Better Proof than a Glass Slipper: Signs for Faith

I post these Children’s Sermons to inspire other Children’s Ministers with ideas for their work.

Text: I John 5:6-13

Remember the story of Cinderella? She was raised by a wicked stepmother who gave her all the hard and dirty household chores. She scrubbed floors, she cleaned out the fireplace. She woke up before dawn and worked late into the night. Her clothes were covered in soot and cinder. No one would guess that she was a beautiful young woman, that is, until the fairy godmother waved that magic wand, transforming her into a beautiful princess, and gave her a ticket to the magnificent ball in honor of the prince.

What a night she had! Of all the beautiful young women, the prince only wanted to dance with her! If he had seen her in her everyday life, he would never, ever have believed she was the same person!

Then the clock struck 12, and Cinderella made a mad dash before the prince saw her as she looked before. In doing so, she accidentally left her shoe behind.

But there was a problem. The prince wanted to see her again. He didn’t know where to find her. He hired investigators who knocked on all the town doors to locate the beautiful Cinderella. He gave them the only thing they had to identify her: the glass slipper. If it fit perfectly, he would know that the girl was the beautiful and enchanting Cinderella.

Every young lady wanted to be chosen by the prince, even though they each knew they were not the one with whom the prince had danced. So they pretended they were her. Those with big feet shoved their foot into the shoe and pretended it didn’t hurt. Those with little feet pretended the shoe fit fine even though they tripped when walking.

You know the end of the story. Cinderella was the only young lady in the kingdom whose foot fit the shoe. That was how the prince knew it was her. It was all the proof that he needed.

John wrote this book of 1 John so that we who have faith in Jesus as God’s Son could be sure in our faith. In our passage today John gives three signs that proved that Jesus was who he said he was and signs that they would know they were his followers. In this section, John used the word testimony. It is even a stronger, better word than sign because it means the proof was so strong it could be used in a court of law. Then he said it was the testimony of God which is greater than any testimony at all.

Our passage today contains three testimonies: One is water, One is blood and One is God’s Spirit.

Water reminds us that Jesus was baptized, and when that happened, God’s Spirit came out of the sky like a dove, and God spoke from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you, I am well pleased. ”  This is the sign of water that John mentions in our Bible passage today.

Blood reminds us that when Jesus died blood poured out of his body. His blood was poured out to cover your sin and mine. If this hadn’t happened, our sins would not have been forgiven. We would have no reason to have faith in him.

A third testimony was the Holy Spirit. When we become a follower of Christ, his Spirit lives with us. We have the proof of God’s gift of salvation from our sin living with us. When we believe God, we believe all that He tells us about his Son and his Spirit lives inside of us.

God gave us something more valuable than a glass slipper to prove to us who He is.

I hope that all your life you will wonder with amazement how God cares for us so much that He left heaven and became a human being like us in order to bring us back to God. I hope all your life you will be amazed that Jesus obeyed God to do this—He had to leave heaven to die in our place. He had to be a human being. We have a God who loved us so much that He rescued us. He gave us Jesus. Let’s pray.

Thank you, Father God, for giving us signs to prove that you are God and that Jesus was your son who came to earth as a human while being God. You knew we would need signs or proof. Thank you for giving us your word, especially for this book I John, written by Jesus’ close friend. Continue to work in our hearts, drawing us to love you more. In Jesus’ name.. Amen.