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Bible Heroes Series Introduction

super-her0-lessons

Amazing Bible heroes teach us how God can use each of us to be an everyday hero for Him!  

Each Bible lesson in this series connects a Bible Hero to well-known Super Hero in an effort to engage kids and youth with what they know from the movies & comics to the truth we can find in God's Word.



Bible Hero:  Jesus


Bible Heroes Lesson Summary:  God's made the way for our rescue! His plan was already in place before sin ever entered the world.  Jesus left heaven to make The Way for us to come back to God, to be born again and live forever with Him in Heaven.   

Time/Audience:  This lesson took about 40 minutes with a group of 12 third and fourth graders.  It is easily adaptable to be used with both younger children and youth. 

Bible Lesson Scriptures:  John 3

Bible Hero Lesson Key Takeaway:  Jesus is the ultimate hero and our only true rescuer!



Bible Hero Lesson:  Jesus

captain-america-shield

Introductory Activity:  

Play “The Copycat game”.  Students stand in a circle with a person in the middle trying to guess who begins the action being copied.  Game point:  Who are we following in our lives?  As believers, we should be keeping our eyes on Jesus daily…He is our captain & commander! 

Ask:

“If you could have one super power – what would it be?”

“Which “super hero” do you think is the best & why?”


THE REAL SUPER HERO IS JESUS…Our Captain & Commander!


Comparison  - The First Avenger

Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America was the first of Marvel Comics’ group of heroes called “The Avengers”. He was known to stand for freedom and justice. He would stand up for anyone needing a hero. He was a weak young man that the army didn’t want until he became a part of a secret experiment called “Project: Rebirth” which made him a strong super soldier in World War II.

Of course we know Captain America was not a real man. There is a real Avenger or Redeemer like we talked about earlier this week. His name is Jesus. He is fully God and came to earth as fully man so that we could be rescued from death caused by sin. He is ready to save anyone willing to admit we need a hero…a Savior. Only Jesus can rescue us and give us eternal life. Yes, it is God’s “Project: Rebirth”. Jesus made a way for us to be born again as He says in the Gospel of John chapter 3!

Locating the Gospels

I always like to let my students know it is okay to use the Table of Contents in their Bibles if they are not sure where a Book of the Bible is.

For this lesson we'll be using the Gospel of John found close to the beginning of the New Testament.  The word "gospel" means good news.  God used four different men to write accounts of the life of Jesus here on this earth.  The John who wrote this Gospel was the disciple John (brother of James) not John the Baptist. 


Look it UP Bible Heroes:

In the Gospel of John, chapter 3, Jesus talks to Nicodemus about being born again. Turn there and read John 3:1-21; you will recognize verse 16 right away, but did you know that Jesus was talking to Nicodemus when He said this?


1.  Our Need for Rescue 
Bible Heroes 

In quoting John 3:16, have you ever thought about the phrase "should not perish"?  We tend to just gloss over this part and focus on the "good" parts.  

The definition of perish is to suffer death, and here Jesus is referring to more than just physical death.

What did Jesus mean when He said this? Let's look at the very last verse in John 3 (verse36).  It says -

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them." NIV

It didn't say God's wrath (extreme anger) would come on them, but would remain on them...that's us...every single person whoever has lived or will live on this earth.  

We can go back up to verse 18 also and Jesus says - "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's One and only Son."

Did you see that? It says "condemned already."  You may have been thinking by not right-out rejecting Jesus you were safe. The truth is a choice must be made.  God did not want us to "have" to love Him or be like puppets; He has always given a choice.  

Adam and Eve from the beginning had a choice to choose to trust and love God or not.  In the same way, every single person including me and you are given the same choice. When Adam and Eve chose their own way, it opened the door for sin and death (physical and spiritual) to all humans who would ever live.  

Paul tells us this in Romans 5:12 - 

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—" NIV

Not making a choice is a choice, and therefore, we remain in desperate need of a rescuer and not just a rescuer, but a Redeemer Who was willing to pay the price to pay for our sin and make us right with God again.

