Listen up, little ones
Listen for the words we and us.
Reading
Romans 5:6–11—Loved When Unlovely
Optional Reading
Song 1:12-17
Keys for kids
- We all want to look beautiful or handsome.
- Sometimes we aren’t physically beautiful.
- Before Christ, we were ugly in our souls.
Questions
- Why is the woman in Solomon’s song not lovely?
- Why are we, in our souls, not lovely?
- Why have we been saved?
Notes
The woman in Solomon’s song is dismayed by her looks. (Song 1:5). Konkel and Longman note that the woman is unpleased with her dark complexion. The woman’s unhappiness with her dark skin has nothing to do with race but rather the artificial coloring of the skin by exposure to the sun. It makes her look like a country bumpkin, a low-class laborer. Yet the one who loves her finds her lovely.
Here in our text in Romans, Paul is not making a comment on how our skin looks, but how our soul looks. We were helpless, ungodly, sinners, enemies. Ugly to the core. Yet like the woman in Solomon’s song, we can rejoice that the one who loves us found us, or more precisely made us, lovely. God loved us enough to send his son to die for us when we were still sinners. Jesus loved us enough to dare to die for us even though we were not good persons.
Dear Christian, rejoice that you were loved when you were so unlovely. Rejoice that you were enemies who are now reconciled. Rejoice that Jesus saved you from the wrath of God that your sins deserve. And in response, boast in God’s grace. And flee from sin because you have been so greatly loved!
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 32a, 34a
Prayer
- Rejoice that you were loved by Jesus when you were not lovely.
- Give thanks for something from last Lord’s Day’s sermons.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.