Time
20-30 minutes
Description
This object lesson teaches about our new, resurrection bodies by using a simple science experiment. You will demonstrate how ultraviolet rays change the color of UV-sensitive beads and how medicine bottles block UV rays. The beads will represent our spirit, and the bottles will represent our earthly bodies (which keep our spirit from showing its full potential).
Materials
- Color Changing UV Beads (available from www.stevespanglerscience.com for about $7 per 250 beads) – you will want enough so that each child can have at least 8-10 beads.
- Prescription medicine bottles (the translucent, brown type) – enough so that each child can have one. It’s best if the bottles have lids that aren’t child-proof, since the kids will be opening and closing them on their own. However, if you can only get bottles with child-proof lids, you can still use them if you help the kids open their bottles when it comes time.
Preparation
· Order Color Changing UV Beads
· Obtain prescription medicine bottles. (If you are using bottles that have previously contained medicine, be sure to sterilize them to get rid of all medicine residue. Some pharmacies will be willing to give you unused bottles if you tell them what you are using them for.)
· Put at least 8-10 beads in each of the bottles, and then close the lids.
· Keep one bottle for demonstration, and put the rest to the side. You’ll probably want to wait until the end of the lesson to pass them out, because they can become a noisy distraction if you pass them out too soon.
· Practice the script.
Procedure
Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):
· “How many of you know that you will get a new body in heaven?” (Demonstrate that you are looking for a show of hands.)
· “Well, you will! Let’s look at the Scripture that tells us about it.” (Have volunteer read 1 Corinthians 15:42-44.)
· “This Scripture is a little hard to understand, so let me help with it.”
· “The Apostle Paul is talking about our bodies by comparing them to seeds.”
· “He says earlier that the bodies we have now will die one day, but they will be replaced with new bodies.”
· “Someone will bury our old bodies, but our new bodies will rise to be with Jesus in heaven.”
· “This is like when you plant a seed in the ground. The seed is dead, but when you bury it, it comes back to life and grows into a plant of some sort.”
· “And Paul is saying that what grows out of the seed is very different from the seed itself, just like your new, heavenly bodies will be very different from your current earthly bodies.”
· “Your earthly body is ‘perishable,’ which means that it can die. But your new body will be ‘imperishable,’ which means that it cannot die.”
· “Your earthly body is ‘sown in dishonor,’ which means that it was sinful up to the time it will be buried in the ground. But your new body will be ‘raised in glory,’ which means that it will have no sin in it at all.”
· “Your earthly body is ‘sown in weakness,’ which means that even when you try to do good things, you sometimes do bad things. You aren’t strong enough to always do good things. But your new body will be ‘raised in power,’ which means that your spirit and your body will both be free of sin so that you are able to always do good things.”
· “Finally, Paul says that your earthly body is ‘sown a natural body,’ which means that it has to obey the physical laws of the natural world. But your heavenly body will be ‘raised a spiritual body,’ which means that it will be free of the limitations of the natural world. I think it means that we will be able to walk through walls and fly and stuff like that, because Jesus was able to do those things when He came back from the dead.”
· “Still, it’s hard to understand exactly what your new body will be like in heaven.”
· “We have a hard time imagining a body free from sickness, that never gets old and that can do incredible things, but let me give you this word picture – maybe it will help.” (Show a prescription medicine bottle with UV color-changing beads inside.)
· “This medicine bottle represents your body.”
· “Inside the medicine bottle are some white beads, and those represent your spirit.” (Open the bottle, and pour out a few beads to show the class. Then return them to the bottle, and close the top.)
· “Your spirit is different from your earthly body, but it has to stay inside it for now.”
· “Unfortunately, your earthly body is sick with sin. It has been since before you were born, because that’s how all people since Adam and Eve have been.”
· “Your spirit doesn’t like being trapped inside your body, because the Bible says that your body and your spirit are in constant conflict with each other.” (Have volunteer read Galatians 5:17.)
· “Your body wants things that your spirit doesn’t want, and your spirit wants things that your body doesn’t want.”
· “Now, these beads that I have in this bottle are not normal beads. They are color-changing beads that turn different colors when the ultraviolet rays (UV rays) of the sun shine on them.”
· “What’s sad is that they can’t change colors while they are trapped inside these bottles, because medicine bottles are made of a special material that blocks the UV rays of the sun from getting into the bottle.”
· “The beads inside the medicine bottle are like your spirit inside your earthly body.”
· “They want to get free so that they can be beautiful, but they are trapped inside the medicine bottle.”
· “Your spirit wants to get free, but it’s trapped inside your earthly body.”
· “But here’s the good news. If you have asked Jesus to come into your heart, there will come a day when your spirit will be free of your body.”
· “It might be on the day that you die and go to be with Jesus in heaven, or it might be the day that Jesus comes back to rule over the earth, but one day, your spirit will be free.”
· “Jesus is going to give your spirit a new body that isn’t sick with sin.”
· “In your new, sinless body, your spirit will be exposed to the unfiltered Son-light of Jesus Christ, and something incredible will happen.”
· “Your new spirit-body won’t fight against itself anymore, and it will show its true potential.” (Go to a window or outside, and take the beads out of demonstration bottle to show the kids how they change colors in the sun. It will take just a few seconds for them to react – even on a cloudy day.)
· “I can’t tell you exactly how incredible your new body will be, because some of it is still a mystery that God wants to surprise us with later.”
· “But your new spirit-body is going to be something special, just like these beads.”
· “And believe me, the change will be even more dramatic than what you see here!” (Pass out bottles with beads in them to each child, and let them play with them to see the difference between being in the bottle and being out of the bottle.)
Teach Them 