Heidelbergian Children's Catechism (age 8- 10 years)
Lord's Day 11
We have learned about God the Father. He is the creator. That means He made everything: the earth, the sun and the moon, all the plants and the animais, and us too. Now we will learn more about his Son.Who is He? And what is his work? Remember that we need to be saved?
Every day we do things that are wrong, things that God has forbidden.And we deserve to be punished for those sins. We need someone to help us, to save us. Who eould do that? The only answer is:
God’s Son. He would be the Saviour. He was willing to be born as a baby. God sent an angel to joseph and Mary to teil them they would be the parents
of the Saviour.And the angel also said that they should eall the baby jesus. His parents eould not piek the name themselves, God had chosen this name. There were more ehildren with the same name:jesus.And it was also an old name, for [esus and [oshua are the same name. These names mean: The Lord saves. That is very important for you. It means that the Lord jesus wants to be your Saviour, too.
Have you heard the story about Luther? I think you heard about him in school. Remember that there was a plan to build a huge church in Rome. It was going to be magnificent. That was going to cost a lot of money. The people were told that they should give money. If they gave money for this church, their sins would be forgiven. The more money, the more forgiveness. They said: The moment the coin in the coffer clinks, another soul into heaven springs. That was not good. Do you know what this means? It means that Jesus Christ helps us to be saved. But we also need to give money to be saved.
The Roman Catholic Chureh also said that we could pray to Mary, the mother of the Lord jesus. And we could also pray to the saints who have died. These saints did many good works for God, and so they have an advantage with God.You could say: they have collected bonus points with God. They have so many bonus points that they do not need them all for themselves. Other people can benefit from the good works of these saints.The Roman Catholic Church says it can help you get these good works, so that you will be saved.
But you know better. For you have learned that Jesus Christ alone can save us. And He has done everything for us. God said that his name would be Jesus, so that everyone should know that this Jesus is the one who saves us. But He also has another name, as you can see. We will leave that for next time.