Introduction
Hi, I am Roy Daniel, and this is the first-ever Precious Seed podcast! Before we start, did you know that people fill their minds (below where your head hair grows) with their dreams of toys, games, jobs, enjoyment, and friends? They think a lot about sad sorrows and different types of memories. But very few people think deeply and long about the one and only true God. Many attend church on Sunday out of tradition or to please a parent, friend, or family member, but countless still sadly consume their thoughts with other things.
The Bible talks of wicked men in this way.
Psalm 10:4 ... God is not in all his thoughts.
The Bible, i.e., God's word written by God's men, is a ...(drum roll) God-centered book. It starts with God. It's all about God and how he interacts with men, women, and children, including you. Do you have a Bible? Do you read it?
Today we will look at the first day that ever there was, about 6000 years ago. In the first three verses of the first book of the Bible i.e. God's words, we read (Genesis 1: 1-3)
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Wow! This says so much! In these words, are loads of hidden treasures of truth. Wanna hear some? Good! Here goes!
Hidden treasure one. God is the creator.
Have you ever spoken in front of a large crowd with a micro-phone? It can be scary. I talked about God at a hostel to about 300 teenagers; they laughed at the Bible and thought it was stupid. Why? They believed science proved there was no God. What happened? I told the loudest laughter to come to the front. I asked him to make me a cup of coffee (I love coffee) out of nothing. Everyone laughed. He said, ''I can't" I then told the crowd of skeptics that you could take the best laboratory in the world with all the test tubes, chemicals, and protective glasses you like. However, you could still not make something out of nothing. We can make stuff out of existing stuff, we can study things and change what already exists. But …There are at least two things only God can do. Firstly - Make something out of nothing and secondly make life out of dead Matter. (Re-peat) You can't take a rock and make a frog out of it. It may look like a frog, but it won't breathe. (Croak sound) Do you have a dog or cat? or have you seen one? Did you know there is so much evidence for God that asking for proof that God exists is like asking a dog to grow one more hair to prove it is a dog. (Dog sound) That's stupid, right?
Hebrews 11:3 states "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.""
Hidden Treasure Two - God is Almighty.
Psalm 145:3 states ... Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable
Do you think God only wants adults to know amazing things in the Bible? No. The Bible says children should be told of the greatness of God.
Psa 78:4 says We will not hide them from their children, shew-ing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
God wants you to know He is big and in control.
Who is the strongest person you have ever seen? Your dad or a wrestler? What is the most potent animal you have seen? An elephant. Thy are like little dots on a massive page the size of a million football fields to God. God is so powerful that he made the shining, twinkling stars shine, the moon, mountains, and oceans out of nothing. He just spoke, and there it was. But God has another type of power called authority. It means He is king and can do whatever he wants with his creation. He is in charge of Everything. Everything must do what God says or face his justice. Because God made Everything, He owns Everything.
Have you ever killed an ant by mistake? Did people run up to you with weapons and say,'' You are an ant murderer? No, the reason is we are higher beings than an ant. There are higher and lower beings. Humans are of equal value, so it would be murder to kill another human, but not when you kill an ant. Understand that God is infinitely higher being to us than we are as humans to an ant. He is the Almighty, the highest king. He has rights to do with us all creation as He chooses. We don't have the same rights as God. If we did to each other what we sometimes do to an ant, we would have killed an equal be-ing, which is called murder. God could destroy all the universe and not be a murderer. We are at His mercy. Isn’t it wonderful that God is wise, loving, merciful and good too. He knows best and always does right.
Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Bill of Rights… We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
He got this from God's word, the Bible. (Job 31 : 15)
We are not equal to God, though. God has rights we do not have. He created Everything and can do with us what he wants. That is why Everything we have in life that is good is a gift from God—even the ability to breathe.
