Crushing the Devil

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What you need:

• Hot plate (burner / camp stove) – the one I use can be purchased from Amazon.com using the following link (IMUSA USA GAU-80305 Electric Single Burner 1100-Watts, Black)
• Soda cans (at least 2)
• Water
• Tongs
• Clear bowl of ice water

Lesson:

There is an enemy that we have that doesn’t want us to live for God. He is the devil and his name is Lucifer or Satan and Stinky Head.  Whatever you call him, he is not a very nice guy and he wants to mess up your walk with God.

BUT WHY?  Well, let me tell you why.  You see, once , a long time ago he lived in heaven!  NO REALLY!

Not only was he in heaven but he was one of the most important angels there! There was God and then there was Lucifer, Michael and Gabriel, the archangels, they were so powerful that all of the rest of the angels looked up to them.  Unfortunately, Lucifer started to be impressed by how important he himself was and he even began to think that HE WAS AS IMPORTANT AS GOD! HOW CRAZY IS THAT?!

He started to talk to the other angels and tried to convince them that he was as important as God and pretty soon he had some of those angels believing that he could be the next God!  REALLY! I know it’s crazy but it’s true! 

The whole time he was doing this, do you think God knew what was going on? OF COURSE e did! He knew what Lucifer was doing but God doesn’t want anyone to be a robot!  He wants them to live for Him because they LOVE HIM and not because they have to.

Once God found out which of the angels really loved Him and which could be persuaded to turn against Him, He had to make a decision. HE KICKED LUCIFER and his cronies out of heaven all the way down to the earth where they are still today!

CAN YOU IMAGINE SOMEONE SO PATHETIC THAT THEY CAN’T LIVE GOD WHILE THEY ARE IN HEAVEN!  Yeah, that devil is pretty pathetic

So now that he has been kicked out of heaven, the devil now goes around this earth trying to impress people. Yep, he thinks this earth is his new playground and anyone that doesn’t think like him and act like him is going to get his attention. The devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour 1 Peter 5:8.

He goes around roaring, making lots of noise and making the world tremble.  He tries to scare people that are trying to live for God and make them change their minds! He causes trouble and tries to make people’s lives difficult.  He loves to see problems and people fighting and families falling apart. He loves violence and hatred and is trying to put sin EVERYWHERE HE CAN including movies, TV, video games, billboards, magazines, Youtube videos and EVERYWHERE ELSE HE CAN.

Show the hotplate and the smoking cans on it

You see the devil is like this… a smoking, popping, noisy troublemaker JUST LOOKING FOR his next opportunity to mess us up.  The devil even tried messing with Jesus!

Jesus was on a long fast and while He was God, He was ALSO human.  He hadn’t eaten for 40 days and He was REALLY hungry and the devil took that opportunity to mess with Him!  He tried to play tricks with His mind telling Him to turn stones to bread or prove He was God by jumping off a high building.  Well, that didn’t work out so well for him.

But here you can see a representation of the devil.  

POINT AT THE STEAMING CANS

He is blowing smoking, is red hot just looking for a place to cause problems and make people’s lives harder than they already are.  BUT GOD HAS A PLAN FOR HIM.  One day, he is going to get everything he has coming to him.  He is going to meet with an end that is terrible and frightening.

Show the big bowl of ice water

God is going to show the world just what the devil really is.

Isaiah 14:16 – They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

People are going to be so mad when this is all over and they find out just who the devil really is.  They are going to SCREAM, “IS THIS THE LITTLE SQUIRT THAT MADE OUR LIVES MISERABLE!? IS THIS THE TWERP THAT CAUSED ME AND MY FAMILY SO MANY PROBLEMS!? REALLY, HIM?!?!?!?!?!?!”

And in one fell swoop, God is going to show the world just what Satan is really made of.

Grab one of the sodas with the tongs and turn it quickly upside down, placing the drinking opening on the ice water…. It will IMPLODE crushing itself immediately

You see!  The devil is just full of hot air and when he meets the power of God, we see what he really is… just a wimp that is full of himself.  He is a schoolyard bully that talks loud, beats his chest a lot and pushes around little people.  BUT GOD is the big brother that shows up and scares him straight along with his little fallen angels… those little punks that follow him around after being lied to in heaven, they get the same treatment!

Do the other cans one by one until they are all crushed

My God is BIG AND POWERFUL and I want to be on the winning side!

If you have another way to use this same object lesson PLEASE tell me about it by emailing us at info@apostolicsundayschool.com or by commenting on this lesson on the website.