Seeing "Jesus" in the Names of God (John 1:1-14) Lesson

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Hello, My Name Is… A Series on the Names of God

Lesson Fifteen: Jesus in the Names of God

Main Idea: We can shout praises to God because we read in the Bible that he sent his son Jesus to save us from our sins so we can be with him forever.
Memory Verse: “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
This is part 15 of 16  in our study of the Names of God for kids called, “Hello, My Name Is…  A Series on the Names of God.”  Visit that link to navigate to other lessons in this curriculum.
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Teacher Preparation:

  • Read lesson, Scripture reference, and John 1:1-14
  • Gather: Bible, lesson plan, dry erase markers or chart paper and markers, “Names of God Cross Puzzle,” “Jesus in the Names of God” puzzles, and “String Art Cross” printables, cardboard, red embroidery floss, push pins, or red yarn and paint.
  • To help keep track of the names of God learned over this series, write each lesson’s name of God on the board along with the main idea. Tape a strip of paper over the name, and one over the main idea. Use this to review the lesson as you go. Alternatively, use large flash cards with the name of God on the front and the main idea on the back. Create one of these every week and review with the class as you go.
  • Take time to meditate on this lesson and apply it to your own life. You have probably heard of the red thread of redemption. It’s a term theologians use to describe how God’s plan for salvation shows up in the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, and it unites the Bible as one coherent book. The obvious “red thread” would be the Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. For example, Zechariah 11:12-13 is fulfilled in Matthew 27:6-10. What astounds me is seeing Jesus fulfill every single name of God we have studied. The more I study the Bible, the more humbled and amazed I am. Jesus is Lord, and he shows us this truth in the Names of God. I pray dear teacher, that you would be humble and amazed before the Lord Jesus. Your love for him will catch like fire among your students.

Scripture References:

