Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Illustrations by Stephen Gilpin

Real Life for Kids:

Knowing Jesus as Your Savior

ISBN: 978-1-60683-918-8

Copyright © 2005 by Roderick D. Baker

P.O. Box 701286

Tulsa, OK 74170

Published by Harrison House, Inc.

P.O. Box 35035

Tulsa, Oklahoma 74153

Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. Contents and/or cover may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without the express written consent of the Publisher.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

In the Beginning

Gods Answer

Three in One

Becoming a New Creation in Christ

The Five Most Important Things

God Loves Me

I Have Sinned

Gods Gift to Me

Jesus Died for Me

I Must Decide To Live for Jesus Today

Say It With Your Mouth

I Need To Tell Others About Jesus

Prayer of Salvation

About the Author

Other Books by Rod Baker

The Harrison House Vision

Dedication

To Amber-my winner!

Acknowledgments

Thank you to my wife, Gloria, who is the glory of my life. Also, special thanks to Pastors Billy Joe and Sharon Daugherty, to Victory Christian Center, and to the Victory Kidz Ministry staff-thank you for your support and compassion for reaching boys and girls.

In the Beginning

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. When He saw how wonderful everything was, He created man and woman and put them in a beautiful garden called Eden where they could enjoy the things He had created. The garden was a perfect place to live with everything they needed.

Every day God walked and talked with the man and woman whom He called Adam and Eve. God's plan was for them and their family to live with Him forever in this perfect place.

God told Adam and Eve they could eat anything they wanted in the garden except for the fruit of one tree.

But looking like a snake one day, the devil came into the garden and tricked them into eating fruit from the tree God had told them not to eat from. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they disobeyed God and were no longer perfect.

Disobedience to God is called sin. And since God is perfect, He cannot live with sin. Adam and Eve had to leave the garden because their sin separated them from God and His perfect plan for their lives.

God's plan back then and today is that people would walk in the good life that He creates for them and ultimately live with Him forever. But the devil lies and tricks people into thinking sin is more attractive. The truth is, the devil really brings them sickness and sadness, and eventually when they die, he tortures them forever in hell.

Yet God loves people so much He cannot stand to be separated from them, and that's why He designed an awesome plan to bring people back to Him.

God decided that the only way to save man from sin was to send His only Son, Jesus, to earth to live as a man, perfect and without sin. As a perfect man, He would die to pay for all sin of all people.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish (die), but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Gods Answer

God loves us so much that He designed a plan for us to escape the punishment we deserved for our sins. God's plan was that Jesus would take the consequences, or punishment, for sin that should have been ours.

Jesus willingly cooperated with God's plan even though He lived a perfect life. Even though the devil tried to trick Him, just like he does everyone, Jesus never fell for his tricks and He never once sinned. He never did anything wrong and did not deserve to die.

Jesus chose to die on the cross and pay for the sin of all people with His blood. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22 that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Jesus' perfect blood was the only thing that could pay for our sin.

You might wonder why He would die for a sinner or for someone who may not even like Him. The answer is love.

God sees us as His children, and it hurts Him to see us suffer. So, instead of our having to suffer and die, He sent Jesus to take our place so that we could live.

First Corinthians 15:3-4 (KJV) says, "How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures."

We are saved by grace. Ephesians 2:8 (KJV) says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." Grace can be described as God being kind even when we don't really deserve it.

No one deserves to be saved. And no one can earn salvation by doing good things. The truth is, we receive salvation through faith in God when we do two things. First, we must believe in our hearts that Jesus died for us and God brought Him back to life; and second, we must say with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, or boss, of our life. (Rom. 10:9,10.)

God gives us a choice-we can either serve Him or the devil. He never forces us or makes us do anything. The choice is ours to make.

If you want to be saved and live to serve God, pray this prayer and believe it.

Father, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe that He rose from the dead so that I can live with Him forever. I ask You to forgive me of my sins. I ask You to come into my heart and be the Lord (boss) of my life. I confess with my mouth that I am born again. Thank You for saving me. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer and believe it in your heart-wow-you have just made the most important decision of your whole life!

You are saved from the devil and his way of life, and you are now born again into God's family. You are a new creation. (2 Cor. 5:17.)

You still look the same as before you prayed. You're just as tall and weigh the same; your hair and eye color didn't change. But you changed plenty on the inside. Let's find out what's new with you-and Who and what you received.

