SOMETHING 'RANDOM' ABOUT JESUS

G'day L........

So you want to know something random about Jesus?
Fair enough - how about this...
Jesus borrowed:
- a feed trough for a cradle
- water to make into wine
- a bucket for a drink of water
- a boat for a speakers platform
- a coin from a fish's mouth to pay temple tax (!)
- 5 loaves & 2 fish to feed 5000 people
- 7 loaves to feed 4000 people
- a donkey for entering Jerusalem
- a room for the Last Supper with His friends
- a cross from a robber called Barabbas
- a tomb from a rich man
In the end they even pinched His clothes.

Who was He? The Creator of the universe!

 

Hi C........

Q1. "Why is God our ruler?"

God is our Creator. The universe is His because He made it, so He gets to set the rules - not you or me!

By the way, when Jesus was presented to the Jewish people as their King they shouted out: "Away with him! We have no king but Caesar!" The Bible tells us that soon, every knee will bow to Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Q2. "Why does everyone say that Jesus is God's Son when actually He is really Mary & Joseph's son?"

Mary became pregnant with the 'Son of God' only because 'the Holy Spirit came upon her', which meant she had the privilege of giving birth to Jesus, while Joseph was not the biological father. Being the firstborn in Mary & Joseph's family meant Jesus was doubly qualified to inherit the throne because both Mary & Joseph came from the royal family of the kings of Judah. Of course this was foretold in the Bible hundreds of years before it happened!

 

Hi there H.........

Q. "Why should the animals be slaughtered for us?"

They don't have to be slaughtered for us anymore, now that Jesus has "offered one sacrifice for sins forever" - by sacrificing Himself.

Why did they have to be slaughtered before then?....because it was the only way we had any chance of approaching God, by showing Him we admit to being sinners, and very sorry for what we have done.

 

G'day M.......

Q. "How do you say a prayer?"

What do you know!...that's exactly what the disciples of Jesus asked Him all those years ago - "Lord, teach us to pray". Jesus then taught them 'the Lord's Prayer' beginning with: "Our Father in heaven...hallowed be Your Name..." (in other words, Your Name is very special)

Of course if we just pretend to pray to a God who we don't even believe in, just to get ourselves out of a fix, that would be nothing but an insult to God. The Bible tells us: "...he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

It's all about believing in faith and being humble.

I have a friend who was so desperate to give up smoking that one day he cried out: "Holy Spirit, you're ........ going to have to help me!!"

He has never smoked another cigarette since that moment. Simple, huh!

The next post:

http://godspostbox.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/god-stretches-out-heavens.html

 

 

WHY DIDN'T GOD GET RID OF THE BAD PEOPLE?

Lots more great questions from 10 Beechwood students this week:

G'day Brad,

Q. "Why didn't God get rid of the bad people when He had the chance?"
He did Brad but that didn't fix the problem.
How many people were saved in Noah's ark?...ONLY 8!


Image credit: ubdavid.org

Next time Dad or Mum fills the car at the servo have a think about how all that oil got in the ground...and the coal and the gas...oh, and don't forget the billions of fossils.
Hang on a minute...Who gets to decide who the bad people are, anyway? Are you always good?
Jesus told us: "No one is good but One, that is, God."  The Bible also says: "There is no-one who does good, no not one." In God's eyes we are all sinners who deserve to die but in His mercy He has thrown us a life-ring: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes on Him should not perish but have eternal life."   God is "not willing that any should perish..."
Get the idea? God is love....but we must not mess with Him. 



Hi T..........
Lots of great questions hey?
Q1. "How do you know the Bible is the truth?"
The Bible has accurately predicted the future hundreds of times, it is backed up by true Science, and archaeology keeps proving it too. The ultimate test is history because no one can change it.

Image credit: temkit.com

Q2. "Does the archangel Michael exist?" Absolutely!

He is the chief angel who watches over the nation of Israel.

Q3. "How do people really know that Adam and Eve were here?"

The Bible gives eye-witness account from people who lived then, as well as their family tree with lifespans.  Even geneticists today use those names: 'Y chromosome Adam' and 'mitochondrial Eve'.

