John F. MacArthur - I Believe in Jesus: Leading Your Child to Christ

I Believe
in Jesus

I Believe
in Jesus

Leading
Your Child
to Christ

JOHN MACARTHUR
Illustrated by Pam Rossi

Text copyright 1999 by John MacArthur
Illustrations copyright 1999 by Pam Rossi

All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher, except for brief excerpts in reviews.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Tommy Nelson, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Scripture quotations are from the International Childrens Bible, New Century Version, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1999 by Tommy Nelson, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

MacArthur, John, 1939
I believe in Jesus : leading your child to Christ / by John MacArthur ; illustrations by Pam Rossi.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8499-7511-5; ISBN 1-4003-0474-1 (with CD)
1. Theology, Doctrinal Juvenile literature. 2. Children Prayer books and devotionsEnglish. I. Title.
BT77.M12 1999
249dc21

99-23599
CIP

Printed in the United States of America

04 05 06 07 LBM 5 4 3 2 1

Lovingly dedicated to
my precious grandchildren.

T he Bible says that in the beginning there was only God. He has always been. God has no beginning and no ending. There were no sun, no stars, no planets, no Earthand no people. There was just God. But He was not alone, because God is really three personsGod the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three together are God.

The Lord God says, I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am the One who is and was and is coming. I am the All-Powerful
(REVELATION 1:8).

ALSO SEE MATTHEW 28:19; JOHN 1:1.

Everything about God is beautiful, good, wise, and perfect. He created angels to live with Him in heaven forever. But some of the angels did not love Him, so God made them leave heaven. God also made the universe with Earth in it. He made the sun and moon and stars. He made the plants and animals and birds and fish. Then He made people.

In the beginning God created the sky and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

... your Father in heaven is perfect
(MATTHEW 5:48).

God makes his angels.... All the angels are spirits who serve God and are sent to help those who will receive salvation
(HEBREWS 1:7, 14).

ALSO SEE GENESIS 1:12:25;
REVELATION 12:89.

The first man and woman God created were Adam and Eve. God gave them the beautiful Garden of Eden to live in. But a very sad thing happened. Adam and Eve disobeyed God. They let Satan, one of the bad angels, talk them into doing something God had told them not to do. God punished them by making them leave the garden. Their sinsall the bad things they didhad separated them from God. Every person born since Adam and Eve disobeys God, too. That is why all people die and should go to a place of punishment forever.

There is no one without sin. None!... All people have sinned and are not good enough for Gods glory
(ROMANS 3:10, 23).

When someone sins, he earns what sin paysdeath
(ROMANS 6:23).

ALSO SEE GENESIS 3:124.

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to always be good, kind, loving, and unselfish? How hard it is to obey? How hard it is to always love God with all your heart? Well, like other people, sometimes you do bad things, too. God could leave you like that and punish you just as He did Adam and Eve and the bad angels. But because God loves people so much, He wants to fill His beautiful heaven with people who will live with Him forever. Our sin should keep us out of heaven, but instead, God invites everyone you too!to come to Him and ask for forgiveness for our sins. And He promises forgiveness to each one who asks.

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. God gave his Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life (JOHN 3:16).

ALSO SEE ROMANS 6:23; EPHESIANS 1:7;
1 JOHN 1:9.

How can God just forgive us? Shouldnt He punish us? If God forgives us, does that mean that the bad things we do are not really that bad? No, they are bad! In fact, they are so bad that even though God forgives us and doesnt punish us, He still punishes every one of our sins. How can God punish our sins and not punish us? God always knows exactly what to do. He has a plan.

Lord, you are kind and forgiving. You have great love for those who call to you. Lord, hear my prayer. Listen when I ask for mercy
(PSALM 86:56).

ALSO SEE PSALM 103:818.

Gods Son, Jesus, came to Earth to take the punishment for us. Jesus is one of the three persons who are God. And Jesus was willing to come down from heaven to become a real human like we are and to be punished for our sins. Jesus came to Earth as a baby. He was born to Mary and Joseph in a town called Bethlehem. He was born to die for us.

But he was wounded for the wrong things we did. He was crushed for the evil things we did. The punishment, which made us well, was given to him. And we are healed because of his wounds.... The Lord has put on him the punishment for all the evil we have done
(ISAIAH 53:56).

ALSO SEE MATTHEW 1:182:1; JOHN 19:1637.

Jesus grew up in a town called Nazareth. He preached about God and Gods will. Everywhere Jesus went, He did miracles. He never thought, said, or did anything wrong. He never once displeased God. And He never sinned! Not even once. He did everything right all through His life, and God was totally pleased with Him.

And a voice spoke from heaven. The voice said, This is my Son and I love him. I am very pleased with him (MATTHEW 3:17).

ALSO SEE MATTHEW 11:25; LUKE 4:1421;
HEBREWS 7:26.