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The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend.  We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.

ON BELAY, LESSON 3: Jesus saves and no one can take you from Him

“If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

This is one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith. We can find this truth foreshadowed in the events of the Old Testament and these shadows of what was to come are helpful to our understanding.  Just as Noah was safe from the flood of judgment in the ark, and Israelites pursued by avengers could be safe within cities of refuge, so it is with us when we are found in Christ.  Jesus welcomes us in to abide with Him where we can benefit from the price He paid for our sins.  There in Christ we are covered and protected from the judgment that was ours to bear because He bore it for us.

But there is another way in which we are in Christ that adds an additional dimension and benefit to the believer.  Jesus says that He is the vine and we are the branches – that when we abide in Him, we draw new life from the vine and bear good fruit.  In fact, we become one with the vine. It is true that in Christ we are safe from judgment, but it is also in Christ where we die to our sins in his death and are raised again to new life with Him in his resurrection.  In Him we have new life, a new way of thinking, and a new attitude towards ourselves, our sin, and our God.  We are and are becoming new creatures altogether in the safe harbor of Christ.  What wonderful news to communicate to our children, that in Jesus they are loved and forgiven and transformed and secure in God’s grasp. Even if we lose our grip, He won’t lose his.

Behold, I am making all things new. -Revelation 21:5a

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
2 Corinthians 5:17
2 Corinthians 3:18
Romans 6:1-4, 7:4