Dear Friend,

We have seen that Jesus is "the Christ"—the One anointed by God to be our Savior. He is "the mighty God" who lived here as a man. He is "the Lamb of God"—the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus is also "Lord of all"! He is the One who defeated Satan and all the powers of darkness. Where is Jesus now? He is in Heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father.

The Lord Jesus came into the world to be our Savior. On the cross, all of our sins were laid on Him. By His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus paid the penalty for our sins.The Bible says that He "…put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26).

Jesus died about three o'clock in the afternoon, and He was buried in a new tomb, carved out of rock. Then, on the third day, He rose from the dead as the mighty Victor over death!

Christ's resurrection proves that He is the Son of God, and that all He said is true. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is "declared to be the Son of God with power…by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4).

Satan thought that he had won a mighty victory when he succeeded in getting wicked men to put God's Son to death. But he was never more mistaken!

No doubt, Satan and all the rulers of darkness used every power they had to keep Christ in the tomb. But on the third day, Christ rose from the grave, victorious over Satan and all the powers of darkness!

When Christ returned to Heaven, He went as the mighty Victor over Satan and all the powers of darkness. He showed that He had defeated all His enemies.

When the Lord Jesus returned to Heaven, the Father welcomed Him, and gave Him the place of highest honor in Heaven. Where is this place of highest honor? It is at the Father's right hand.

Before He went to the cross, Jesus had prayed to His Father, saying,

"I have glorified You on the earth: I have finished the work which You gave Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me… with the glory which I had with You before the world was" (John 17:4-5).

The Father has answered that prayer in the most wonderful way. He has glorified His Son by giving Him the highest place in Heaven. The Man, Jesus Christ, is now seated at the right hand of the Father. The Bible says, "…He [God] raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:20).

Dear friend, study this picture carefully. It tells the wonderful story of how God's Son left His home in Heaven and came down to this world to be born as a tiny baby.

When Jesus grew up, He humbled Himself to serve people. He even washed the feet of His disciples. Finally, He "…humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8).

Why did He do it? He did it because it was His Father's will.

Jesus went down, down, down to die on the cross for us. He was buried, but God raised Him up from the dead. Up, up, up Jesus went, back into Heaven. There God gave Him the place of highest honor in Heaven. The Bible says,

"Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth…And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11

Think of the mighty change that has taken place! The Man Jesus Christ, who humbled Himself to die a criminal's death on the cross, has been made "Lord of all." This means that the Lord Jesus Christ is over everything in God's universe.

The Bible says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved."

But what does His name mean?

"LORD" This is His kingly name. It stands for His rulership over all things. He has all power in Heaven and in the earth.

"JESUS" This is His personal name. It means "Savior." Jesus is the Savior—the One who died on the cross for our sins and rose to become our living Savior.

"CHRIST" This is His official name. It means "the Anointed One." He is the One chosen by God to be the Savior of the world.

Do you love and appreciate God's Son? Then you are a delight to God! Jesus said, "The Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came out from God" (John 16:27).

The story so far…

The campers have learned that they will have camp buddies. Maria is waiting to find out who her buddy will be.

Chapter 4
Camp Buddies

Mr. Douglas continued to call out the names of the camp buddies assigned for the week at camp. Randy's buddy was a boy named Joey. He was short and wiry with a suntanned face and a happy grin. Maria thought Joey looked like someone who would be a lot of fun.

Suddenly, Maria's heart took a leap as she heard her name being called with Maggie Saunders. She stared in disbelief as a chubby girl in rumpled clothes and dirty sneakers shuffled her way to the front.

Maggie gave Maria an uncertain smile as she held out her hand. Maria made herself smile back as she took Maggie's hot, sticky hand. As the girls sat down together, Maria was troubled by the thoughts that were going through her head: I want to love Maggie, she told herself. But how can I, she looks so dirty!

Just then Maria heard that the names of Susan Blake and Nancy Tucker were called. Maria turned around to watch Susan meet a real pretty girl. She wore a matching green outfit with a green bow holding her golden curls up on the back of her head. Maria became envious of her friend Susan. She thought with rebellion in her heart: Why couldn't I have a buddy like that?

A few minutes later all the campers were sitting together in the auditorium with their buddies. Mr. Douglas began to speak to them about God's love. "Boys and girls, the Lord Jesus commanded us to love one another just as He loves each of us. He loves your buddies just as much as He loves you.

"This week you have an opportunity to show God's love to your new buddies as well as to all the others you will be meeting at camp. Now join me as we all say our verse together: 'That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God' (Colossians 1:10)."

Maria lowered her head and looked at her hands in her lap. She felt ashamed of the thoughts going through her head. She began to pray quietly to herself, "Lord Jesus, forgive me for thinking bad things about Maggie. Please help me to love Maggie with all my heart."

Maria lifted her head and said, "Hey, Maggie, I want you to meet my friend Susan, and then you can show me your cabin."

Maggie gave Maria a smile of relief as she said, "Oh, I would like that!" She followed Maria toward the door.

When they were outside, Susan and Nancy were waiting for them. The four girls walked toward the cabins together.

"Which cabin are you in, Nancy?" Maria asked.

"I am in Cabin 8," she answered.

"Me too!" added Maggie.

"That's great!" Susan said. She went on to say, "Maria and I are in Cabin 12. This will make it easy for the four of us to do things together."

As the girls ran to Cabin 8, Nancy said, "I want to show you the new outfits I got for camp. I have two that are much prettier than this one. Oh, Maggie, I was wondering, how old are you?"

"I just turned ten a couple of weeks ago," Maggie answered slowly.

"Oh, I thought you were twelve because you are so big," Nancy said. "I wondered why you are in our cabin."

Maria looked at Maggie's hurt face. She turned to Nancy and said, "Of course Maggie belongs in this cabin, Nancy. And you should not talk to anyone like that. It is not kind and Jesus would not do it."

"I only said she was big because she is. There is nothing wrong with being truthful," Nancy defended herself. "Are you coming to see the outfits I got for camp or not? I have had no time to put them away yet."

The other three girls followed Nancy to her bed. They gasped when she pulled out a yellow party dress that was among the other outfits.

"Wow!" Susan exclaimed. "Are you going to wear that at camp?"

"Of course," Nancy answered, looking surprised. "Why not?"

"We were told to bring jeans and play clothes," Susan explained. "And this is a party dress!"

Maria turned to Maggie and whispered in her ear, "Come on, Maggie, take me to your bed."

The two girls turned and headed off to the other side of the cabin.

When they came to her bed, Maggie flopped down and began to cry. "Oh, Maria," she sobbed, "I only have this skirt and two tops to wear this week. I have a pair of jeans but they are so tight that the kids laugh when I wear them.

"My Mom didn't have any money to buy me a new pair. We had just enough money for me to come to camp. I don't want to be here, Maria. Please go with me to find my counselor. I want to tell her to call my mom to come and get me."

"Oh, don't feel like that," Maria tried to comfort Maggie, putting her arm around her buddy. "There are not very many girls here who have a lot of clothes like Nancy. But I will go with you to find your counselor. Maybe she can help us.

"I don't want you to go home, Maggie. We just met, and I want to get to know you."

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