Sin Separates Us from God

Application:

Adam walked with God until sin separated him from God. Sin still separates us from God, but Jesus wants to free us from sin and make us into God's children. We can then get to God through Christ our Saviour and we are no longer separated from God.

Materials You Need:

Two soft white cotton ropes about 1,5 metres long.
A reel of white cotton.
Three 80mm lengths of 20mm diameter cardboard tubes or white plastic electrical conduit.
Label these "Man", "Sin" and "God" respectively.
A red scarf or red material about 60cm square.

Effect:

"Sin" is shown on the middle of two ropes. The two ends of the rope are then tied around "Sin". "Man" and "God" are then threaded on opposite sides of the ropes, but "Man" cannot get to "God" because "Sin" is in the way. A red cloth representing the blood of Jesus is then placed over the plastic pieces. Two volunteers pull on the ropes and "Sin" falls off onto the ground. The cloth is removed showing that "Man" can now reach "God" as "Sin" has gone.

Performing the Effect:

Beforehand, stretch out the ropes together and tie a loop of cotton round the centre to join them.
Separate the ropes so that only the cotton loop holds them together, then thread the ropes into the "Sin" tube so that it covers the cotton between the two ropes.
Take one end of rope from each side and tie a single knot around "Sin" and return the ends of rope to each side.
Thread both ends of the rope through "Man" and do the same for "God" on the other side as shown in the figure.
Let two volunteers to hold the ends of the ropes and the demonstrate that "Man" cannot get to "God" because "Sin" is in the way.
Place a red cloth representing the blood of Jesus over the plastic pieces and then let the volunteers pull hard on the ropes and "Sin" will fall to the ground.
Remove the cloth and show that "Man" can now reach "God" because "Sin" has gone.

Text:

Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

Lesson:

I need two people to come and hold the ends of the rope for me. These ropes represent our lives. (Let two volunteers hold the ends of the ropes so that "Sin" is displayed). When we were born, we were clean, but now we all have sinned and I have threaded "Sin" onto the ropes to show this. What is sin? Sin is disobedience to God. What sins do children do? (Let the children respond). Yes, they lie, they cheat, they swear, they are cheeky, they steal and sometimes they even kill people!

In the beginning of the world, Adam walked and talked with God every day. Every day that is until Adam sinned by disobeying God and eating fruit from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Sin separates us from God and unless Jesus forgives and cleans away our sin, we can never go to Heaven to see God.

Falling Short of God's Standard:

The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that every person has sinned and fallen short of God's standards. This means that we can never measure up to God's standards by trying to be good. But, the devil wants us to sin and he makes sure that we get more and more tied up in doing wrong things. So I am going to tie a knot around sin just like the devil binds us. (Tie two ends of the rope around "Sin").

Now I am going to thread "Man" on one side of the rope and "God" on the other side of the rope. (Thread "Man on the left side and "God" on the right side of the ropes). See how "Sin" separates "Man" from "God". It's the same for each one of us. We cannot get to God because of all the wrong things that we have done in our lives.

The Gift of God:

But God loves us very dearly and wants to be our best Friend. Just as God walked and talked with Adam before he disobeyed, and was thrown out of the garden of Eden. In Romans 6:23 Paul reminds us that:

"The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So when we ask Jesus to come into our hearts and lives, He changes us and cleanses from all our sin. I am going to place this red cloth over "Sin" as only the blood of Jesus can get rid of the sin in our lives. (Place the red cloth over the three tubes). Now I want you both to pull hard on the ends of the rope. (Get the volunteers to pull their ends of the rope until "Sin" falls off).

Set Free:

"Sin" has fallen off! Let me remove the cloth representing Jesus' blood. (Remove the red cloth and shift "Man" up to "God). And now "Man" can get to "God" because Jesus has forgiven us and "Sin" has gone! When we ask Jesus to wash away our sins, He does so, and then we can ask Him to come into our hearts and make us into a child of God.

We now belong to God and we can go to Him in prayer at any time we want to. God will always be thinking about us and caring for us. He will lead and guide us every day, for we will be the apple of God's eye!

Asking Jesus into Your Life:

Is there sin in your life, and are you one of God's Children, and is your name written in His Book of Life? Perhaps you would like to ask Jesus to come into your life right now and take away all the bad things you have done. And then one day when you die, you will be able to go to Heaven and live with God and Jesus forever.

God bless!