Biblically-Minded Families desire for their children to come to saving faith in Jesus, choosing to follow Christ with all of their hearts. But how can we tell them about salvation in terms that they will understand? The Bridge Illustration for Children is one of my favorite ways to share the plan of salvation with people of all ages. Follow along as I give you a step-by-step outline for explaining this to your children.
Step One
First, draw two hills — one on either side of the piece of paper. On the right hill draw a person and label that side “man”. On the other hill draw a person with a crown and label that side “God”. In the middle of the two hills, draw a place of separation and torment away from God. (Make an age-appropriate picture of this.)
God is the King and Creator of all things. He is holy which means that He is completely perfect. God has never done anything wrong, and He is not able to ever do any thing wrong. He is in conrol of all things. Under the word “God”, write the word “holy” (I Peter 1:15-16).
But.. we are not like God. We are sinful. Sinful means that we do, say, and think things that are bad. We hit our siblings, we lie to our parents, we have a bad attitude when we are ask to do things. All of those things are sin. Write the word “sin” under the word “man”. Because God is a holy God, He can’t even be near sin which means that we can’t be near God due to our sin. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Our sin separates us from God forever (Isaiah 59:1-2).
Step Two
Now some people try to get to God by doing different things.
1. First, they think if they go to church, then they can get to God and be with Him forever in Heaven. But going to church will not get them to God. Draw an arrow from the man to the right and then down to the pit. Label that arrow “going to church.”
2. Secondly, some will try being really good. They help their teachers, they get good grades in school, they bring in all the groceries for mom without being asked, and they will be really kind to their brothers or sisters. All of the good things that they try to do will not earn them a place in Heaven with God. In fact the Bible says in Isaiah 64:6, ” All our righteous (good) acts are like filthy rags…” Draw another arrow from man to the right and the down into the pit. Label that arrow “doing good things”. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23) All of the good that we try to do for God will only get us death and distruction, away from God. Write the word Death at the bottom of the chasm. You can also draw flames to show the good things burning up or to show the torment of separation from God in Hell.
3. Thirdly, some people will be very generous and give things to others — either giving their money or their time. These are good things to do, but they can not earn you salvation. Draw another arrow and label it “giving to others”. (See Isaiah 1:10-20 for more on how God desires our lives and not just gifts.)
4. Next some people try to get to God by praying. They pray and pray hoping that God wil hear their prayer and let them into Heaven, but even their prayer will not be the ticket to Heaven. Draw another arrow and label it “praying”.
5. Finally, others wil try to be as obedient as they can be to people in charge. They follow all the rules, don’t speed on the roads, don’t cheat in playing games, do exactly what their parents and teachers say to do and try really hard. But according to the Bible, even these obedient things that they do only earn them separation from God forever. Draw a final arrow and label it “being obedient”.
Step Three
Is there any good news in this story? Yes! Romans 5:8 tells us, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” How is that good?
God loves us so much that He wanted to make a way for us to be with Him forever. He knew that there was nothing that we could do aboout our sin, so He sent Jesus as the one and only payment for our sins. Jesus came to the earth as a baby, lived a sinless life, and then died on a cross for us. His body was broken and bled for us to be the one and only way for us to get to God. Jesus’ death on the cross is the bridge that goes from man to God on our paper. Draw a cross that connects man to God and write “Jesus” on the cross. (This is the bridge in the title, The Bridge Illustration for Children).
How can we get from this side (man’s side) to this side (God’s side)? We are able to go across the Cross Bridge when we have faith that Jesus died for our sins, and we ask him to be our Savior. We admit that we have sinned, we ask Him to forgive our sin, and we turn away from the sin that we have (called repentance).
Romans 10:9-10: “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and be saved.” We want our lives to be lived for God, pleasing Him and having Him be the Lord over us. We realize that there is nothing that we can do that can earn us salvation, but it is only by the death of Jesus on the cross that we can be saved.
The story of Jesus does not end there. He did die on a cross, a horrible and painful death. (See Matthew 27.) Jesus was buried in a tomb for three days, and then He was raised to life (Matthew 28)! He defeated death and came back to life! Wow! Because He came back to life, we have a hope that even if we die, we will be raised to eternal life to live with Jesus forever in Heaven. Would you like to ask Jesus to forgive your sin today so you can be with Him forever?
In Conclusion
Using the Bridge Illustration for Children gives a concrete representation of the abstract concepts of salvation. Explain salvation by drawing on a paper at home, on a napkin at a restaurant, on a piece of scrap paper, or digitally on a printed page to tape to the inside of your Bible. Having this in your “toolbox” as a Biblicaly-minded parent will help you to be always ready to share with your children, friends and family about Jesus. This is just a starting place. You can add more details and more verses as it is appropriate for the person you are sharing this illustration with.
Need more information?
Check out this helpful video to see the Bridge Illustration in action!
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