Q4. "What is God's religion?"

"Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to help orphans and widows and to keep yourself unspotted from the world." Surprising, hey!?
,

Q5. "Do people still see God and Jesus?"

No one has actually seen God because He is a spirit ....but Jesus - He is a real Man who could be seen and touched and who will soon be seen again by everyone when He comes back!


G'day Colin,
Q. "How did God create Himself?"
One of God's many names is 'I AM'.
What a weird name, hey! Imagine that on someone's gravestone.
When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush He called Himself: "Ehyeh - Asher - Ehyah" which means "I WAS / I AM / I WILL BE". In other words, God has always been and always will be.
Do I understand that?.....not really.
Can I explain it?......not a chance.
Does that mean it's not true?...of course not - there are lots of things in this life about this wonderful universe that we cannot fully understand but are mostly definitely true e.g. the miraculous birth of absolutely unique Colin! Even Earth's gravity and magnetic field, that we rely on 24/7, is a mystery that got young Albert Einstein thinking.  


Hi Holly & Rosie,
Q. "Why did you become a Scripture teacher?"
As soon as I confessed to God that I was a coward (or a 'chicken') for being ashamed of my Bible, somehow Mrs. McKinnon knew she should ask me to teach at Beechwood. How could I then say no?
By the way, even though the pay is lousy (in fact nothing!) it is the best job in the world. I hope to see all of you in heaven because you will have put your trust in our Lord Jesus Christ forever, after listening to your Scripture teacher.

 

Hi Caitlin,

Oooo!...some hard ones hey?
Q1. "Do you believe God made us so He and His Son could see us suffer in different ways?"
No dear, I do not believe that. I think you will find that most of our suffering we have brought on ourselves: smoking, eating habits, accidents from carelessness, drugs, human relationships, violence, contaminated food and water...
Parents do not bring children into the world to just watch them suffer but they have to discipline their children to mould them into adults that will benefit their community. So God allows suffering in our lives to get our attention and to form our character because He loves us.
Australia is a classic example of how the more we enjoy good times, the more we forget about God so that we are now no longer really a Christian country.

Q2. "Did God create us in our mum's stomach or did our dad and mum create us?"

I used to think that God just made Adam and Eve then left mums and dads to create babies but the more I discover about how miraculous ALL reproduction is, the more I realize how true the Bible is by saying: "In Him we live and move and exist." In fact the Bible even describes in Job chapter 10 how God forms a baby. So I guess it's all 3: Mum, God and....Dad!

G'day Lachie & Joey,

Q. "What do demons do to you?"
Real bad stuff. Especially to your minds.
The word 'demon' comes from the Ancient Greek word daimonion which is a 'supernatural spirit of bad nature' or devil.
When Jesus was here He had the power to cast demons out of people. We have to do with a God with power over demons, just like the Bible tells us: "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe - and tremble."
The fear of God is rare today while the work of demons is common. Beware boys! 

 

G'day Matt,

Q. "How did God create the world?"
The Bible tells us: "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."
That is saying that God supernaturally created everything in the universe from nothing, by speaking it into existence.
By the way, you will find that Science is forced to agree with that - the universe had a beginning that must have been supernatural.
Wow!...and here's a quirky thought:
You and I were both there at the beginning - as dust!

Hi Rosie,

Q. "Then why didn't He just get rid of the animals that just came into the world?"
Okay, after you explained your question more I think I understand what you mean - at least I hope so!
When God created everything in the beginning nothing was carniverous - people and animals had 'every green herb for food' i.e. they were herbivorous.
Adam disobeyed God then everything started to go wrong - the firstborn son Cain even murdered his brother Abel - until finally God had to say: "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord."
If you watch today's news things haven't really changed. The world is swamped with violence but God's grace (undeserved favour) thru Jesus gives us hope.

For the next post, click on:

 http://godspostbox.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/something-random-about-jesus.html   

Why did He die so young?

3 more great questions from Wauchope youngsters:

 

Hi G.......

