Rrrrrrring! went the bell, and children of every size and age ran out the school door for recess. They climbed over the monkey bars, swung high on the big swings, and ran laughing and chasing one another through the playground.
The children were busy playing when, just beyond the schoolyard in a thick patch of blackberry bushes, a big brown bear stood up on his two hind feet to have a look around. He stood about as tall as a man, but his body was much bulkier and heavier. He had small eyes that were hard to see, because they were the same color as his fur. And he had big nostrils.
Suddenly he was spotted! Shouts of "BEAR!" and "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" rang out from many of the children across the playground. In the panic and confusion, the playground supervisor quickly herded the children back into the building as fast as they could go. Some children were so frightened, they couldn't stop crying for several minutes. But a few boys had to be stopped from going back outside to get another glimpse of the bear.
By the time the police arrived at the school, the bear had wandered off into a nearby wooded area. The teachers and principal of the school were very careful to keep all the children safe inside. Parents were telephoned and told to come pick up their children or be waiting for them at their bus stops. When the children left the school building, a sheriff's deputy stood nearby... in case the bear should return.
People in this Seattle suburb didn't expect to see bears in their community. Many years ago bears had roamed freely in the area, but those times were long past. In place of the huge forests, many new houses, stores and roads had been built.
That evening, the Department of Natural Resources placed a big bear trap in the woods just behind the school. The trap looked like a giant tube with a trap door at one end. They baited the bear trap with donuts-a favorite of bears. That big bear must have had quite the sweet tooth, because sometime that night he climbed into the trap and devoured the donuts, while the trap door slammed down behind him.
The next morning when school children were dropped off at the school, they were told to go inside immediately. Some of the children told the principal and teachers they were still afraid.
When the men who had set the trap heard that some of the children were still afraid, they thought of a way to help them. They asked the principal if the children could look at the bear in the trap and watch as he was driven off in a truck. This would prove to the children that the bear was gone!
The principal thought it was a good plan. All the children were lined up and got a good look at the bear in the trap. Some even waved to him as he was driven off. The bear was taken many miles away, up into the Cascade Mountains where he was released into the wild.
The children at the school were reassured when they could watch the captured bear being driven away. But here is something you and I have not been able to see with our eyes. Nearly two thousand years ago, the Lord Jesus died on the cross. While He hung there, He became the only sacrifice for sins that God will ever accept. So perfect was the work that the Lord Jesus finished there that anyone who trusts in Him will be saved for all eternity. Because the finished work of His Son means so much to God, anyone who trusts in Him will have their sins completely forgiven forever. "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jer. 31:34). There is no other way to have forgiveness from God but through faith in His Son. Jesus is the Savior that sinners so desperately need.
After Jesus died, He was placed in a dark tomb, and a large stone was rolled over its entrance. However, God didn't leave Him in that tomb. Three days later Jesus arose from the dead. Many people saw Him after His resurrection. His disciples touched Him, talked with Him, and ate with Him. After forty days He was received up into heaven to sit at God's right hand where He is today.
You and I were not there to see the Lord Jesus die on the cross when He became the sin-bearer. We did not see Him after He had risen. But others did. We have their eyewitness accounts in the Bible, the Word of God.
Jesus, the Son of God, came to this earth and died for sinners. Because He rose from the dead, all who believe on Him can know that their sins are gone forever. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Rom. 10:9).
It is a story of love that is greater than any other ever told. Only the truth of Christ's death and resurrection can bring peace to sinners who are troubled before God about their sins.
Although we may not have seen Jesus in person when He came to earth, every believer will see Him face to face in heaven. Seeing our Savior will bring great joy to our hearts. Heaven will be full of joys that will never end.
Every unbeliever will see the Son of God too. But there will be nothing joyful about it; instead, it will be with great terror and sorrow. Since they did not receive Him as their Savior, unbelieving sinners will face Him as their Judge who will sentence them to everlasting punishment. "These shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" (Matt. 25:46).
Won't you come to Jesus and let Him be your Savior so that you will never have to face Him as your Judge?
The children at the school knew for sure that the bear was gone, and believers can know for sure that their sins are gone forever, because the Lord Jesus rose again. "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:13).