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Jesus Showed Us!
What is God like?
The answer depends on the imagination of those we ask. Some of those answers are not very healthy—especially for children! Many ideas and images of God are harmful, such as the angry God who threatens us. Or the distant God who is not there when we need him. Or the magical God who will grant our wishes if we are good enough or beg hard enough. Such ideas of God make it hard for us to love God with our whole heart or to let God love us.
God noticed this problem. God wanted us to know what God is really like. So God decided to do something. What’s the best way for God to tell us what God is like? By showing us—in person! And that is exactly what God did! God came into our world as Jesus Christ. Jesus is what God has to say about Godself.
What did Jesus show us about God? Jesus showed us that God is Love! Not just any kind of love. God is perfect love that never stops loving. Jesus showed us this in so many ways. The four gospels, written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, tell us that story. They tell us how Jesus showed us God.
Everything Jesus said and did was about this message: God is Love.God loves everyone, and that means God loves you.
Each page of this book shares the gospel story of God’s love, seen in Jesus.
What is God like? Jesus showed us! Jesus showed us God is Love!
The answer depends on the imagination of those we ask. Some of those answers are not very healthy—especially for children! Many ideas and images of God are harmful, such as the angry God who threatens us. Or the distant God who is not there when we need him. Or the magical God who will grant our wishes if we are good enough or beg hard enough. Such ideas of God make it hard for us to love God with our whole heart or to let God love us.
God noticed this problem. God wanted us to know what God is really like. So God decided to do something. What’s the best way for God to tell us what God is like? By showing us—in person! And that is exactly what God did! God came into our world as Jesus Christ. Jesus is what God has to say about Godself.
What did Jesus show us about God? Jesus showed us that God is Love! Not just any kind of love. God is perfect love that never stops loving. Jesus showed us this in so many ways. The four gospels, written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, tell us that story. They tell us how Jesus showed us God.
Everything Jesus said and did was about this message: God is Love.God loves everyone, and that means God loves you.
Each page of this book shares the gospel story of God’s love, seen in Jesus.
What is God like? Jesus showed us! Jesus showed us God is Love!
36 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2016
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 5, 2016
A little over a year ago, I reviewed Brad Jersak’s
A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel
. In so many ways, it was exactly what I had been needing. While folks like Greg Boyd and Brian Zahnd had introduced me to the idea of a God who looks like Jesus, it was Brad Jersak who helped me put all the pieces together into a full and rich theology, one soundly rooted in both scripture and church tradition (particularly the Eastern Orthodox tradition).
I have since then recommended his book to more people than I can count. I consider it to be among the most important and desperately needed works of our day. If you haven’t read it yet, I cannot urge you strongly enough to do so now.
Yet an important gap remained to be filled. A More Christlike God provides the perfect remedy for those of us raised with a toxic version of Christianity, now rethinking our beliefs. But what of our children? How do we communicate the truths of the beautiful gospel to our kids, without inadvertently carrying over the toxic baggage of our upbringing? We want to start them off with the picture of God we wish we’d had all along.
To this end, I could not be happier to tell you about Brad’s new children’s book, Jesus Showed Us! As the title implies, it’s all about how Jesus shows us what God is like. Paired with 16 iconic illustrations by Shari-Anne Vis, the book walks through the life of Jesus to teach children (and adults) about our perfectly Christlike God.
There’s no hint here of the angry pagan deity who demands blood payment for sins. There’s no suggestion that this deity chose to pour out his wrath on his own son. And there’s certainly no threat of eternal hellfire for those who fail to get this so-called gospel just right.
Instead, we see the God who is love, demonstrating his love over and over again through Jesus, whom he sent not to condemn the world, but that the whole world might be saved through him.
Of course the ultimate test of any kids’ book is what kids actually think of it. And I just so happen to have some very willing test subjects. My youngest is a bit too young to provide any feedback, but my older kids (ages three and two) absolutely love it! They’ve gravitated toward Jesus Showed Us! more than just about any other book my wife or I have read to them. They enjoy decorating the free printable coloring sheets available to accompany the book. And we frequently hear them begging us to read “the Jesus book” as they call it. On one reading, my son loudly proclaimed, “Jesus, you showed us! Thank you, Jesus!”
Amen! Thank you, Jesus, for revealing the Father. And thank you, Brad, for helping us once again to see Jesus a little more clearly.
In conclusion, if you have young children whom you want to teach about the God revealed in Jesus, you should definitely pick up Jesus Showed Us! And if you don’t have young children, you should probably get a copy anyway. You won’t regret it.
This review has been adapted from one originally written for my blog, HippieHeretic.com.