Three in One

God is a three-part person. He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, yet He is still One.

God made man in His image. So we are a three-part person, too. We are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body.

You cannot see your spirit, but it is the real you. It is the part of you that lives forever. The spirit man is the part of you where the Spirit of God makes His home. The Spirit of God lives in your spirit.

Your soul is the part of you that makes decisions, feels emotions like love or sadness, and where your personality comes from. It's a combination of your mind, will, and emotions.

Finally, you live in a body. The body is that beautiful creation you see every day when you look in the mirror.

Becoming a New Creation in Christ

Second Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) says, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature."

When we receive Jesus as our Savior, we get a brand-new spirit. God doesn't just clean and polish the old one; we get a brand-new one. That's what it means to be born again.

When we're born again, we get a new spirit that is perfect like God's. Our old way of doing things and thinking are replaced with wanting to do things God's way.

But our souls don't get saved, so we need to make our minds new by reading and studying God's Word. It's His Word that makes our minds think more like God thinks. (Rom. 12:2.)

Our body does not get saved either. But, as we make our mind new, it's easier to obey God and live for Him because our spirit, soul, and body will be working together to serve God.

God wants everyone to be born again (saved). (1 Tim. 2:4.) And it's His plan for us to spend time with Him not only here on earth, but also forever in heaven.

It's important to spend time with God-like you do with your friends. You probably spend a lot of time with your best friend from school or your neighbor. You probably know all his or her favorite things or things they don't like. If your friend called on the phone and said hello but didn't say his or her name, you would still know the voice because you know your friend.

And that's the way it needs to be with God. He wants to be our best friend, too. (Prov. 18:24.)

The more time we spend with Him by praying or reading our Bible, the better we get to know Him. We learn what He likes and does not like for our lives. We know when He's telling us to do something and not the devil. We know Him just like we know our best friend from school.

Yet, God is better than our best friend from school because He will never disappoint us or let us down. He will never break a promise or lie to us. He is always ready to listen and help us when we need it.

To know Him as your best friend every day you need to:

Read your Bible: A good place to start is with the book of John in the New Testament.

Pray: This is just talking and listening to God like you would your friend.

Praise Him: Tell Him how much you love Him and are thankful for what He does.

The Five Most Important Things

Before a person can be saved, he or she needs to understand the five most important things in the world.

Here is an easy way to understand and remember the Gospel so you can share it with others every chance you get.

God Loves Me

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

I Have Sinned

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 3:23

Gods Gift to Me

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

Jesus Died for Me

…How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.

1 Corinthians 15:3 (KJV)

I Must Decide To Live for Jesus Today

I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.

2 Corinthians 6:2

Say It With Your Mouth

That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:9,10

I Need To Tell Others About Jesus

Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

Mark 16:15

Prayer of Salvation

Father, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe that He rose from the dead so I can live with Him forever. I ask You to forgive me of my sins. I ask You to come into my heart and be the Lord (boss) of my life. I confess with my mouth that I am born again. Thank You for saving me. Amen.

About the Author

PASTOR ROD BAKER has served for over 20 years in children's and outreach ministry. He currently serves as director of the children ministries at Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He ministers to more than 4,000 children each week through children's church, bus ministry, Sidewalk Sunday School Trucks, and Kidz Clubs, as well as a food pantry which feeds over 2,000 people a month.

Under Rod's direction, the Victory Kidz School of Ministry is training up children's and youth workers for this millennium, while his newly developed "Leaders in Training" program is producing the same from our inner city youth. Rod has successfully taken hundreds of children on mission trips, integrating the curriculum being taught in all the children's ministries.

Rod and his wife, Gloria, reside in Tulsa with their children.

To contact Rod Baker

please write to:

P.O. Box 701286

Tulsa, OK 74170

Other Books by

Rod Baker

Real Healing for Kids

Knowing Jesus as Your Healer

Real Power for Kids

Knowing the Holy Spirit as Your Friend

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Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

In the Beginning

Gods Answer

Three in One

Becoming a New Creation in Christ

The Five Most Important Things

God Loves Me

I Have Sinned

Gods Gift to Me

Jesus Died for Me

I Must Decide To Live for Jesus Today

Say It With Your Mouth

I Need To Tell Others About Jesus

Prayer of Salvation

About the Author

Other Books by Rod Baker

The Harrison House Vision