Your first question was: "How did God die so early?"
I guess you mean: Why did Jesus die so young?  Yes?
It might look as if evil won when the Son of God, who never sinned, was executed as a criminal after healing thousands of people. Actually Jesus was in control and it was a mighty triumph once He had risen from the dead after 3 days. Finally the end of sin and death is in sight!
This was all predicted by the prophets 100's of years before - even the date it would happen!
Daniel recorded that the Messiah would be 'cut off and shall have nothing' - Jesus lost not only His friends but even His clothes.
Isaiah recorded: "...who shall declare his generation (family)? for he was cut off out of the land of the living..."
He would die young and childless.



Water everywhere: Sea, fog & ice



Q2 "How can He be everywhere if there is only One."

Remember our water demo? Water is amazing - it can be a vapour, a liquid, and a solid, all at the same time.
So God is invisible but He is everywhere and when Jesus was here you could touch Him and talk to Him like anybody else.
(Remind me to show you the egg and the matches demos.)

 

Hi M.........

You asked the question so many other children (and adults) ask: "Who created God?"
Have you heard about God talking to Moses from a burning bush?

God told Moses that it was 'I AM' that was sending Moses to rescue His people from slavery in Egypt. What a weird Name! This is translated from the Hebrew: Ehyeh - Asher - Ehyah which really means 'I was/I am/I will be'.

In other words, God has always been and always will be. Can we get our heads around that? No way! We can't hope to fully understand the one true Almighty God who created the universe just by commanding it to happen.
It's a bit like you and I. Our existence is so miraculous the doctors can't fully explain how (e.g. meiosis & mitosis ) - but we are real aren't we?
What I do know is that God is real too, and BIG and POWERFUL and full of love for us.   

Hi J.......

Q. "How do you really know if the Bible tells the truth?"
Fair enough, but I'm going to ask you a question first:
Can you change anything that happened yesterday? Of course not? 
That means that history has the last say. Yes?
Not only does the Bible match up with other historic records and archaeological finds (what's dug up with a spade) but...(get this)... over and over again God would predict through His Jewish prophets in the Bible what would happen in the future and it happened exactly like He said it would!.....not once or twice but 100's of times in history!  That's more than enough proof for me.
In fact, it is still happening today. Wow.

For the next post click on:
http://godspostbox.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/why-didnt-god-get-rid-of-bad-people.html

Why can't we see God?

Wauchope's youngsters keep coming in with their questions:

 

Hi ..........
Q. Why can God & Jesus see us but we can't see them?
Yes, God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent - that means He is all-knowing, all-powerful and everywhere - plus the Bible tells us: "No-one has seen God at anytime." However it goes on to say: "God abides in us...He has given to us of His Spirit."
God has a presence here now in many real people.

Remember the play we did about the woman at the well outside the town of Sychar?

Jesus said to her: "God is a spirit...." but who really was this Man who not only humbled Himself to speak to this poor social outcast but revealed to her that He is the Christ? 
Was she talking with God? Wow!!

Remember also the water demo we did together... vapour, liquid, and solid. God is invisible but He is everywhere and was as touchable as you and I.

God is not so invisible as we might think and we will see Jesus again, which gives me so much hope. 

Hi J.........

You asked:
"If God is real why doesn't He show Himself?"
My dear, God is real and He has shown Himself - as close as He could get, deliberately being born into a poor family, then living with us for 33 and 1/2 years, feeding, healing and teaching 1000's of people, and even raising the dead. This is not some fairy story in a weird old book - this is an historic fact. Our faith is not based on superstition or imagination but on real evidence.
Yes, Jesus Christ is God showing Himself in a real human body and look what we did to Him.
Meanwhile God is waiting patiently in grace for us to accept Jesus as our Saviour and Lord before He judges this evil world.
By the way, 'Bible' comes from the ancient Greek word biblia since the Scriptures were written on papyrus from the port of Byblos.
 

G'day D........