  • Psalm 98:4

Game: Puzzle Hunt
Today’s game will help illustrate the main idea that Jesus is found in the entire Bible, including the names of God. Before class, print and cut out the “Names of God Cross Puzzle.” I’ve included a large cross that when completed will measure 24” X 32”. The pieces to this puzzle take up eight pages. The smaller version is 12” X 16” and fits onto two pages to print. You may wish to print these on cardstock or glue them to light cardboard for extra durability. Hide these pieces around you classroom before class starts. When your students enter the classroom, explain to them that they must find the hidden puzzle pieces, read it (with your help if they need) and then work as a class to assemble to puzzle. Once they finish the puzzle, explain that as we have been studying the names of God for the past several months, Jesus showed up in every lesson because he is God.
Message: Open in prayer, then say, this is it, class. This is the second to last lesson in our names of God series. We have studied hard for a long time now, and I am so proud of each and every one of you. I don’t have any new names of God for you today, although the Bible does have plenty more names and titles of God for you to learn. You could spend your whole lives studying the Bible and never learn everything about God. I hope you do spend your whole lives studying the Bible, because it’s the only book that has the secret to salvation in it. And the secret is, it’s no secret. Who is willing to share with me what they know about salvation? (Allow students to answer. This is a good time to check their salvific theology. Jesus is God in human form, and he sacrificed himself to pay for our sins. We can never earn salvation. We get to spend forever with God in heaven when we believe in and do our best to follow His Son, Jesus Christ.) That’s right! Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins.
Now you may be wondering why we’re spending so much time talking about Jesus, who we read about in the New Testament, when for the past several months, we’ve been learning about the names of God, which are found in the Old Testament. As I looked back on all the lessons we’ve covered in this series, I realized something. In every single lesson we studied on the names of God, we kept coming back to Jesus. Every. Single. Time. That’s because the entire Bible is about Jesus and what he did for us. The whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is about salvation, God’s plan to save us from our sins so we can spend forever in Heaven with him.
As you know, the Bible is a big book that really is a collection of 66 smaller books. The Old Testament has 39 books that tell the story from Creation to a few hundred years before Jesus was born. The New Testament has 27 books that tell about Jesus’ life, and the years following his Resurrection. And then Revelation, which tells us about Jesus coming back to Earth. Even though we read about the life of Jesus in only four books of the Bible, (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,) the WHOLE Bible, even the Old Testament, tells us about Jesus and God’s plan for salvation. We of course don’t have time to study the WHOLE Old Testament to look for Jesus, but today we will look at the names of God we’ve learned and review how Jesus fits in. (If you would like, before class, write the names of all the books of the Bible on the board, divided into Old and New Testament sections, to help illustrate to your class the magnitude of the Bible and how amazing it is that the story of Jesus is woven through it all.)
Now we have spent 14 weeks studying the names of God. There is no way we have time to review all of that information with you just sitting there listening. That would take way too long and you all would probably get really bored listening to me talk to you about all the things you have already learned. So to shake things up a bit, I have a game for you. I have two-piece puzzles for each name of God we have studied. The top puzzle piece of each puzzle has the name of God and what it means. The bottom puzzle piece has how Jesus relates to that name. These are all things we have talked about in the past several weeks, so none of it is really new. This game will help you to refresh your memory and see the old information in a new way. I’ll pass these out all mixed up, and you have to work together to put all the puzzles together correctly. When you are done, we’ll quickly go over them as a class. As you work, I will walk around and help you as you need it. Don’t be afraid to raise your hand and ask for help, too. (Pass out the shuffled puzzle piece cards randomly to students. Have them work together to assemble them. Be sure they are matching the name to the descriptions, not just matching the shapes of the puzzle pieces. To help them match correctly, have them look for word clues. The card with the Name of God and the card with Jesus’s role will have similar words. For example, the Jehovah-Jireh card says, “When we obey him, Yahweh-Yireh will provide everything we need.” The corresponding Jesus card says, “…If he’s willing to give us his one and only son, he will definitely provide us with everything we need.” Students can identify this match because both cards talk about provision. If you have a large class, you may need to print multiple sets of cards on different colors of paper and divide your class into groups. Monitor and talk with the groups as they work. When all the puzzles are completed, quickly go over each card with the class and check to see if they have any questions.)
Isn’t it amazing to see Jesus found all over the Bible? The whole Bible is all about him, and our lives should be all about him, too. Jesus died for our sins. Jesus, God, the Creator of everything, chose to become a human, to live a servant’s life and take the judgement and punishment for our sins, and to die as the Lamb of God. With his whole life, Jesus shouts, “YAHWEH SAVES!” If we prayed to Jesus to forgive us of our sins and if we now do our best to follow him, then with our whole lives we must shout, “YAHWEH SAVES!” Psalm 98:4 says, “Shout to [Yahweh], all the earth; break out in praise and sing for joy!” We can shout praises to God because we read in the Bible that he sent his son Jesus to save us from our sins so we can be with him forever. Let’s praise God in prayer now.
Close in prayer.
Craft: “Red Thread of Redemption” Cross String Art
Today’s craft takes more time and energy to prepare than usual, but the results are fun, unique, and stunning. Make copies of “String Art Cross” for each of your students before class. Cut out one 5” X 7” piece of corrugated cardboard for each student and tape or glue a string art printable (it looks like a cross made out of 66 dots) cross on top of it. Put push pins through each hole. Students will start to make their cross picture by wrapping the end of embroidery thread around one pin several times. They then stretch a length of string and wrap it around another pin anywhere within the cross. They continue wrapping the string around the pins within the cross until they have wrapped each pin at least once. They must be careful to keep the string inside the cross and not connect pins on the outside edge of the cross. They need to “color inside the lines” to create a cross picture out of string. To finish, tie the last bit of string around the last pin. Instead of using cardboard and pushpins, you could use wood and nails. It may help if you make an example ahead of time.
Be sure to explain to your class that the red thread of redemption describes how we find Jesus and God’s plan to save us from our sins throughout the whole Bible. There are 66 books of the Bible, and 66 dots on their page. They use the red thread to connect all the dots and make a picture of the cross, just like all 66 books of the Bible are connected by the redemption story, and point to the cross.
If this is too expensive or overwhelming of a project for your class, you could instead have your class use a red pen or pencil to connect the dots in creative ways. Or you could set out paint and use red yarn instead of paintbrushes to paint in the crosses. The main idea is to convey the concept that the whole Bible is about God saving us from our sins through Jesus Christ.

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