Fundamental Belief #2--The Trinity
There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons. God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet known through His self-revelation. He is forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation. (Look up the verses here. Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:17; Rev. 14:7.)
The Trinity is a complex and difficult concept to understand, let alone explain to children. Because we can only relate to things we know, heavenly, supernatural concepts are often beyond the scope of our finite minds but with God's help we can get a glimpse of the wonders we cannot yet understand.
I found a good article on the Trinity by Raoul Dederen which was written when he was at Andrews University. I found it fairly easy to read and understand and you may find it beneficial to read the article before presenting this concept to the children. It is not feasible to present everything about the Trinity as a children's story so I chose just one concept. There are so many scripture verses of proof that are better left to deeper Bible study.
An object lesson may be the best way to explain the Trinity, although we can never truly explain this in earthly terms.
The Object Lesson
Materials Needed:
- A nice shaped, large apple
- Cutting board or plate
- Small sharp knife
- Paper towels or napkins to clean hand
- If the church budget allows, you may have an apple for each child to take home.
Today I want to help you understand our wonderful loving God. Do you ever get confused when the preacher talks about God and then he calls God, "Jesus" or calls God the "Holy Spirit"? And when we pray at church or home sometimes we call God our "Heavenly Father". You may wonder which one of these persons is God. Well, I'll tell you our God is three persons: God is our Heavenly Father, Who loves us very much. God is Jesus, Who is our Saviour, our Lord and our Big Brother. And God is the Holy Spirit, Who is our Comforter and Guide. Even grown-ups get confused about this.
When Jesus comes and takes us to heaven we will understand, but now it seems difficult how one God can be three persons. This apple may help us a little bit to understand how it may work.
I like apples, do you? I went to the supermarket this week and picked out a nice, big juicy apple to help us today.
What do you see covering the apple? (Wait for answer.) Yes, that's right, it's the skin. Have you ever seen an apple growing on a tree without its skin? No, of course not. Every apple has a skin. Some skins are red, like this one (if you have a red apple), some are yellow or green and some skins are streaky with red and yellow. But no matter what color the skin, an apple is always covered by a skin that protects the apple as it grows. The skin reminds us of the Holy Spirit because it always covers the apple just as the Holy Spirit will always be with us. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to comfort us.
Now that's just one part of the apple. It wouldn't be an apple if we only had the skin.
I'm going to cut this apple in half. (Cut the apple in half using the cutting board/plate and the knife. Place the knife where little hands cannot reach.)
Now, we can see more of the apple. Who can tell me what parts we can see. (Give the children time to tell you about the flesh and the core with the seeds. You may have to prompt them as some children may not realize the flesh and seeds are separate parts of an apple.)
Yes, we have the seeds in the middle. The seeds are important because from the seeds, more apples can be grown. The seeds remind us of the Father because our Heavenly Father is the Creator, Mighty and all Powerful.
The white part we love to eat is called the flesh. It is juicy and crisp. We can eat it just as it is or Mommy or Daddy can make a yummy treat like apple pie out of the flesh. The flesh reminds us of Jesus, because Jesus is God who became human flesh like us. He came as a little baby, grew up and died for our sins.
The apple has three parts: the skin, the seeds and the flesh. Three parts make one good apple. God has three persons: God our Heavenly Father, God the Son who is Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit. Three persons make one Holy God.
God can never die. He has always been and will always be. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. We cannot understand all about God because it is too hard for us to understand.
Our God is forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by everyone and everything in this world and in heaven.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, help us to always worship and adore you. We are your children and we love you. Amen.
The Bible verse:
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:14
Have children sing:
Awesome God
Our God is an awesome God,
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power and love,
Our God is an awesome God!
~Writer/Composer : Rich Mullins
The colouring sheet:
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