What are the Colors of Sin, Sorry, and Saved? (Teaching Children About Salvation)

School’s out for summer and children fill their days with fun in the sun.  While they might be taking a break from their schoolwork, we need to teach them never to take a break from learning about Jesus. Summer is a great time to teach children about salvation.  And what a great activity for a rainy day.  Let the rain from Heaven be a reminder, and an opportunity, to speak to your children about Jesus  Open the Bible and read them a story.  Tell your children about Jesus’ love, His life, His service, His miracles, His friends, and more.  Help them to understand that Jesus is the Son of God and He is God!  Help them to also understand who they are….sinners in need of a Saviour.

Teach your children and entertain them by coloring a salvation flower!

Sin, Sorry, and Saved

It’s not always easy to talk about sin with young children, but it is important. They need to understand what sin is, the consequences of sin, and God’s provision for forgiving sin.  Parents need to teach this to their children, and they need to help them understand.  Children are being confronted with the ways of the world at very young ages, so parents must start early, even in the toddler years, with teaching God’s truths and His ways.

Children certainly learn quickly what it is to do wrong.  They hear “no-no” from the first time they reach for something they aren’t supposed to have.  They also learn what it is to do good when they receive smiles and praises from family and friends.  The difference between doing good or doing bad is quickly learned, and so also is the remedy for bad behavior.

“I’m Sorry” Repentance

For young children, “I’m sorry” often wipes away the consequences of bad behavior. Parents are quick to forgive… and so they should be. But parents can also use their child’s “I’m sorry” to begin teaching about biblical repentance.  Repentance is a big word–a big word that young children will not understand. So explain what it means.  Tell your child what saying “I’m sorry” to God really means.  Help them to understand that it’s not just about getting out of trouble.  It’s about desiring not to do wrong again.  Keep it simple for children, but also keep it biblically true. Children can understand these things when they are clearly and simply explained.  We know that to be true because Jesus saves children!

The Colors of Sin, Sorry and Saved

A Fun Activity for a Rainy (or sunny) Day

Before doing this project with your children, pray for them.  Ask the Holy Spirit to open their ears to hear and their minds to understand.  Ask Him to give you the clear words of God’s plan of redemption to share with your children.  Boldly ask Jesus to save them. Then start the project.

Using the coloring page (download it here: The Colors of Salvation) have your children select seven crayons: gold, black, red, purple, white, blue and green.  Explain the color of each petal using the information below.  As you teach them about the path to salvation, one color at a time—gold, black, red, purple and white—have them color each corresponding petal of the flower. Take time to have the children read the Scripture verses or, with very young children, read the verses to them.

Once you’ve colored all the petals of the flower, determine how much your children understand about salvation.  If they’re saved, help them to better understand the great gift they have already received.  If they are not saved, but are able to understand repentance and faith, determine if they desire to make a profession of faith. Then help them to find the words to ask Jesus for forgiveness of their sins and to save of their precious souls.  Even a young child can understand this with clear teaching and the help of the Holy Spirit.

The Smile of Salvation

After coloring all the petals, color the center of the flower with blue to represent Heaven.  Explain what a wonderful and glorious place Heaven is.  Make sure they understand that Heaven is promised to all who belong to Jesus.

If there is a relative or a friend who is in Heaven, talk about the comfort and rest in which they now dwell.  Talk about the presence of Jesus and the joy of the heavenly home.  Explain that your loved one is living they.  The person is alive…not dead.  Give them comfort and assurance about the eternal life that Jesus gives.  After talking about Heaven, add a smiley face to the blue center of the flower.

Life’s Journey

With the flower petals colored, and the smiley face added to the blue center circle, talk about life’s journey after salvation.  Have the children color the leaves and the stem in green to represent growing in Christ.  Talk about how all living things are created by God to grow.  Tell the children how the growth of a flower comes from the roots and how flowers need water and light to grow. Tell them that we need to grow spiritually.  And our growth is in Jesus, who is the Root (Revelation 22:16) and He is the Light (John 1:4, 8:12) and the Living Water (John 4, Jeremiah 17:13).

