A Brand-New Creation

TEXT: John 3:1-7, 16-17

"Erica, come quickly," Mrs. Lane called to her daughter. "I want to show you something!"

Erica jumped up from the puzzle she was putting together and raced into the backyard. She found her mother standing underneath a tree, staring at something hidden among the branches. Mrs. Lane smiled at her daughter, motioning for her to come closer.

"Look, Erica." She pointed upward and Erica saw a small silken pod on a nearby branch. "It is a cocoon, and it's opening up. Do you see where it's beginning to come apart?"

Erica peered closely. "Yes! Yes, I see it! Oh, Mom, is there actually a butterfly inside of that cocoon?"

"There certainly is, and it's working very hard to break out."

They stood for a long time watching the butterfly struggling to free itself from the cocoon. Then Erica gasped with excitement as the butterfly came forth. She watched it cling to the branch as it moved its wings about. It was beautiful! Suddenly it flew away, free to go its way at last, a brand-new creation.

Erica couldn't get over how pretty the butterfly was and the miracle of its birth. "Just think, Mom, many days ago a little caterpillar wrapped himself inside a cocoon, and today he became a beautiful butterfly."

"Butterflies always remind me of salvation," Mrs. Lane said. "In the Bible, Jesus told Nicodemus he had to be born again if he wanted to go to Heaven. Just as that caterpillar shed his cocoon to be born a butterfly, we must ask God to forgive us and to take away our sin. When He does, we are born again! We are forgiven, and we are like new people in God's eyes."

"I know what that means, because Jesus did that for me when He saved me from my sins, didn't He, Mom?"

"Yes, He did. I can remember that day so well."

Erica smiled and said, "I remember too. I had been unhappy for such a long time. But when I told Jesus I was sorry for all the wrong things I had done, He forgave me. Now I'm free from sin, as free as that butterfly!"

"And isn't that wonderful!" Mrs. Lane exclaimed, as they gave each other a big hug.

PARENT'S CORNER

As we continue studying God's plan for helping us to be ready for Heaven, we learn, in this lesson, about how our hearts can be made clean through the Blood of Jesus. As a project with your child this week, make a window-hanging which represents this thought.

Help your child cut a heart shape out of the center of a piece of black construction paper, leaving the outside intact. Then let him scrape bits of red crayon onto a 12" long piece of wax paper. Place another sheet of wax paper over the top. Place the sheets between old newspapers and use a hot iron to melt the wax paper and crayons together. Mount the wax paper behind the black frame.

The resulting heart will look very pretty hung in front of a window or where it will catch the light.