We can choose to trust and obey God by saying "Yes; I do accept Jesus!" or we get what we choose...a life and an eternity of "no God."  

Spiritual death is a life without God which will continue on into eternity unless we are rescued or saved from sin and its punishment.

Let's think about Who God is for a moment; how many things can we name which are characteristics of Who the Bible says He is.

The following verses could be passed out and allow students to read aloud and the class identify the qualities if there is time.

God is good.  Psalm 119:68

God is righteous. Psalm 145:17

God is light.  1 John 1:5

God is peace.  1 Corinthians 14:33

God is life.  Isaiah 30:19 John 1:4

God is hope.  Romans 15:13

God is love.  1 John 4:8

God is truth.  Isaiah 45:23 John 14:6

These are just a few!  Think about everything that is good, right, true, love, light, life, peace, joy, hope and so much more.  God is the "more" of this life and eternal life!  Before we are rescued and redeemed by Jesus, we are not really living to the fullest!  We are walking around spiritually dead.

Jesus said - "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10

Eternity without this life, without Jesus leads to a place the Bible calls Hell; it's there we would perish forever.  God did not create it for us; it was created for Satan and the fallen angels, but He gives us the ability to choose it.  Hell is a place designed for punishment because of rebellion against God.

But there is Good News because of our Ultimate Hero Jesus! 

This is what Jesus was explaining to Nicodemus. Let's quote John 3:16 together:

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."


2.  God is For Us!
Bible Heroes 

God is all-knowing.  Adam and Eve choosing sin did not surprise Him.  He already had a plan in place.  Jesus had already made the choice to be our rescuer, our avenger, our Redeemer!

In our focal verse, John 3:16 He says "For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son."

That was not an "uh-oh" decision.  Jesus was in the beginning with God and was God.  All things came into being by Him. 

Let's flip back to the first chapter of John and read John 1:1-14.

  • Jesus was in the beginning; all things were made through Him.
  • The Word (Jesus) became flesh and made His dwelling among us.
  • To all who believe (trust Him with our all), He gives the right to become children of God...born of God.

This is what Jesus was telling Nicodemus; we must be born again, born spiritually again by God's Spirit to become children of God.  When Adam and Eve disobeyed, death came both spiritually and eventually physically.  

Without Jesus, it's like we're not truly born yet.  A baby in its mother's womb is in darkness. It may feel all comfortable, but it has no clue that there is so much more outside the womb waiting for it to be born...so much beauty and love.  So much more than merely existing.  

In John 3:5-6, "Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit."

God is for us; He made the way for us to have spiritual and eternal life again!  Jesus left heaven and came to where we are so that He could be The Way for us to go to heaven and be with Him forever.  Just like John 3:16 says, we can have eternal life...forever with God and everything good and perfect because of what Jesus did.


3.  Our Avenger & Captain
Bible Heroes 

Have one student (preferably smaller than yourself!) stand on a chair on one side of the room representing “us”; have another chair on the other side representing “God in Heaven”.  Tell them that between the two is a huge chasm representing sin so the student cannot just walk across the floor to the other chair.  At the same time draw a visual of this illustration on the board as follows.


salvation-bridge

Wow…sounds kind of hopeless on our own, doesn’t it?

There is hope though!

Let's read John 3:16 again! (or quote)

It says God so loved the world! Who do you think the world is?  Yes, us!  God so loved each of us; in other words, He chose us even while we were doing wrong. (Romans 5:8)

God chose to send His Son, Jesus, to die in our place because the Bible in Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin is death”; there is a consequence to sin, a punishment.  Remember, that’s not only our body dying, but it also means separation from God in a place called Hell forever. It’s separation from everything good, because God is good.  It’s separation from love, because God is love.  Get the idea?  The price for sin is NOT good; it is not fun! 

Jesus came and fully paid for our sin when He died on the cross.  It goes on to say, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Finish the bridge illustration by drawing a cross between and label it “Jesus”:

Also…walk over to the student on the chair and allow him/her to get on your back and carry them over to the other chair.

Jesus said in John 10:10, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No man comes to the Father except by Me.”   Jesus died and took our punishment for sin; He is the only One Who can carry us to God the Father in Heaven.