It’s All About Jesus

What a wonderful way to fill an hour on a rainy day…or any day.  Have some fun with your children and help them to know Jesus. The Bible is all about Him.  Teach your children the joys of reading the Bible.  Use age appropriate resources to get them started in learning God’s Word at a very young age.  For young children, I recommend The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name.

Proverbs 22:6  Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.

It’s of utmost importance that parents teach their children about Jesus.  If Moms and Dads aren’t teaching them God’s truths, the world will teach them its lies.

The Colors of Salvation 

GOLD

We always start with God.  If we add the letter “l” (for love) to the word “God” we get the word “gold.”  Gold is a precious metal of great value and it is highly desired.  Jesus is precious and His promises are precious (1 Peter 2:7).  He is highly desired (Psalm 42:2, 63:1, Philippians 3:10). Gold represents God’s love because His love is more precious and more valuable than all the gold in the world.  Love is the gold of God.

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The color gold represents God because it points to His deity.

In ancient days, kings, pharaohs and noblemen were adorned with gold to signify their high position.  They were also given gifts of gold to pay homage to their position.  And, of course, they surrounded themselves with items of gold, to proclaim their wealth.

King Solomon had an ivory throne overlaid with the best gold (1 Kings 10:18).  When instructions were given for building the furniture in the Tabernacle, God was very specific about the use of gold.  Every piece of furniture pointed to Christ and to His deity.  For example, in the Holy of Holies, the Ark of the Covenant was constructed of acacia wood (symbolic of Jesus’ humanity) and overlaid with pure gold (symbolic of His divinity). The mercy seat was pure gold as well as the two cherubim, one on each side with wings outstretched (Exodus 25:10-21).  In the first sanctuary, the Holy Place, the lampstand was constructed of pure gold, and the table of shewbread and the altar of incense were constructed of acacia wood (Christ’s humanity) and overlaid with gold (Christ’s divinity).

Since gold represents God’s love and divinity, it is no surprise that in ancient times many idols and false gods were also created of gold.  When Moses was on Mt. Sinai, the Israelites created and worshipped a calf made of gold.  Nebuchadnezzar had a statue made that represented kingdoms, and his kingdom Babylon was represented by the head of gold.

Another example of gold representing Jesus’ divinity was at His birth. One of the Wise Men presented Him with a gift of gold, a gift befitting the King of kings and pointing to Jesus being the begotten Son of God.

The wealth of this world will never satisfy:

Ezekiel 7:19  …their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they [silver and gold] shall not satisfy their souls…

Forsaking the gold of this world, our desire should always be for the golden riches of  God’s love:

1 John 3:16  By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us…

Ephesians 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

Black

Black symbolizes suffering and death in the Bible.  It’s used to represent mourning (Job 30:28, 30, Jeremiah 14:2), famine (Lamentations 5:10, Revelation 6:5), judgment of sin (Jude 13), death and the grave (Job 10:21-22), and more.  The color black lacks brightness and hue.  It does not reflect any light.  Instead black only absorbs light.  The Bible tells us that God is light (Psalm 104, 1 John 1:5). It’s interesting that prior to Satan’s fall from Heaven, he was an angel of light (an angel of God), and when he sinned he fell like lightening from Heaven (Luke 10:18).  Now he is in darkness, no longer in God’s light.

Similarly, Adam was created in light and perfection, in the image of God, with God’s Holy Spirit to lead and guide him.  But when Adam sinned, his light left him and death was pronounced upon him.  Since Adam, all have been born in the “blackness” of sin.

There is none righteous; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:10, 23)

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

Red

Red in the Bible represents blood.  The life of man is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11) and Christ’s blood atonement is necessary for the redemption of man. Jesus’ pure blood paid the penalty for our sins and by His blood, we are washed clean.

