The Mirror

How do you teach third and fourth graders about CREATION, FALL, REDEMPTION, RESTORATION in a way that they will really understand?  That was my question about this time last week.  And God gave me "the Mirror."

This week in Bible, the students created paper handheld mirrors to represent all that God has done for us.  During each lesson the students had to do something different to their mirrors...

DAY 1: CREATION
"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female, He created them."  Genesis 1:27

When we see ourselves in a mirror, we aren't really seeing a person -- it's a reflection, an image.  A baby may think that there is a real human inside the mirror, but we know better than that.  God has created us in His image, different from all of the rest of creation!  We aren't exactly like Him (we aren't omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, perfect), but He has created us special.  The students created a hand mirror by placing a circle of aluminum foil over the construction paper cutout.

DAY 2: FALL

"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden your face from Him so that He will not hear."  Isaiah 59:2

Something happened when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Sin.  God's perfect creation was broken, imperfect, and separated from Him because of temptation, selfishness, and disobedience.  The students resisted and some outrightly refused to do what I asked them to do next -- cut their mirrors in half.  "But we created them yesterday!  No, I don't want to ruin my mirror."  I explained to them that our sinful brokenness also breaks our Creator's heart.  Our wrong choices prevent us from having a right relationship with Him.

DAY 3: REDEMPTION

"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8

You don't keep a broken mirror.  You either fix it or get rid of it.  Praise God that He doesn't toss us aside, but rather redeems us in our brokenness and gives us new purpose!  The students taped their mirrors back together to represent the salvation possible through Jesus Christ.  "But Miss Brown, why did we have to cut the mirrors if we were just going to tape them back together?"  Because a crack remains to remind us of our imperfections that make it impossible for us to attain salvation on our own.  It's only by His blood. 

DAY 4: RESTORATION

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  2 Corinthians 5:17

To end the week, we pasted new aluminum foil circles over the back of the hand mirror.  On one side, it is quite evident that the mirror has been cracked and then patched with scotch tape.  However, on this side, the new silver circle covers over the imperfection.  God makes us new creatures -- not just eventually when we spend eternity with Him in heaven, but right now as we serve as His ambassadors on earth.  May our lives clearly testify to the transforming power of Jesus Christ!

The mirrors are now hanging in our classroom to remind the students of the truths that we have studied this week!