Did you know Cuttlefish can change the color and shape of their skin and even their eyes to camouflage themselves!? In the blink of an eye, these marine masters of disguise seem to totally disappear! God created countless creatures with amazing abilities that sometimes remind us of comic book superpowers. But as awe-inspiring as these superpowers may be, God made people with an even more marvelous ability! We are created in his image to display his glory in a way nothing else in the universe can. This remarkable power makes people of ALL ages and abilities precious by design and you can use fascinating real-life animal “superpowers” to point kids to this awesome truth with a simple object lesson.
Animal Superpowers Object Lesson
Prepare: pictures of animals (free printable and PPT slides available), Bible
Say: If you could have a superpower, what would you want it to be? God created some creatures with incredible abilities that almost seem like superpowers. Can you guess which “superpower” each of these animals has?
Do: Show pictures (or say the names) of these animals and have children guess each creature’s “superpower.” (Answers below.)
Say: The Basilisk lizard can run on water! The Darwin’s bark spider spins webs stronger than steel! The Horned lizard can shoot blood from its eyes! The Tumblebug can lift 1000x its own weight! You can’t do any of these things, but the Bible says God made you with an incredible ability that’s better than a superpower. (Read Genesis 1:26-27.) God made millions of things, but only people were created in his own image. This means YOU were created to show what God is like in a way no plant, animal, or galaxy can! You are more valuable than all the bugs, lizards, birds, and other animals put together! This means ALL people are super valuable. Old people, young people, people who are still babies growing in their mom’s bellies, people who have disabilities, people who don’t fit in, people who make mistakes, and all the other kinds of people you can imagine are ALL created in God’s image to be loved and show his awesomeness. People are the most important and precious thing God created, but we are messed up by sin. All people sin by thinking, saying, and doing what God says not to do. Our sin separates us from God and keeps us from showing his awesomeness the way we should. That’s why God sent his Son to save us. (Read Romans 5:8.) God proved his love for you by making the way for you to have friendship with him that goes on forever. That’s something he doesn’t give any plant or animal. Any person who believes in Jesus to save them from sin gets new life with God that never ends. That’s way better than a superpower! Jesus can save you from sin and help you show God’s awesomeness. (Read John 1:12.) You can believe in Jesus to save you from sin and make you God’s child by trusting he really died and came alive again to take your punishment for sin. When you believe in Jesus, he gives you the power or right to be God’s child and helps you show God’s awesomeness forever. That’s way better than super strength or superspeed! Let’s pretend to have superpowers while we talk about ways we can show God’s awesomeness.
Do: Ask these discussion questions and help the children brainstorm practical ways to love others and show God’s awesomeness. As each answer is shared, have everyone strike a superhero pose and shout, “God made me to show his awesomeness!”
- What are some ways you can show God’s awesomeness with your hands?
- How do you show God’s awesomeness without doing anything?
- How can you show God’s awesomeness with your mind?
- How can you show God’s awesomeness with your mouth?
- Who can you show God’s love and awesomeness to today?
- How can you show God’s awesomeness when you’re having a bad day?
- Where can you show God’s awesomeness this week?
- How can Jesus help you show God’s awesomeness?
Respond: Let’s talk quietly with God for a moment. You can ask him to help you always believe you are precious and to help you treat other people like they are precious too. You can also thank him for proving how valuable you are to him by sending Jesus to save you from sin. If you want to know more about being saved from sin and having eternal life with God, please come talk to me about it.
As someone with a physical disability that can make we feel rather weak and unremarkable, it greatly helps me to focus on what God says is true. I am fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God to glorify and enjoy him forever in a unique and personal way. I want kids of ALL ages and abilities to know this awesome truth too! That’s why I want to share a FREE printable visual and PPT presentation to help you share this object lesson with others. You can find them (and dozens of other resources) in our free God Made Me Resource Bundle.
You can also follow up this object lesson with a fantastic song from Yancy Richmond called “Made In The Image”. My kids LOVE this song and so do I! (Yancy’s “Little Praise Party” songs are a major hit in our household.) This fantastic video is available for family use on YouTube.
Please note: Unless otherwise stated by the content creator, YouTube videos are for private use only and not licensed for public viewing. This means your family can enjoy the free YouTube video of this song below, but if you want to use this video in a group, school, or church setting, please support the content creator by purchasing the correct license to do so at this link. Thanks!
To make it even easier to use this object lesson, I’ve also prepared a video of this Animal Superpowers object lesson that you can share with kids in your home or church. Enjoy!
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