I have since then recommended his book to more people than I can count. I consider it to be among the most important and desperately needed works of our day. If you haven’t read it yet, I cannot urge you strongly enough to do so now.
Yet an important gap remained to be filled. A More Christlike God provides the perfect remedy for those of us raised with a toxic version of Christianity, now rethinking our beliefs. But what of our children? How do we communicate the truths of the beautiful gospel to our kids, without inadvertently carrying over the toxic baggage of our upbringing? We want to start them off with the picture of God we wish we’d had all along.
To this end, I could not be happier to tell you about Brad’s new children’s book, Jesus Showed Us! As the title implies, it’s all about how Jesus shows us what God is like. Paired with 16 iconic illustrations by Shari-Anne Vis, the book walks through the life of Jesus to teach children (and adults) about our perfectly Christlike God.
There’s no hint here of the angry pagan deity who demands blood payment for sins. There’s no suggestion that this deity chose to pour out his wrath on his own son. And there’s certainly no threat of eternal hellfire for those who fail to get this so-called gospel just right.
Instead, we see the God who is love, demonstrating his love over and over again through Jesus, whom he sent not to condemn the world, but that the whole world might be saved through him.
Of course the ultimate test of any kids’ book is what kids actually think of it. And I just so happen to have some very willing test subjects. My youngest is a bit too young to provide any feedback, but my older kids (ages three and two) absolutely love it! They’ve gravitated toward Jesus Showed Us! more than just about any other book my wife or I have read to them. They enjoy decorating the free printable coloring sheets available to accompany the book. And we frequently hear them begging us to read “the Jesus book” as they call it. On one reading, my son loudly proclaimed, “Jesus, you showed us! Thank you, Jesus!”
Amen! Thank you, Jesus, for revealing the Father. And thank you, Brad, for helping us once again to see Jesus a little more clearly.
In conclusion, if you have young children whom you want to teach about the God revealed in Jesus, you should definitely pick up Jesus Showed Us! And if you don’t have young children, you should probably get a copy anyway. You won’t regret it.
This review has been adapted from one originally written for my blog, HippieHeretic.com.
December 31, 2016
This fantastic book points children away from the angry deity often portrayed in Sunday school songs and stories to the revelation of God in Christ. Well done, Brad!
December 31, 2018
I have often wondered how to introduce Cruciform Theology to my toddler. Typical books aimed at children present Bible stories in simple language and without any kind of context. The sad thing is if these were non-Biblical stories, as a parent I would have doubts about allowing my son to read this kind of material. What's the point of restricting the violence to which our children are exposed (eg. on TV) only to have them exposed to similar violence in the Bible and worse, violence that is often presented as perfectly right and normal!
Thankfully, I came across a book by Brad Jersak, author of "A More Christlike God" called "Jesus Showed Us!". It has beautiful illustrations and an uplifting text that helps a child to understand what God is like based upon what Jesus showed us. I think it's a lovely book and one which can help young children to grow up with a healthy rather than confusing view of God. It shows them how God is exactly like Jesus in character and how much God loves them.
My toddler was very excited when he saw the book. I am looking forward to reading it to him each night before he sleeps.
Thankfully, I came across a book by Brad Jersak, author of "A More Christlike God" called "Jesus Showed Us!". It has beautiful illustrations and an uplifting text that helps a child to understand what God is like based upon what Jesus showed us. I think it's a lovely book and one which can help young children to grow up with a healthy rather than confusing view of God. It shows them how God is exactly like Jesus in character and how much God loves them.
My toddler was very excited when he saw the book. I am looking forward to reading it to him each night before he sleeps.
November 28, 2019
I work with children and youth in a Lutheran context and this is one of the better Christian children’s books I’ve read. There are a few sentences that I may have worded differently for the sake of clarity, but I really enjoy the message of the book (especially the page about the cross). Many children are confused when you tell them that Jesus is God, so I think this book will be a helpful resource in explaining that Jesus is God and showed us what God is like. Jesus showed us!
January 8, 2020
Children are not too young for great theology with this book. Jersak has a gift for writing deep theological concepts in a way for everyone to understand. Highly recommend!
July 29, 2022
Way more dense than anticipated! Brad offers a good many thoughts about Jesus for parents to talk about with their children. Repetition is key with this one to help train our thoughts to see what Jesus showed us (and is showing us)!
March 24, 2024
It's a little wordy for a children's book, but I think it is a far better introduction for children to show what God is like thru the person of Jesus than many christian children books. So many of them emphasize that the kids have inherited badness to them that Jesus came to fix if they did "xyz."
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews