Sin deprives a person of hope, but God believes in offering hope to every person—that’s why God sent Jesus to resolve sin and offer a restored relationship with him. In his goodness, God extends mercy to humanity, gives grace to those who trust him, and keeps his promise from the beginning to overcome Satan. In this lesson, teenagers will discuss the power of God’s incredible hope that’s available through Jesus.

Lesson Objectives

1. WHAT: We can receive God’s grace through Jesus—this is how God makes things right again in our sinful, broken world.
2. WHY: Without Jesus, we would be hopeless—God’s grace gives a hope unlike anything else in this world.
3. HOW: Students will discuss how Jesus is God’s gracious gift and how we must choose whether or not we will follow Jesus—it isn’t something God forces us to do.

Primary Scripture: Romans 5:12-21

Secondary Scriptures: Matthew 12:21 and John 10:10-16

Let’s spend a few minutes looking at this Scripture to discover more about God’s plan to make things right again in the world.

1. God gave a gracious gift

Tell us about the best, greatest, most amazing gift you have ever given another person.

What motivates you to make a big sacrifice for someone else? And what keeps you from making a big sacrifice?

Verses 15 and 16 both describe Jesus as “God’s gracious gift”—most gifts we get are tangible things, so exactly how has Jesus been a gift to you in your life?

 Verse 21 says we can have “right standing with God” because of Jesus—what does that mean, relative to the problem that Adam and Eve created for us? [NOTE: You may need to offer a brief recap of the two previous lessons, how God created a world and it was good, and then sin entered through the choice of Adam and Eve.]

Grace means giving kindness to someone who doesn’t deserve it. Adam and Eve sinned. You and I sin. Sin affects us. But God sent Jesus to rescue us from sin—and Jesus is able restore our friendship with God. That is the most amazing gift we can ever receive!

2. God provides grace through Jesus

Think of a time someone gave you grace—that person showed you kindness when you didn’t deserve it. What happened, and how did that gift of grace impact you?

Is it generally hard or easy for you to show grace to others? Explain.

In what ways has your relationship with Jesus affected your hope?

In Genesis 3:15, God promised to crush the serpent’s head and deliver a deadly blow to Satan through one of Eve’s descendants. That descendant is Jesus. And because sin’s consequence is death, Jesus had to beat death by rising after his crucifixion. Jesus defeated sin once and for all.

3. We must decide if we will accept God’s gift

Jesus declared that he had the power to forgive people’s sin. And he proved his power by going to the cross and dying as a sacrifice—and then coming back to life and beating death, sin, and Satan. Jesus fulfilled God’s plan to make things right—now we must decide if we will accept the gift that God offers. Accepting that gift means following Jesus and receiving forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternity with God.

God doesn’t force us to follow Jesus—it’s a decision we must make. What are some good consequences of our freedom to choose, and what are some hard consequences?

If you’ve chosen to follow Jesus and trust him with your life, was that an easy or difficult choice? Why?

How is your life different because of following Jesus?

BGroup Questions

1. What idea from today’s conversation had the biggest impact on you, and why?
2. Who in your life needs grace today, and what’s one tangible way you can offer it?
3. How can you create more opportunities to hear from Jesus in your life? What helps you to be ready to listen to what you hear, and then obey?

TAKE ACTION: Memorize this Scripture this week! “Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone” (Romans 5:18).

**Leaders, leave 3-5 minutes for prayer at the end of your group time.