Revelation 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.

1 Peter 1:18-19  For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But [redeemed] with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Col 1:20-21  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

Purple 

Purple represents Kingship.  Creating a purple dye was expensive in ancient times, therefore purple became a color of prestige, nobility and royalty (Judges 8:26, Esther 8:15).  The Bible reveals purple to be symbolic of wealth, prosperity and luxury (Exodus 28:5, Ezekiel 27:7, Proverbs 31:22, Song of Solomon 3:10, 7:5, Luke 16:19, Acts 16:14, Revelation 17:4, 18:12, 16).  Purple reminds us of Jesus because He is the King of kings and He lives and rules in the hearts of those who are His.

Romans 15:12  And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

1 Timothy 1:17  Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 19:16  And he [Jesus] hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

It’s interesting that the color purple is made by combining blue and red.  The kingly color is a combination of two colors, one that points to His work on earth (red = His shed blood) and the other that points to His heavenly dwelling place (blue = Heaven). Having received forgiveness through His blood, we will one day enter into Heaven and see our King in all His splendor.

White

The color white represents righteousness because of its purity of color and light.  White is the presence of all the light in the visible spectrum. Clouds and snow appear white because almost all of the sun’s light is reflected by the water in clouds and snow.  Only a small amount of the visible spectrum absorbed.  Fully light and without stain, the color white reminds us of the righteousness of Christ.  He is pure light and pure righteousness and when a sinner comes to Him in faith He washes them clean.

Isaiah 1:18  …though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

When Jesus washes us clean from sin, He makes us “white as snow” by giving us His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).  We are then set on a path of growing in faith, which is represented in this flower as the stem from which the flower grows and then blooms.

Blue

Blue represents Heaven. Blue is the color of the sky and a reminder of the heavenly realm.  We are given a description of the glimpse of Heaven that Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu (the sons of Moses), and the 70 elders of Israel saw when they went up to worship God on Mount Sinai:

Exodus 24:10  And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

Sapphires reflect a beautiful sky-blue color reminding us of not only the blue heaven we can see but also the Heaven far beyond, the Heaven of heavens.

Nehemiah 9:6  Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.

Green

Green represents growing and blooming where one is planted.  It is representative of a Christian life that produces good fruit and finds rest in Christ.  A green plant or tree is a healthy one, growing and producing leaves and flowers.  A brown or withered plant is symbolic of the dying process.

Growing and Fruitful

Jeremiah 11:16  The LORD called your name, Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit. With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, And its branches are broken.

Jeremiah 17:8  For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

Hosea 14:8  “Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’ I have heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in Me.”

Christian growth and fruitfulness are achieved by living for Christ, being directed by His will and finding peace in Him.

Life and Rest

Psalm 52:8  But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

Psalm 23:2-3  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Finding More Symbolism that Points to Jesus

Throughout the Bible are examples of colors that point to Jesus.  One of the great examples is the door of the Tabernacle. In this example we find four of our seven colors:

Exodus 27:16  And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.

• Blue points to Heaven, where Jesus dwells.
• Purple points to the One who would come as Messiah, the King of the Jews
• Scarlet (red) points to the His blood atonement, paid for the sins of man.
• White (fine linen) points to the Righteous One and the righteousness He gives to all who come to Him in faith.

 

This was the gate, the entrance to the Tabernacle.  It was a type of door in the fence that surrounded the Tabernacle.  There was only one door through which anyone could enter into the court of the Tabernacle.  Beyond the court, in the Holy Place, was gold furniture and beyond that was the Holy of Holies with the golden Ark and the presence of God.  We know that Jesus is our Door, through Him we can enter into the presence of God.

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)

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Download the coloring page here: The Colors of Salvation

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What are the Colors of Sin, Sorry, and Saved? (Teaching Children About Salvation)