This object lesson was designed to introduce the subject of creation and the reality of God as our Creator. It is a good bridge for topics like Intelligent Design, Creationism, Evolution, etc.
Leader: In preparation for this object lesson, bake a cake—the more delectable, the better. This cake will be the subject of some pretty intense scrutiny; it will be a chocolate vehicle for teaching several important truths about God, his creation, and his plan for our salvation.
Once your group members are assembled, place the cake in the middle of a table and invite everyone to gather around. Then ask the following questions:
1. What can we tell about this cake just by looking? For instance, has it always existed, or was this cake created?
There will be ready agreement that the cake came into existence at some point, just as all serious science concurs with religious ideas of creation and the world's coming into being. And it is obvious to our cake observers that, if this confection was created, it is reasonable to assume it was created by someone.
2. Could this cake have been created by different people in different places and different times?
This is a useful way of illustrating how fanciful it is to say that there are any number of religions and they are all right. The objective reality is that our cake has to have been made in one time and in one place. It is not logically possible that it was made Tuesday in Chicago and last Friday in San Francisco. The world could not have been brought into being by many gods in many different ways. The claims of one religion, if true, negate the claims of another.
3. So, if the cake was made, who made it? And just how can we find out?
First off, you ask around. And if somebody standing at the table says, "I know who made it," you would do well to listen. If one group member says that she was there when the cake was being made, that's a pretty reliable piece of information—particularly if you know her to be honest.
Christ came to earth in person, as a person, as our God, and said that he was there when the world was made. How can we find out if his claim is true? We can look at the evidence. We can look at how he lived—at the historical facts of his death and resurrection. We can look for evidence that he was and is trustworthy.
4. How can you experience the cake?
By this point in the discussion, people are usually pretty interested in this question. The answers come easily. To experience the cake, you look at it. You can tell it has chocolate chips and mocha icing with walnuts just by looking, but you will never ever know what it tastes like without taking a bite.
The Bible instructs us to "Taste and see that the Lord is good." It is only by eating that we truly know the cake. It is only by committing our lives to God that we ever know our Lord.
One last question.
5. How do you get a piece of this cake?
The answer is the baker/maker gives it to you. There is no other way to get this cake than to be given it. If this cake represents the salvation offered by our God, it's only available from the Baker, and by extension, to other people in the world to whom he offers this cake.
Oh taste and see.
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