YEA Lesson Library
If Everyone Does It
About This Lesson
This lesson teaches the importance of following God’s laws - laws that are designed for our good, to make life work well.
Scriptures
Exodus 20:2-17
Deuteronomy 5:6-21
Matthew 5:17-19
Romans 2:10-20
Romans 3:29-31
Romans 6:12-14
Romans 7:12
I Corinthians 14:33, 40
Hebrews 8:7-12
Words to Know
CITE - to summon to appear in court
FORNICATION - voluntary sexual activity be- tween two unmarried persons
ADULTERY - voluntary sexual activity after marriage with someone other than your lawful spouse
The Lesson
Are you eager to get your freedom? Would you like to be a little older or grown-up? One of the greatest thrills a teenager has is getting more freedom. Taking Driver’s Ed and getting your license to drive a car will be really cool. Then you’ll have the freedom to take yourself places rather than depending on Mom or Dad to drive you there. Man, that’s living!
Your Driver’s Ed class will teach you that everyone who drives a car has to follow the same rules. If they don’t, they’re headed for big trouble. If the rules aren’t followed, a policeman can cite you and then you have to pay a costly fine. When a driver is deemed to be unsafe on the roads because he has received too many traffic tickets, his privilege to drive is taken away and his license revoked. Unsafe drivers have accidents and people get hurt or even killed. When driving a car, the stakes are high if you don’t follow the rules. The rules are there for your good. But far more important, they are there for everyone else who is on the streets or highways.
Rules are good. They define what you can do and what others can do. Traffic laws provide an orderly way for traffic to flow. These laws give the necessary information to prevent accidents. Think what it would be like in a large city if there were no traffic laws. Can you imagine how chaotic the streets would be? How would a car ever make it safely through a busy intersection if there were no rules to regulate who should stop and who should go? Traffic laws are for everyone to follow. Driving rules are consistent in their application. If a driver follows them, driving will be safer and fun.
From the very beginning God knew that people would need rules. He laid out a set of rules that will give us safety and happiness if we and our friends and neighbors consistently follow them. God did such a good job laying out these rules that there never has been, and never will be, a time when man should not obey these rules. Keeping these rules will always bring the same results – safety and happiness for all. The Ten Commandments form the heart and core of these rules.
One day Jesus went up the hillside with His disciples and sat down. He began to teach them some really important principles to live by. He told them to never let anyone convince them that He came to do away with the Ten Commandments or any part of the Law or the Prophets. He assured them that every law in the Book will continue until its purpose is achieved. With future generations being born, they too will need to be safe and happy. So the law will continue. Jesus went on to tell His disciples that if anyone breaks even a lesser commandment and teaches others to, he will be least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But if you will obey God’s law and teach others to do the same, you will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
As Jesus continued to talk with His disciples, He talked about sexual sins. Sex is only for a man and woman who are married to each other. Even having the desire to sleep around with a girl or boy who is not your wife or husband is wrong. This law was given to protect the family. When this law is broken there are consequences. Mom and Dad get hurt, but so do the kids. Everyone is unhappy. A right relationship in marriage makes the entire family happy, and it’s very beautiful to God.
Just as citations are issued for traffic violations, there are consequences for breaking God’s law. The penalty for murder requires that the killer be killed. Jesus made this law even more binding by saying, “I have added to that rule, and tell you that if you are only angry, even in your own home, you are in danger of judgment! If you call a friend an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse him, you are in danger of the fires of hell” (Matthew 5:22 TLB). Jesus is very concerned about your relationships with your friends, family and with Him. How you treat people will determine how many friends you have and what your relationship with God will be.
Just as traffic laws were established for our safety, the same thing is true with God’s law. It was given by God for our good. When we don’t keep the law it becomes a problem. Then we suffer the consequences. Excusing yourself by saying, “Everyone else does it!” just won’t save you from the consequences.
Think of how much better our world would be if everyone kept God’s law. You wouldn’t have to worry about some kid bringing a gun to school and shooting you or your classmates. You could trust and believe everyone. There would be no school activities on Friday nights and you wouldn’t be the only one in your class who keeps the Sabbath – everyone would.
God’s law is truly holy, righteous and good. God promises that if you will keep His law and teach others to keep it, you will be “great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” This means greatness for all eternity! But you must do what He says.
Student Prayer
Great Father,
Thank you for giving such a wonderful law to show us how to live our lives. I want to do what you say, but sometimes I’m tempted to follow my peers. I know it’s not going to save me from the consequences by excusing myself with, “Everyone else does it.” Please give me the help each day to obey you.
It’s in Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen.
Daily Devotions
Sunday: Exodus 20:2-17
Monday: Deuteronomy 5:6-21
Tuesday: Romans 3:29-31
Wednesday: Romans 2:10-16
Thursday: Romans 2:17-24
Friday: Romans 6:12-14
Saturday: Hebrews 8:7-12
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1. Explain how chaotic the world would be if everyone broke the law.
2. Discuss how God’s law provides safety and happiness for those who keep it.
3. From the Activity in their books, spell out the consequences for infractions If Everyone Does It.
Topics & Themes
Adultery
Anger
Consequences of Sin
God’s Laws
Murder
Obedience
Relationship with God
Sabbath
Sermon on the Mount
Ten Commandments
Adultery
Murder
Sabbath
How to Teach This Lesson
Begin by dividing the class into four groups and have a group at each end of the intersecting roads you constructed before class. Give every student a small car similar to a Matchbox car. Tell them there are no rules and when you say “go,” they are to give their car a hard push toward the intersection. This gives an excellent object lesson on which the remainder of the lesson is to be built.
