How do you explain resurrection?

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   Princessaposted 16 years ago

   How can you explain resurrection to young children? 
   
   As a child I found the idea scary.  As a parent I am not sure how to explain it to my children.  Any ideas?

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      Silent Assassinposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Maybe the ressurection can be described as a transition between fullfilling your purpose here to serving your purpose on a spiritual plane.

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         sandra rinckposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         Tell your kids that death is part of life and shouldn't be feared and Jesus is living proof for us that we don't need to fear death because look he came right back.  Or change how your children view death, make it glorious.  The last and final test that all people have to pass and everyone who does it, are the most brave.

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   Peter M. Lopezposted 16 years ago

   Could you elaborate on what you mean by resurrection?  Do you mean the afterlife, the Easter story, something else?

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      Princessaposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      I am not sure really... And it is very difficult -if not imposible- to explain something that I do not understand myself!
      
      Easter is for remembering Jesus sacrifice and death and ends with his resurrection.  As far as I understand, in Spain is something like Thursday of suffering, Friday of death, Saturday of Glory and Sunday of resurrection.  That is "Semana Santa" which translates as Easter in English. 
      
      For Christmas we celebrated Jesus being born.  But how do I explain to the children that Easter is about Jesus death and his final resurrection?
      
      We were visiting churches yesterday and they asked these questions after seeing the scenes on the stained glass windows.

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         SparklingJewelposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         My children are grown, and I don't remember all the things I told them when they were younger. But now my level of understanding has progressed, I would have to work on it (the explanation I would give to children), but now I would say something to the effect of...
         
         Jesus' life, and the things that happened to Him are symbolic for us as we follow His path to learn to be like Him.
         
         For instance, to me, when we celebrate/remember His birth, we are to understand that we can be born in the Christ Mind (that as we study His teachings) it brings a new outlook on life i.e. as we practice forgiveness and mercy, our hearts become more loving and open to helping others as it also helps ourselves. 
          
         For His crucifixion, I would say, He was persecuted because He beleived in God, and that God was in Him, and that He was of God. And so as we learn to be more like Jesus, we become more in God and God is more in us.And that if we are afflicted in life, by what ever means or people, we can be strong like Christ was and not curse the world and who did the things to us, but forgive them. We don't have to die in an actual crucifixion act like Jesus did, but we die (our human mind that didn't have the Christ Mind, but now gradually allows Christ in) in smaller ways as we are afflicted.
          
         For His resurrection,  I would say that as He arose from death, we can not let those that afflict us keep us down. But continue to live a better life learning from the afflictions, and following His teachings to become stronger to "overcome the world".

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         Peter M. Lopezposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         It may have become cliche, but you could simply take something like John 3:16 and put it into words your children can understand.  Actually, though, one of the easiest approaches is simply to ask God to give you the words.  Scripture tells us that the Spirit will give us utterance, or put the words in our mouth.  This can be for something terribly complex, or something terribly simple.  I'm not sure which a conversation with a child is, it may be both.

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   Inspirepubposted 16 years ago

   Princessa,
   
   I have a Hub discussing parallels between Star Wars, the personal spiritual awakening journey, and Christian themes.
   
   It is written for adults, but you could possibly use those ideas in age-appropriate language to make the analogy Peter is talking about.
   
   http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Spiritual-Journey
   
   Not mentioned in this Hub, but very relevant to your question, is the scene where Obi-Wan Kenobi allows Darth Vader to kill him, saying "If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine" - because then, free of his mortal body, he can speak to Luke any time, any place "Use the Force, Luke ..." - and he does so at the crucial moment to help Luke save the Universe from the evil Empire.
   
   This is a great parallel to the crucifixion and resurrection (and the ongoing help and guidance available for those who tune in) in terms a child can grasp.
   
   Good luck ...
   
   Jenny

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   Princessaposted 16 years ago

   Thanks for the answers guys.

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   Jeromeoposted 16 years ago

   The Resurrecton,
   
   A promise form God, based, Jesus Chirst, a perfect man; sacrificiing his life so that all who die believing in Him/Jesus Christ will be ressurrected; and given a second chance at life.
   
   Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all speak of Jesus' resurrection. and help to explain that it is a showing of the true power of God, and his love for his creation; man kind.  Also that God did not intend for man to suffer death, but to live forever.
   
   It's what make life bearable.

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      Andrew0208posted 16 years agoin reply to this

      The resurrection Christ was a perfect plan of God to have man justified, made free from the law of the spirit of sin and death. Death was permanetly defeated by the resurrection power of Jesus. This accomplishment of the Lord of Host made us righteous of Him in Christ Jesus. We now live in Him having the same supernatural abilities of Him.

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   Kelley Eidemposted 16 years ago

   One explanation I heard recently that was helpful was that the Resurrection was a lesson to each of us that we can resurrect ourselves from our own 'grave' of despair, negativity, etc, and raise ourselves into the light.
   
   What I liked about it is that rather than merely being a one-time story, it can become a key for living, something that each of us can implement into our own lives on a regular basis.
   
   Each time we do that, it becomes a new miracle.
   
   The best to you.
   
   Kelley

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      sandra rinckposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Everyday it seems that the Spirit world is coming ten fold.  What a beautiful day it will be. 

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   Inspirepubposted 16 years ago

   Kelley,
   
   Sounds like "A Course In Miracles" ...
   
   
   Jenny

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      Kelley Eidemposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, that would fit, wouldn't it. I heard it from a minister on Easter.
      
      The best to you.
      
      Kelley

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   2patriciasposted 16 years ago

   Hi, this may help with young children.
   Try telling the Easter story & explaining simply that Jesus came alive again after he had died on the cross. This means that we need not be afraid to die ourselves as Jesus has promised that if we follow him we will live again in heaven with him. Keep it straightforward so kids can understand.
   You could illustrate the Easter story by having fun making an Easter Garden with your children (plastic box as base, sand or bird cage paper for ground, yoghurt pot to make cave, stones to surround pot & large one to cover entrance to roll away, twigs or lolly sticks stuck together & supported with plasticine for cross & add a few pretty flowers as kids enjoy decorating things). Children can understand things better when they can see & touch concrete objects.
   For the resurrection, you could explain that butterflies emerge from a  crysalis which was a  caterpillar first. Appearances can change, the crysalis looks dead but a beautiful butterfly emerges from it & a wonderful new life starts. It's not a perfect  comparison for the resurrection but it's not bad! Butterflies can be fun to paint. Fold a large piece of sugar-paper in two, draw half a butterfly using the fold as a centre, cut out. Paint one wing & body half with children's thick paint, fold other half over whilst side one is wet & press to print off an image, hence both wings of butterfly are covered in paint. It's fun & reinforces the idea. There are books which explain the life cycle of a butterfly that you could read. There are also kids books on the subject of Easter, try a Christian bookshop or reputable website.
   Churches often have Easter kids clubs in the UK, maybe a church near to you would have one & if so hopefully Easter would be explained in a child friendly way there. For example, we tell the Easter story through puppets & songs at our kids club.
   Hope this is helpful,

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