You asked: "How can I summon God?"
Mmm...I've never been asked that one before!
My initial reaction was to think that you can't do that because we are only God's creatures whereas He is the Almighty Creator. However....the dictionary says that summon means to 'send for or ask the attendance of' so perhaps you're right after all.
Three young men like you come to mind:
Nothing bad is ever said about Joseph who had a healthy fear of God who gave him interpretation of dreams.
Nothing bad is ever said about Daniel who 'desired mercies of the God of the heavens'.
The last one is Gideon who twice put God to the test with a fleece of wool in Judges chapter 7.
The point is these guys asked in humility for God to answer them - and He did!
So there's your answer - summon with humility and you will be answered

Hi A.........

Q. "How do you know that the 3 men died?"
At first I thought you were asking about the video of 3 Jewish princes, Daniel's friends, that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had thrown into the fiery furnace for not worshipping his idol. Of course that didn't kill them - only the guards died.
Then I realized you must be asking about the 3 men who were crucified, Jesus being in the middle. Yes?
It's like this.......In our courts today, evidence is proved with 2 witnesses but the Bible gives us 2 x 2 witness for the death of Jesus, from: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, who all give us incredible detail.
We know that Jesus died after 6 hours on the cross... but to make sure He was dead they speared Him as well! Then they broke the legs of the 2 criminals to speed up their deaths. A Roman centurion dare not fail in his duty or he could find himself banished to row in the galleys with the slaves.

For next post click on: http://godspostbox.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/why-did-he-die-so-young.html
 

.

 

 

 

Beechwood: 'Growing & Learning Together'

Here is what the boys & girls have asked today - let's see if we can give them reasonable answers...


Hi Bree,

Your question was: "Do you believe that the world was once covered and that made the plants and animals live longer? Why is that?"

Yes, I do believe the world was once protected by some sort of shell. Whether that made the plants and animals live longer, I don't know - I wasn't there to see it, but certainly there is plenty of fossil evidence that plants and animals were once a lot larger than they are today.

Okay, why do I believe this?
The Bible tells us: "God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament."
This word firmament comes from the Hebrew word raqiya which means 'expanse' from 'armour plating'.

1656 years later 'all the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened' to cause the Earth to be completely flooded with water. (Scientists know that all continents were once under sea water. There are even clam-shell fossils on Mt. Everest!)
Also they have been able to compress hydrogen to the stage where it becomes like a translucent, metallic shell a bit like our computer screens. They have also grown huge plants in oxygen-rich air and some people use hyperbaric chambers to accelerate healing. My guess is that we would possibly live longer with more oxygen and more protection from solar radiation.

Hi Rosie,

You asked :"Why did God make things that can kill you?"
He didn't!
Listen to this: "God said, Look, I have given you every herb producing seed that is on the whole earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree producing seed: it shall be for food for you; and to every animal of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens (birds), and to every thing that creeps on the earth, in which is a living soul, every green herb for food."

Before Adam and Eve disobeyed God in His garden, people and animals were all herbivores. There was no death at all until then and people were not permitted to eat meat until after the Great Flood. Man's sin has brought terrible consequences on the whole Earth: disease, pain, sorrow, suffering, cruelty, death......

 

 

Hi there Holly & Jolly! (Joey)
This is what you asked:
"Why are there demons here when God is around?
Prove how God is real. There must be a reason."

You would know that good and evil is very real on Earth.

Well, this what the Bible says:
"...our struggle is not against blood and flesh (people), but against principalities, against authorities, against the universal lords of this darkness, against spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies."
Yes, good and evil is also very real in heaven too!
Why does God permit demons? I don't know but I do know that His influence on Earth restrains the forces of evil which would be much worse otherwise.
He will deal with evil in heaven and on Earth in His own time.

As for proving God is real - you guys are enough proof.

You are miracles, you are unique, and you each have a conscience. If that's not enough, one of your mothers produced a boy and the other mother a girl - more of the miraculous!

For next post click on: http://godspostbox.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/answers-please-god.html
 
  

Wauchope needs...more hope!

We're just going to share with you what the boys and girls have been asking this week:

Hi ..........
"Did He have any sisters?"
Jesus?...sure!
We know that Jesus had 4 younger brothers: James, Joses, Judas and Simon along with 'sisters', in other words He had at least 2 sisters.
Just think what a challenge it must have been for them all to realize that their oldest brother was the 'Son of God'! They didn't believe on Him until He had risen from the dead after having been crucified.