I know a dear family whose six-year-old child hated God. The boy was very clever and did not want someone bigger than him with the right to tell him what to do. One day he counted 1, 2, 3, and onwards for a long time. He stopped and said, ''Daddy numbers go on forever, right? Numbers are very big?'' Daddy said, ''yes, son.'' He said God is huge like numbers never end? Daddy answered ''yes'' again. The six-year-old shouted, ''I hate God.'' I don't want someone in charge of me.” A while later, the lad discovered he had a deadly cancer disease. This happens to good and bad people. It was not God’s punishment as it hap-pens to allot of people. Do you know what happened next? God worked in his heart, and the boy accepted that God is big. He also found out God loved him and wanted him as his child. He radically met with God after hearing of God sending His son Jesus to die for his little boy's sins on the cross. The boy said God had to take him through the sickness for him to realize that he needed the big God he once hated to be ready to die. He sadly passed at ten years of age. He is waiting in heaven! He has a body that will never be sick again. He loved Jesus, sang many hymns, and loved the Bible, and he is missed by his loving family, who I visit often. Do you know why people don't want to believe in God? Someone said A lot of people don't want there to be a God for the same reason a thief does not like a policeman. They want to be in charge of their own life with-out consequences or what the Bible calls wages earned for what they have done.
Hidden Treasure Three - God is Holy, Never Changes
Did you know millions of people believe that God became Eve-rything? Literally, God split into 2 and then, through a pro-cess, became the trees, fish, birds, mountains, and Everything else. They believe they are part of God, and you can meet God through nature and even yourself as it is all one big part of the original God. They also change significant parts of what they believe over time. That's weird, right? The Bible ( God's word written by God's men)starts in the first sentence to define God as something totally different. It says ...' ' In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth'' It does not say God became Everything, but that God made Everything out of nothing. This means that God is God, and creation is creation. They are not the same. God made the creation outside of himself and kept it going. Still, there is a separation, a difference between all creation and God. Holiness means different or separate. God is essentially different in essence (i.e., who he is) from all he made. For a start, no tree, fish, mountain, or man is God. You cannot come to God through a tree, fish, person, or yourself. The only way to God is direct. Do you know God? Have you met with Him, and do you walk with Him?
Secondly, God is different from creation (i.e., Holy) because He is eternal. We all have a beginning. We can change. Do you think God can change? God never changes and was always there and will always be the same. If God could change, then one day, we could believe God's message of how to be children of God and go to heaven. But the next month, it might change as God might be different. So our faith needs to know God never changes. Think about this, if we are flawed and need to be made good to get to heaven, then it is very excellent that we can change. Without change, bad people would be bad forever.
Here's a big word. God never changing is called the Aseity of God. Say Aseity. Well done! Aseity is a big word and means 'God never changes.'
In Genesis 1 : 103 we see God was there before time, space, and Matter. Even angels are created beings. They can change in a bad way called corruption! Say Corruption!
Did you know God is always the same but also always satisfied, Happy with Himself? We need things outside of ourselves but can be satisfied in Him. If God needed anything, his arm could possibly be twisted to do something with a bribe or blackmail. God has desires and emotions but does not need anything out-side of Himself. He is self-sufficient and all-sufficient. We need Him. He does not need us, but He does desire us. Did you know you need God? Without God you have no spiritual life or worth. Without God you are in big trouble. You can’t even breathe without God. He can decide when you stop breathing.
Acts 17:24-25 says … God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things
Hidden Treasure Four - God is Personal
Did you know that despite all the evidence, some people don't believe in God? Weird! They are called atheists. Say, atheist! Millions believe in a God who made Everything but left Every-thing he made to run itself without His further help, direction, or judgment. They are called Agnostics. Say Agnostic. Have you ever seen those old, old clocks being winded up? They think God made Everything and winded it up as a clock and left creation to itself for the rest of time. We will see in future episodes in the Bible stories that God is a personal God. He cares about all mankind! Even though He is so big, he cares about small children, beggars, blind people, and orphans. He doesn't care if you are rich, poor, or alone. He is there for you. He is involved.
He Knows you by name and knows what you do in the dark... he thinks deeply about what you do in your heart and deeds. He knows your struggles and cares.
Pro 5:21 says ... he pondereth all his goings.
Pro 21:2 says...the LORD pondereth the hearts.
Before creation, no trees, birds, frogs, mountains, stars, plan-ets, or anything existed. There was only God, but He was never alone. Does that sound funny? We will see in the Bible that what God is is one God, but who God is, is three persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We call this the Trinity. Say, Trinity. Have you heard that word before? An easy way to understand why this is possible is just to remember God is spirit. Physical things like chairs can't go through a brick wall or be 3 and one simultaneously. Spiritual beings are not bound by physical laws that we often judge things by. They can go through walls and be three yet one.
