December is my favorite time of the year to be a Sunday School teacher of kids. I teach third and fourth graders at my church, and I love telling the story of Christmas. Christmas is very special because it is, after all, about one person: Jesus.
Mark opens his gospel with these words: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1). Following this, Mark quotes from Isaiah 40. As we study the Bible, it becomes apparent that all of Scripture points to one event: the rescue of mankind from sin through a perfect sacrifice. God's plan from the beginning was to send His Son, Jesus, to be that perfect sacrifice. Hints come early in God's Word - see Genesis 3:15. And, as Mark's use of Isaiah shows, signs of Jesus are everywhere in Scripture.
Christmas, therefore, makes the ultimate connection to Christ. The story of Jesus' birth wraps up in a nice little bow the prophecies about the coming Messiah. Other prophecies lead us to understand Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Jesus' fulfillments of the prophecies about His birth were just the beginning. Ultimately, Jesus will fulfill every prophecy about Himself.
Here are a few ways I helped kids make the connections to Christ through the Christmas story. See if any of these might resonate with you.
We talked about the prophets who told about the coming Messiah. The kids were enthralled by the fact that Isaiah and Micah knew something that would happen more than 700 years after their time. I asked the kids to think about what was happening in our hometown 700 years ago. (It didn't exist, of course). I challenged them to think about what would be happening in our hometown 700 years from now. (Nobody seemed to know.) God gave men words 700 years before Christ's birth that said it would happen. Peeking forward, we recalled that God did send Jesus and fulfilled these prophecies.
We discussed the angel's announcements to Mary and Joseph that Mary would conceive a special child who would be called Immanuel - God with us. I challenged our boys and girls to think about what "God with us" means. The kids understood that Jesus is God who came down to live with us in human form.
We highlighted the fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah through the birth of Jesus Christ. We explained the way God had planned this event from the very beginning and He chose to announce that gospel (good news) to a group of shepherds nearby. So were Isaiah and Micah correct in what they wrote? Yes, Jesus was here!
We talked about the wise men who had studied the Scriptures and knew that a Messiah had been born because they knew what to look for. The wise men had been patiently waiting for the Messiah. When they knew He had arrived they prepared and brought special gifts that identified who He was.
The story of Christmas helps boys and girls connect the story of the Bible to the events of that night in Bethlehem when God's Son came to live among us. Share the story with joy and excitement as you show Jesus to the kids you teach.