G'day .........
You asked: "How do you know if God is real?"
This is what the Bible tells us: "God, who made the world and everything in it....gives to all life, breath and all things...so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being."
It's like this B........: we need to open our eyes and start looking for evidence of God for ourselves. Even a blind man with useless eyes knows that his body is miraculous, that he is unique in the history of the world and that he has a conscience. From there we can look at history or astronomy or geology or biology or...........you name it.
Why not ask God to prove Himself to you?

Hi .......

Oh dear, you do ask some hard ones!..."What is God?"
I'm still learning about God, even after 50 years, so the best I can do for you is tell you some of the ways the Bible describes God:
"God is light"..."God is love"..."our Saviour God"..."the Almighty"..."I AM"..."the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit"..."the Beginning and the End"..."the Judge of all the Earth"..."the King of kings and the Lord of lords"..."the Ancient of Days"... "the Creator"...and so on...and on.
By trusting in Jesus the 'Son of God' he introduces us to "my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God."
We come to know the Almighty God as our very own Father in heaven.


G'day C.......
You made the comment: "If God is real that means we're all related."
Yes, spot on. No wonder geneticists tell us that all males on Earth carry the same 'Y chromosome Adam' and that we all carry one of 3 types of 'mitochondrial Eve' as the energy program in our body cells. In case you didn't know there were 8 of Noah's family came out of the ark, including 3 daughters-in-law who re-populated the Earth.
Since we are all related we must not marry close relatives or the genetic mutations in our family will show up in the children produced.
Well said my friend. 

G'day D......

You wanted to know: "Why can't we see God?"
Whoa!...that's a hard one.
Okay, the Bible tells us that "God is a spirit" and that "no-one has seen God at anytime", however....
God has graciously chosen to reveal Himself in Jesus, so if you had lived on Earth nearly 2000 years ago you would definitely have been able to see this real Man, talk to Him and see the amazing miracles He performed.
  

Hi there K......

The Bible is 'woven' together

"Who wrote the Bible?"
About 40 different people from all walks of life, nearly all Jews, wrote the books of the Bible, although we do not know who wrote a few of them.
It was written over ~1600 years, using 3 languages, on 3 continents. Somebody took the time to graph all the cross-referencing between the various books by listing them down both sides - see how it all fits together like it was woven!
Who could organise such a brilliant publication, now in English for us to read, thousands of years later?

Hi there K.........

You wanted to know: "Who created God?"
Nobody. God has always been and always will be.
He tells us one of His names is 'I AM' - imagine how silly that would look on our gravestones, where 'I was' would be more appropriate, hey.
Yes, I know we can't get our heads around that so please don't expect me to try and explain it. I can't.
All I know is our God is real, He is awesomely BIG and POWERFUL, and He loves us so very much.
You and I are enough proof that God is. 

G'day L..........

"Did Jesus have any true friends and did He hate anyone."

This is what Jesus had to say just before He was arrested: "You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants....but I have called you friends". Only an hour or two later 'all the disciples forsook Him and fled' - they were scared of being arrested - but next morning John is standing by the cross of Jesus.
No, Jesus did not hate anyone but we might think He had good cause to feel that way towards Judas who had agreed to betray Him for 30 pieces of silver. Knowing this Jesus still shared a meal with him - and even washed his dirty feet!
Jesus did have some well-deserved hot words for the religious people: hypocrites! blind guides! fools! serpents! sons of snakes!- but that's different to hate.


G'day S......

You were asking: "If God was a good guy why did He create hell?"

Fair enough...let's see what the Bible has to say about that one...
Jesus did say: "No-one is good but One, that is, God." and I'm sure you would agree that none of us are actually all that good. Soon after that Jesus said that: "the everlasting fire is prepared for the devil and his angels."
So, get the picture?  The last thing God wants to do is send people to hell - the apostle Peter tells us that God "is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." People will only wind up in hell because they have rejected God's gracious offer of Jesus as their Saviour and Lord.
For next post click on: http://godspostbox.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/beechwood-growing-learning-together.html

The Bible in English cost so much