Some people say the word trinity is not in the Bible. If I told you there is a thing with four wheels, a steering wheel, seats, drives with its own gas engine, and a Ford emblem, what am I talking about? Yes! I have not mentioned the word car, pickup, or automobile, but it is still just that. The Bible is full of the parts of the Trinity, and in Gen 1: 1-3, we get a hint of what is made very clear later. Trinity is just a word we give for this concept. (idea)
In Genesis 1: 1-3, God hints at what is made clear later.
1 In the beginning God (That's the Father) created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God (God the Spirit) moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said (John 1 in the New Testament calls God the son Jesus i.e., The Word), Let there be light: and there was light.
Even before creation existed, God was a personal God who was not alone and had a relationship, order, and even social structure (you don't have to understand what that means) within himself. God was always a personal God. He doesn't change, so the agnostics are wrong. (sound effect)
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Lastly - Hidden Treasure Five - The Message
Did you know God has all the time in the world but never wastes it? God did not wait one day to start writing us a mes-sage. Many people need to learn that there is a message in Genesis 1: 1-3. It is a metaphor or picture that means some-thing extraordinary. After this podcast, ask your mommy, dad-dy, and maybe pastor if they know this exciting message. Will you do that…Ask them to read.
2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
See, God says that the first day of creation, when God said let there be light, is a picture of what happens when Jesus enters our hearts. We are in darkness inside. We are born not knowing God. We are so dark inside we live for ourselves. When a light switch is turned on, the darkness has to flee. Have you ever turned a light switch on in a dark room? Did you see stuff then? When Jesus enters your heart, the darkness of being a guilty sinner and not knowing God flees.
Many years back … There was a man in India. I knew his great-granddaughter. He was a soldier who went to church but did not know God in his heart. He could die any day and was not ready to die. He went to see a preacher who immediately when he entered the room in a deep gruff voice, said, ''Get the book.'' The trembling man got the Bible. The preacher said 'Open the book and read (from the beginning)'. He read...
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
The big preacher said ''stop''. He stopped! ''Close the book''. He closed the book. ''Leave''. The trembling soldier went out, and that night he thought of the darkness of his heart. Even though he went to church often, he did not have Jesus. He thought of the light he needed to banish his guilt toward God and selfishness of living his own life for himself and not God.
The next day the same happened. He was stopped at the same verse and was told to go. What would you do if someone did that to you? That night he realized his only hope was Jesus, who died for his sins and rose again. He saw his sinfulness and helplessness to help himself or be helped by any other man. He simply believed while asking Jesus to come in, forgive, change, and be his light and salvation. In one moment, s happened inside. Where before there was only darkness, he suddenly knew he was forgiven by God. God lived in him, and he had a new nature. He was a child of God, and it was a gift God gave him through Jesus. He was not perfect, but he was no longer in darkness as Jesus was in his heart. The following morning, he revisited the old preacher. The preacher said, open the book. Read
He read
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. But the old preacher did not stop him there. He read on...
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
The old preacher smiled and said stop.
The soldier left the army and became a missionary to tell people everywhere of the light God can shine in man's dark heart through Jesus Christ. Have you asked Jesus into your heart? Has his light made the darkness flee? Are you a child of God?
Did you know (contrary to what Agnostics think) God is so personal that he wants us to talk to Him? No Matter how poor, young, old, or how you feel, he listens.
Let's pray - Dear Father, thank you for the Bible. Thank you for the treasures we can find reading about you and your message to us, even in the first 3 verses of your Holy Book. Please teach me about yourself, your message, your ways, what you want of me, and how it can be part of my life. Teach me about God and Jesus and how to tell others about your message in the Bible. Thank you that you are a God who is near and personal and thinks about me. I want to find you and be found. I want to follow you. I want to live in light, not darkness. Thank you for loving me, and thank you for Jesus. Amen
Remember to pray for the following podcasts. Tell others, and if you are blessed or want us to pray for you, send a message or add a recommendation. God willing - We will be starting a website page and thank you to those who feel led to support our coming Patreon or Kufi page (with lots of extras). Bye for now, and may God alone be glorified through His word.