gods Word. It is the Bible. Gods Word can cut Satans lies to pieces. Use Gods Word to fight Satan just like Jesus did when Satan tempted him in the desert. The words of the Bible are your sword.

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