Ask: How many of your cars had an accident?
Now make a four-way stop by putting up stop signs at the intersection. Tell the students they must obey the new law and stop at the intersection. One car is allowed to go in one direction and then another car in the other direction, etc. until everyone has safely made a trip through the intersection. After every car has safely made a trip through the intersection, debrief by asking the following questions:
1. What happened to the cars when there were no rules?
2. How did you feel about the orderly manner the traffic flowed when laws were followed?
3. How can you relate this activity to everyone following God’s law?
Begin a discussion about kids getting their driver’s licenses. Talk about what they will learn, how excited they will be when they pass the test and how they will feel when they have their own car.
Opportunity and Responsibility - Discuss the principle that with every opportunity comes equal responsibility. Ask: How do you feel about the responsibility that goes along with a driver’s license? How will this affect how you drive?
Driving laws - Ask: Why do you think the Department of Motor Vehicles laid out a set of rules for drivers to follow on the roads? What would happen if there were no rules?
God’s Law - Ask: What would happen if we had no laws or rules to follow in our daily lives? What if we could kill anyone we got mad at and no one did anything about it? Ask one of the students to read I Corinthians 14:33, 40 aloud. Ask: How do you think traffic laws add order and peace on our streets? How do you think God’s Law helps us to have order and peace in our city? In church?
Go over the consequences the students wrote in their books under If Everyone Does It. After the students give their answers, ask the following questions to coordinate with each number.
Number I: How many people do you think would be killed each day in the USA if everyone ran stop signs?
Number 2: How many people do you think would be killed each day in the USA if everyone drove 20 miles per hour over the speed limit?
Number 3: If you cheat to pass your exams, what effect will this have on your college entrance exam grades? What effect will it have on your ability to get a really good job?
Number 4: Ask one of the teens to read I John 3:15 aloud.
Number 5: Just how many people would be alive if everyone killed just one person?
Number 6: How many families do you think would be broken up if everyone committed adultery or fornication? How long do you think it would take for the entire population to become infected with AIDS and die off if everyone committed adultery or fornication?
Number 7: If everyone lies, who can you trust? How would you feel if you couldn’t believe your parents? Why?
Number 9: What happens when people start using four letter words? What happens when they use four letter words in an argument? (Arguments become more heated and maybe violent.) Ask one of the students to read aloud Proverbs 15:1. What difference would it make if everyone followed this principle?
Number 10: What would your school be like if everyone kept God’s Law? What would your community be like if everyone kept God’s Law?
Have students suggest changes that would make their school and community better if God’s Law was kept. Help students visualize how much better their schools, homes and town would be if everyone kept God’s Law. List on a chalkboard the changes for the better that students suggest. Then ask: What laws are you going to keep that will make your life better? What laws will you keep that will make your world better?
REACH Activity
Memory Verse Spotlight
There are three words that describe the “law” and “commandment” in the memory verse: holy, righteous, and good. Use a Bible and Bible tools to find the meaning of these three words. In your Bible notebook explain how the application of the meanings of holy, righteous and good, adds to your understanding of the memory verse. Read Romans 7. Now read Romans 7:12 in three different Bible translations. Write the translations in your Bible notebook to compare and contrast the word usage. Which translation do you believe best explains the full meaning of holy, righteous, and good? Explain your answer in your Bible notebook. Read Exodus 20 as you practice the memorization of verses 1-17 during Book 2, Living to Win!
Where in the World?
Is it possible to visit the location where God gave the Ten Commandments? Why or why not? Use Bible tools to support and explain your answer and then write your findings in your Bible notebook.
They Did What Back Then?
“An altar of earth you shall make for Me. . . you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it” Exodus 20:24-25 (NKJV). The Archaeological Study Bible (NIV) says this: The special sanctity of the Israelite altar is reflected in the biblical injunction to build it of uncut stones (Exodus 25). The New King James Version Study Bible adds: “to cut the stones with tools would ‘profane’ the stone, in other words, make it common and ordinary—the opposite of holy, sanctified, consecrated, set apart.” Nothing about God, the Almighty Father, is common or ordinary. Take the Commandments of God to heart. Apply them to your life and find out how extraordinary your life can be with the Holy One.
Making It Mine
Your lesson tells you the purpose of the law is to show you how to be safe and happy. Martin Luther said it in a different way: the law is a curb, a guide, and a mirror. It curbs, or keeps, you from unknowingly going the wrong way. It guides, or directs, you into going the right way. It is a mirror, to show you how sinful you are and how very much you need the Savior, Jesus Christ. Write about a time when keeping God’s law fulfilled each of these roles in your life: a curb, a guide, and a mirror. If you can’t think of examples, ask your parents for examples in their lives.
Worldview Collision
A biblical worldview says that God has the right to determine what is right and wrong. Other worldviews say there are no universal absolutes, governments/leaders get to decide what is right or wrong, or right and wrong is changing with society. The law of inertia states that an object at rest or in motion will continue at rest or in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. The law of gravity and inertia work together to cause you to pick up speed as you ski downhill. The tree is the outside force which stops your downward momentum. These laws of nature are as absolute as God’s moral laws. It is, was, and always will be wrong to murder, to tell lies, to worship other gods, to profane the Sabbath. In your Bible notebook, write about how a correct worldview of God’s right to determine what is correct has affected your life.
Song
“I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” is on page 60 of The Group Songbook.
Closing Prayer
Have the students form a circle and join hands. Ask for a volunteer to lead in prayer thanking God for this lesson that helps them to see what a difference keeping God’s Law can make in their lives, school, and community.
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