Let me just start off this post by saying that I have a LOVE/HATE relationship with Children's Bible and devotional materials. On the one hand, they are usually colorful and well-illustrated (thus, keeping the kids' attention) and written simplistically so they can be easily understood...all good things. But on the other hand, they tend to be moralistic. What does that mean? Well, if you are not careful, you and your kids can walk away from a lesson with the thought that we need to "be better"...apart from Christ. Sometimes we walk away with the message to be like Abraham and have more faith, or be like Noah and be obedient, or be like Jesus and serve each other...but no hope or direction is given as to HOW that actually happens. How do we grow in faith, obedience, and acts of service? Do we just try to memorize Scriptures, and pray, and try our best, with Jesus as our "helper?" Heavens, NO! The true power of the gospel message is found in submitting yourself, your life, your best efforts to the Lord...dying to yourself. And then, in that state, the Lord, through the power of His Holy Spirit indwelling in you (as a born-again believer), will work to transform your heart and life and enable you to walk the Christian life in victory! (now that is a very broad-brushed view...stay tuned for posts to come about this process we call "sanctification"...a fancy term for growing to be more holy and like Christ).
So that said...what follows are some resources I have found to be wonderful as I try to teach my children the Bible from a "gospel-centered" perspective (not a best effort, self-improvement, "let's try to be more like so and so" perspective). Basically, each story is told as it is found in the Bible, but then application is provided to point that story to Jesus. Let's start with these first two Bibles...the Gospel Story Bible and the Jesus Storybook Bible.
(inside view)
(Note the Jesus Storybook Bible also comes in a smaller book format with a different cover...but it is the same book).
(inside view...you can see the illustrations are enormous!)
So, let me give you an example using the story of Noah's Ark. In a traditional (non-gospel-centered) Children's Bible/devotional, the story of Noah building the ark would be told and then application questions would then focus on how Noah was righteous and obedient to do all that God asked, etc. You would then walk away with the message "let's be more like Noah" as you go about your day. Now, compare that with these above mentioned Bibles. This time, Noah building the ark is told and the application at the end of the story would draw the parallel of the ark being like Jesus. In Noah's day, God saved everyone who entered the ark, and brought about judgement by water. Today, Jesus is our ark--only those who are safe "in Christ" will be saved from God's judgement. So you walk away from the day's lesson more in awe of Christ and His saving role in our lives. You do not strive to be more like Noah. You realize that Noah was chosen by God and his story serves to display the wonder of the gospel message! See the dramatic difference of these two approaches?!
Another example would be Abraham and Isaac. While Abraham WAS faithful and trusted God to sacrifice Isaac...the story does not just stop there. The message of Abraham's story is not just to be more like Abraham. No, we see the gospel displayed vividly when a father is willing to sacrifice his only beloved son...but unlike Abraham who was stopped, God the Father actually goes through with the sacrifice and kills his own Son on the cross for our sins. Instead of Isaac, God provided a substitute, a ram, to be killed on Abraham's alter that day. Again, we see a picture of Christ, God's provision of a substitute for our sins. And Isaac also reveals to us a picture of Christ, as he unquestionately and quietly carries his own wood up that mountain to be sacrified...so like Christ carrying His own cross, being silent before His accusers.
I could go on and on, with every Bible story in the book...but you get the idea. With books like these, your children (and you!) will see the wonder of the gospel message every new day, in profound ways. You will understand how, when Jesus meets the men walking on the road of Emmaus, who are dismayed that Jesus was crucified, He was able to teach them all the things concerning Himself "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets" (Luke 24:27). You see, in this light, EVERY portion of Scripture speaks to the gospel and proclaims the wonder of Christ! This is a fascinating discovery, and one I will blog more about from an adult perspective (let me just say Nancy Guthrie has wonderful books, devotionals, and Bible studies about seeing Jesus in the Old Testament!).
Well, I will post about the other resources pictured up top in the next few posts. I hope this was helpful for you as you seek good quality Bible resources for your little ones!
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