Eternal Life: Made for Relationship

G’day, you Shellas and Blokes. Remember that’s gals and guys.

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Our first day of VBS, we were in the Outback where the kangaroos life. Let’s hop like a kangaroo.

Then, we went to the Great Barrier Reef where fish and other ocean animals life. Let’s do our fish impersonations.

Yesterday, we went to the coast where most Australians life by the beaches. Let’s do all practice our surfing pose.

Today, we are going to the Eucalypt Forest which is almost all around the continent, but the biggest parts are mainly up here in the north.

Eucalypt Forest.

Did you know that eucalyptus leaves are poisonous to most animals? But they are a koala’s favorite meal.

When baby koalas are first born:

They are about the size of a jelly bean,

They have no hair or ears,

They are blind,

The babies live in their mama’s pouch for about six months,

Then, they have to stay close to their moms for another six months before they can live on their own.

Let’s learn a little more about koalas.

Video.

Stop at, ‘We all choose to disobey God, don’t we?”

Do you wish you could sleep 20 hours a day like a koala? When you get old like, you might.

Koala mamas and papas take good care of their children, but no one take better care of his children than God.

Creation

God created Adam, the first man, from the dust of the earth and breathed into Adam the breath of life.

And God gave Adam a wife, Eve, so they live together and have children. God also gave Adam and Eve something to do. They could work in the Garden of Eden and would have all the food and beauty of a perfect creation.

God’s created them to live forever in this perfect garden, but Adam and Eve did something wrong. They listened to the devil when he came to them as a serpent. The devil told Adam and Eve that they could be something better than what God created them to be. Let’s hear about it from the Bible.

Genesis 3

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

The devil lied and told Eve she could be something better if she would disobey God.

But do you think it was better? No!

Watch what happened.

Genesis 3

7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 8 And they heard the sound of the LordGod walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

After sinning, Adam and Eve are now afraid of God and run away from Him. They think God is coming to punish them.

But watch what God does.

Genesis 3

9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

Did God know where Adam and Eve were? Yes. God knows all things.

God still wants to be with Adam and Eve.

When God calls to Adam, “Where are you?” God is giving Adam a chance to repent and confess his sin, but watch what Adam does.

10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

Adam doesn’t confess his sin. But watch what God does.

11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

God gives Adam another chance to repent.

But watch what Adam does.

12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

Instead of repenting, Adam blames Eve, but even worse he blames God. He says, “God you gave me this woman and look at the trouble she has gotten me in to.”

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

God gives Eve a chance to repent, but she blames the serpent, the devil.

Did the devil put the fruit in her mouth and make her eat? No. Eve did it on her own.

The Bible here teaches us a sad thing. Instead of repenting of our sin and confessing it to our merciful God, we try to cover up our sin by ourselves.

But it never works.

Right after this, God gives Adam and Eve a promise. God promises that He will send a child to crush the devil’s head.

Who came to do that? Jesus.

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Yesterday, we heard how the night Jesus was born, the angels told the shepherds how the Savior had come.

Jesus, the Son of God, became human, just like you. He was born, just like you. His parents had to take care of Him, just like you. He had to learn, just like you. He got hungry, thirsty, and tired, just like you.

But because Jesus is God, He did all of this without ever sinning. He never disobeyed His parents. He was never selfish or bratty. He loved everyone perfectly.

Did Jesus need to be perfect for Himself? No. He was perfect for you.

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And Jesus took something from you. He took your sin. He went to the cross carrying all of your sin, and God punished all your sin – not on you, but on Jesus.

Jesus died for your sin. But did Jesus stay dead? No!

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On the third day, Jesus rose again.

He died, but death could not keep Him because He had done nothing to deserve death.

That means Jesus has destroyed death. Isn’t that great news?

Now, Jesus did this about 2,000 years ago. So, how does God give this great work of Jesus to you?

Baptism

Romans 6

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.

11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

The Bible says here that in your Baptism, God brought you to Jesus’ cross and empty tomb. The Bible teaches that in your Baptism, you died and rose again with Jesus.

Because you have risen with Jesus in your Baptism, you will never die again just like Jesus will never die again.

God cares for you better than anyone or anything else. He cares for you by sending Jesus to be your Savior.

So, friends, believe God’s promises that He has given to you, and you will live forever.

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