Discovering God

Who is Jesus?

John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Jesus was the Word. Throughout Holy Scripture, which by the way, was at that time - what we call the Old Testament. Whenever God spoke it was the Voice of Jesus who was speaking. The Voice walked in the Garden of Eden, and spoke the Word to Adam and Eve.

Who trained Jesus for his ministry?

He didn't need training. He merely repeated the words and meaning to those in the synagogue, even at twelve years of age, what  he had said to the patriarchs for thousands of years, ending with the prophet Micah. At that time the Word became silent for about four-hundred years.

What (sic) was Jesus before he was made flesh?

God.

What was he afterward? God. I use the word "what" because God was not a person as we know it.. He just Is. Of course, God became a person in the flesh at his birth. He was called the Son of Man, but was also the Son of God, and was both Jesus Is God.

What is glory, as in "we beheld his glory"?

Glory is the presence of God. This is reinforced by "the only begotten of the Father". When we think of Glory, think of grace and truth.

In the beginning, what do you suppose God's grace was?

Perhaps the creation itself, and bestowing life upon his creation.

What was truth? The Voice of the Word. Anything that God said.

Colossians 1:15 "Who (the Lord Jesus - verse 4) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:  16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:"

What is the nature of Jesus?

Jesus is not natural, but part spirit and part flesh. Nature is of matter. He is the image of the invisible God. In essence, this is saying that Jesus is God revealed to mankind.

Was Jesus born since he was firstborn?

As God he just Is. We find that in Young's Literal Translation:

Matthew 14:27b "...Jesus spake to them, saying, `Be of good courage, I Am, be not afraid.'" (my italics and capitalization).

Firstborn was the idea, the Designer's intent, of Jesus' own purpose. With God's foreknowledge He designed Jesus, then designed us in the image of Jesus. ("our image" scripture says).

What was Jesus's purpose?

To save fallen men.

From what?

God's wrath for sinfulness - eternal damnation.

What is mankind's main purpose?

To not suffer hell-fire. To have eternal life in heaven. We were born with the purpose of serving God forever!

The Word did the Creating. The Word was God! God spoke, and his Voice caused everything to exist.

What did the Word create?

All things! Specifically mentioned were the heavens and the earth.

What is included here as "the heavens"?

All things beyond the earth, both what we see and what we can't see. There are two realms: the supernatural (spiritual) and the natural (material things). We can see with our eyes the natural, but the spiritual world takes special glasses constructed of grace and truth. In other words, to understand the natural world fully means to understand God, and to understand God means the truth is that he created it all!

What other power could have done the creation since Chance doesn't exist?

Romans 1:19 "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"

We can see the creation plainly. The things of the Cosmos and the World are obvious. My own earliest memory was looking out into the clouds, wondering what was beyond, and thinking about the creation. Even then, I came to the conclusion that God did the creating, even though I had yet to understand God. Later I found out that it was God who created it all, and stand firmly now in that belief even though as an engineer I too am a scientist.

Faith, then, is based on belief that God is Almighty, and trust that He can and will do what he says. For our hope, God says that he has prepared for us a room in a mansion. The truth  he validates by saying, "If it isn't true, then I would have told you so." (John 14:2).

Who made the Kingdom of God which we refer to as Heaven? 

God.

Some believe that God prepared for us a place in heaven, but was too weak to prepare for us a place in this world. (i.e, the Creator God can only create the supernatural, and not the natural. As such He is a weak God with that idea).

If Jesus can create heaven for us, can he indeed create the universe?

Yes, or God is not only a weak God, but a liar for the first words He said was essentially, "I did it!"

Genesis 1:1 "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."

What existed in the beginning?

Only God.

What did God first do?

Created everything beyond the earth, the earth, and all things visible and invisible.

Where did he put everything"

Into nothingness or darkness?

What is darkness?

The lack of light. In the beginning not even light was there. God shined His Light and it just was.

What is nothingness?

Infinite space which goes on forever which has no boundaries. It's essentially the container for the universe, and is endless.

If the creation just happened, where did nothingness come from?

God created it as the container for everything!

Now after looking at the creation of the universe, we'll ignore the vegetation and the animals for a short spell and look at man himself.

Genesis 1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."

What does "in our image"mean?

Is there a contradiction between "in the image of God" and "in our image"?

No. God is one, but has three aspects.

To be truthful making mankind "in our image" is not word for word, but interpolation since God has three images: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew  28:19). Theologians call God's makeup "persons" but that is far from fitting. The word in Greek is hypostases - the substances of God.

Are we then, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, if we are created in the image of God?

It can be seen that our substance are like Gods: mind (the Father), body (Jesus), and the soul (the cup for God's Holy Spirit) (Matthew 26:39). The Father is the mind which thought into existence the creation. His power is in His Spirit.(Luke 1:35). It should by now be obvious that our flesh is our material existence in the likeness of Jesus!

