The War and The Armor

This Sunday, I will teach a lesson about how Jesus Christ Was Chosen To Be Our Savior. My first thought is that there's not a lot to tell. We'll talk about the counsel in heaven, about the two volunteers and what they wanted, and about the importance of agency. I think it'll be helpful to share Revelations 12: 7-9, because it a) talks about a war with a dragon, which sounds pretty awesome and b) reminds us that Satan and his followers didn't just go away or get cast out to outer darkness or some other far away place. They were "cast out into the earth." They're here. And the war isn't over.

I titled my blog The Armor of God based largely on that truth. We are still at war with the forces of evil. Battles and skirmishes with demonic forces occur on a daily basis, and if we are to win this war, we need to know that it is happening, and we need to be well-equipped. That's where the Armor of God comes in. We need to be armed with virtue, righteousness, the Spirit, and all the rest if we're going to successfully stand against the forces of evil.

I wonder to what extent I should incorporate the Armor of God into my lesson. It certainly bears mentioning. We might turn to Ephesians and read about it, after mentioning the war in heaven and how it continues on earth. I have some props I could bring, but I don't have a complete set, and I think that cardboard armor and a plastic sword would probably be more of a distraction than a teaching aid. Maybe I'll look for some paper cutouts the children could glue together, if I think it's worth spending that much time on it. Perhaps I should focus more on Agency, as the lesson manual does. Still, the Armor of God is pretty interesting. If I need a post-lesson activity, cladding paper knights in the Armor of God isn't the worst way we could kill the last few minutes of class time.

I'll think about what the focus of this lesson should be, and I'll pray about it as well. As I ask for the Lord's help in directing the lesson, I am confident that the Lord will help me make the lesson run smoothly, and I trust that He'll help me teach and the children hear something that they'll remember and that will be of benefit to them in their lives. Naturally, I don't want the whole hour to amount to nothing more than just killing time. I hope that this lesson will sink in a little bit, especially since the subject matter is so immediately and eternally important.