God has chosen to make a way for us to be forgiven so that we can have eternal life with Him in a place called Heaven.  It is not automatic though.  He gives us a choice.

salvation-bridge2

The Bible calls this rescue - salvation. It is a gift; we don't have to pay for it. (Ephesians 2:8-10)  We do have to receive it to make it ours though. 

God gave His Son, Jesus.  Jesus gave His life for us.

  • He is God's Son and He lived a perfect life. 
  • He died in our place and paid the full price of our sin. He faced God's wrath so we wouldn't have to.
  • If we turn away from going away from God (doing what we want rather than what God wants) and turn to God in faith (trusting Him with our life now and forever; accepting His Son as a gift), we will be rescued!

We ask Jesus not only to be our Avenger, our Rescuer, our Redeemer, but also our Captain, our Lord. We surrender our lives to His control, His leadership.  Our life changes! 

Let's read John 3:21:

"But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God."

When we come to have Jesus as our Captain, every day we ask Him through His Holy Spirit Who now lives within us to guide us and give us strength to do God's will.  Every day we are to become more and more like Jesus.  We won't become perfect until we see Him face to face, but our life should now reflect Jesus to others. We have been born to a new life!

Further verses on knowing Jesus



Bible Heroes Lesson Truth:


Jesus is the ultimate hero and our only true rescuer!

Bible Heroes Lesson Summary

Jesus is the ultimate hero and He is REAL! He came to earth born as a man, lived a perfect life and never sinned, died on the cross paying for our sin, and was raised to life so that He can give His eternal life to us!

When we turn to Him admitting we need Him to rescue us because we are sinners (we have rebelled against God), He saves us and becomes our Lord…our Captain. We follow Him and let Him lead us into victory and into life!

God is for you! Jesus is our ONLY hero and desires to lead us each and every day as our Captain. We can trust Him with our life now and our life forever!

Q & A Discussion

  • Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord & Savior?  
  • If so, what are some ways He is changing you to make you more like Him?  Are you different than before?



Bible Heroes Lesson Memory Verse


"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16 NIV


Prayer Time

If you already have accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord (Captain), thank Him for saving you! Pledge your allegiance to Him; tell Him you want to live for Him and serve Him everyday from now on!

If you have not asked Jesus to rescue you and be your Savior (Redeemer/Avenger), you can ask Him right now! Let a leader know if you need help. But if you don’t feel that “tug” on your heart yet, ask God to lead you to Him. Keep seeking after Him. God promises that if we seek Him with our whole heart, we will find Him. He knows you and wants you to know Him!

Optional Activity

We may consider ourselves "experts" on superheroes like The Avengers, but what can we recall about Jesus?

See how quickly they can think of 5 things in the following groups.  This can be competitive as two teams or just as one group.

  • 5 names Jesus is called besides “Jesus” (Messiah, Christ, Savior, Son of God, Son of Man, etc.)
  • 5 of His 12 disciples
  • 5 words to describe Jesus
  • 5 miracles He performed
  • 5 books of the Bible (all 66 point to Jesus!)
  • 5 parables He told
  • 5 people that met Him besides the disciples
  • 5 people in His earthly family (Mary, Joseph, Jude (Judas), James, Simon, (Matt. 13:55) Elizabeth, Zechariah, John the Baptist)


Printable Lesson - Bible Hero - Jesus Our Ultimate Hero

© Copyright 2025, Susan Smart Permission granted for personal use or small group only.



More Ideas for Sharing the Gospel

Object Lesson on Salvation

Object Lesson on Faith

Access the rest of our  Super Bible Heroes lesson series with other super heroes connected to true Bible heroes and truths from God's Word to help kids learn how they can stand firm and be a hero for God!



Special note: We do preview the websites to which we link, but are unable to peruse them completely. We try to check others' faith statements and make sure they do profess Jesus Christ as God's Son and salvation is found only in Him. It must, however, be your responsibility to personally dig into God's Word and allow the Holy Spirit to be your first and final teacher on all subjects.

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