Precious Firstborn Baby – Countdown to Easter, Week 5

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

Some stories in the Bible are EASY and FUN to tell. Who doesn’t like to tell how teenage underdog named David took down Goliath the giant. Or how angels clamped down the mouths of lion when Daniel was thrown into their den.

Getting across the main point of other Bible stories can be a little more complicated. Honestly, I’ve skipped over many stories or just briefly mentioned them because I just didn’t know what to do or say. 

The ten plagues has a little of both components. What eight-year-old boy doesn’t want to hear about frogs and gnats and thunder and hail, right? But the last plague, the plague of the firstborn son, can be tricky to tell. How do you explain killing a little lamb and smearing blood all over the doorframe?

Here’s an approach for your kids that might help…

God so loved YOU that he wanted to do everything he could to give you life!

JUST IMAGINE…

• a mom and dad have just brought home a beautiful, precious baby boy from the hospital. He’s got cute little fingers and cute little toes and an adorable little nose. They hug him and kiss him and cuddle him tight.
• One day, they find out that something dangerous is coming. “What are we going to do?” they ask. “How will we protect our precious baby boy?” They’re desperate to do anything they can to save the boy they love.
• Then they find out: The only thing that will keep their baby safe is the blood of a lamb. They find a lamb and kill it quick. Then they put blood on their front door and sit back to wait.
• It’s a very long night. In the morning, when the precious baby boy opens his eyes the next morning and starts to cry, mom and dad are so happy! The precious baby boy is alive! They hug him and kiss him and cuddle him tight. “Thank you!” they whisper. The blood of the lamb saved their little boy. 

That’s what happened during the 10th plague. An angel that would bring life or death, was coming to visit all those in Egypt. The only way to protect the precious firstborn was to put the blood of a perfect lamb on the outside of the door.

Pharaoh ignored what God said. He did not believe God. He did not put the blood of a lamb on his door. So when God came to his door, he did not give life to Pharaoh’s son. Pharaoh’s son died. Pharaoh wept and sobbed as did all the other Egyptian families because their firstborn sons had died too.

But the people of Israel did believe God. They put the blood of the lamb on his door so their firstborn sons would be saved. When God came to their door, he saw blood of the lamb on the door. He passed over the home and gave life to their sons. That’s why the meal that night was called a Pass-over meal.

That night, the lamb’s blood gave life to all the firstborn baby boys of Israel. When they woke up the next morning, they were alive because of the blood of the lamb.

Jesus is called the Lamb of God. That’s because his blood gives us life if we believe in him.
God so loved YOU that he wanted to do everything he could to give you life!

Points to Ponder:

Why do we call this holiday the “Passover”?

How is Jesus like the Passover lamb?

How does Jesus give us life?