Was Jesus Trinitarian in makeup?

He was God, so Jesus too was mind, body, and soul; and as such, was the Creator (Father), the Savior (Jesus, the Son of Man), and Comforter ( the Holy Ghost).

Any particular reason for using ghost here instead of spirit?

Think on that!

What is man's first gift from God after he was given life?

Man was to have dominion over all the other animals.

And what is dominion?

Animals should all be subject to mankind. We are for God's purpose, and the animals are for ours. Looking at all the different species of animals, they all have specific purpose(s). even the vulture serves a great purpose, and this low life animal which eats garbage is necessary for man's existence, and is a protected species.

How was both male and female created in the image of God?

We all have mind, body, and soul.

What is the soul?

Like space which is not material, the soul is the empty space which requires filling. It can be empty, partially full, or filled.

What is an empty soul?

Longingness to be filled.The Holy Spirit calls us to need God, and we must either come to Him or deny Him. We are born with an empty soul just waiting to be filled.

What fills the soul?

One or the other - evil or righteousness.

Which fills it first?

Evil with sin.

When is the soul replace evil with righteousness?

When one is born-again at the second birth, sacrificing the evil self for the righteous self.

What things was man to do first?

Multiply, subdue the earth, and rule it.

Why, then, was the universe created?

For us. That was God's gift to mankind, and his first act of grace.

Why should we love God?

He gave us life and purpose. Why art thou Romeo? Because God gave him life and purpose!

How do we show love for God?

We perform our assignments well. We replicate ourselves, we overcome the world as followers of God (John 16:33), and we rule it with God's rules.

What is God rule?

To love Him and one another - the Greatest Commandment.

Why is it good to multiply?

To populate the earth so that God will have more children - those who love Him. Adam had his friends - the animals and Eve, and Adam was so that God had friends. As the old song goes, we have a friend in Jesus.

What is friendship?

Love, and it reciprocated. God so loved the world that He created it, and does not want the inhabitants of it to perish. (John 3:16). God created the world to love it's people. Theoretically, the more people, the more potential for people to love God.

Satan is what type of creature?

 A fallen angel thought to be a Power.

Why did God create angels?

Helpers.

What is Satan's role?

To test mankind? He rebelled because it was God's purpose for Him. You see, all God's creation has purpose!

Unfortunately, as we soon shall see, Satan had ideas of his own. His purpose is to test our friendship with God.

Reference Material: 

dwelt (skenoo; dwelling place: tent, tabernacle, encamped) (Strong's Dictionary).

The 'thrones' ... are creatures that function as the actual chariots of God driven by the cherubs. They are characterized by peace and submission; God rests upon them. Thrones are depicted as great wheels containing many eyes, and reside in the area of the cosmos where material form begins to take shape. They chant glorias to God and remain forever in his presence. They mete out divine justice and maintain the cosmic harmony of all universal laws. (Guiley, Rosemary Ellen (1996). Encyclopedia of Angels. ISBN 0-8160-2988-1, p.37).

The "Dominions"  ... are presented as the hierarchy of celestial beings "Lordships". The Dominions regulate the duties of lower angels. It is only with extreme rarity that the angelic lords make themselves physically known to humans. The Dominions are believed to look like divinely beautiful humans with a pair of feathered wings, much like the common representation of angels, but they may be distinguished from other groups by wielding orbs of light fastened to the heads of their scepters or on the pommel of their swords. (Wikipedia: "Christian angelology")

The "Principalities" ... are the angels that guide and protect nations, or groups of peoples, and institutions such as the Church. The Principalities preside over the bands of angels and charge them with fulfilling the divine ministry. There are some who administer and some who assist.... The Principalities are shown wearing a crown and carrying a sceptre. Their duty also is said to be to carry out the orders given to them by the upper sphere angels and bequeath blessings to the material world. Their task is to oversee groups of people. They are the educators and guardians of the realm of earth. Like beings related to the world of the germinal ideas, they are said to inspire living things to many things such as art or science.  (Wikipedia; "Christian angelology).

The "Powers" ... or "Authorities"... primary duty... is to supervise the movements of the heavenly bodies in order to ensure that the cosmos remains in order. Being warrior angels, they also oppose evil spirits, especially those that make use of the matter in the universe, and often cast evil spirits to detention places. These angels are usually represented as soldiers wearing full armor and helmet, and also having defensive and offensive weapons such as shields and spears or chains respectively.
The Powers are the bearers of conscience and the keepers of history. They are also the warrior angels created to be completely loyal to God. Some believe that no Power has ever fallen from grace, but another theory states that Satan was the Chief of the Powers before he Fell... Their duty is to oversee the distribution of power among humankind, hence their name. (Wikipedia; ""Christian angelology").