Transference: Anger with others

Transference is when emotions toward one is redirected toward another. An example is when the boss yells at his subordinate, one can't kick the boss. Oftentimes the employee takes the anger home and yells at his wife. His spouse may then scream at the son who in turn kicks the dog. Each step is transference. It would be much easier if the boss just kicked the dog! The poor animal would get the worst of it but the middleman would be cut out of each step.

The boss has his violence and the dog gets the pain. However, in each step there is emotional pain which hurts as bad as being kicked. Unfortunately, those others caught up in the emotional grapevine wither as the anger begins to boil. This transference creates imbalances in relationships, and the entire system becomes dysfunctional. The source of the inbalance is the boss's immaturity, but each participant creates more inbalance. People live their lives in inbalance, and the victims are mostly marriages and families.

Who wins here? There is one winner - Satan. His method is to destroy marriages, families, and friendships. It is love which is under attack. This inbalance is also transferred to the children who grow up as inbalanced as the parent. The boss is merely the catalyst. Satan assigns them that role. Let's be clear who the "boss" is here; it is any person who fails to offer their old self to God! Sure, they give a part of the self but not all. That part they sacrifice are the easy things but it is hardness which they hang onto. Rather than being meek, they are proud, and as their own god, everything is about them! Sure there may be a pretense that the demand be for others, but inevitably those who are in love with themselves, it's all about them, even to the discomfort of those they claim to love.

Those types of individuals are narcissists but it is not Narcis they worship, but their self-god who must be appeased! As an example, let us look at Narci Allforme. Everything is all about him. There are two things which Narci demands: (1) servitude and (2) immediacy. He wants it, and wants it no now!

If Narci gets it from his servants, he is more empowered. Others seem to worship him just as he demands. If he doesn't get it now, his methods are to make everyone miserable until he is appeased. Compromise is never an option, but being a jealous little god, he wants 100% compliance to his whims without any delay.

Sometimes Narci fails to obtain immediate servitude. He has a tool to handle that situation. There are many tools - anger, intimidation, feigned maladies, sympathy, blame, and many others, but the tool is multi-use; it is manipulation. If Narci doesn't get his demands fulfilled - now, the implication is that his loyal subjects don't love him much. Then his wrath is forthcoming. It's time for ranting, raving and blaming!  His subjects don't enjoy that, and emotionally "tap out". They can't handle the stress any more, and relent. They become emotionally starved and spiritually weak. They love this little god-type so much that Narci always gets his way,

Narci needs help. He needs to save his family from him; he must quit the self-worship, and worship as God wills. He must do his reasonable service and hang that naricisstic behavior on the cross near where Jesus was hung. There were three crosses for à reason. One was for the prodigal son, and the other for the proud son, since Jesus was the Good Son.

He must do unto others as he would have them to unto him! That's golden.

What must others do. Quit putting Narci on the pedestal and serving him. By doing that,s they will keep from harming other relationships. It takes courage to stand up to other gods, but that is tough love,

The Mind: Part 1

One of our unseen substances is our "minds". Since we are created in the image of God who said "in our image", one of them was the Father. There are many reasons, or better - excuses, why Elohim is translated in the singular when it is in the plural. (Singular is El). Some say that there was also a mother God, which is blasphemous, or a group of gods because of its plurality. That too is blasphemous because God himself says that He is "one God". Bear with me for a time while I explain the Holy Trinity, and the trinity of man.

Deuteronomy 6:4 (ESV) “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Yhovah - "the self-existent", our 'Elohiym - "God" in this context, is 'echad - "united" or "one". This verse from Deuteronomy specifically identifies the concept of the Holy Trinity: The plural "Elohiym" is taken as singular because He is united. This unification in God are His three homeostases -  "substances" - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Therefore, in Genesis 1:26 "our image" is derived from the plural Elohim, meaning God's three substances. In Genesis 1:27 "his own image" (singular) is used with the same plural Elohim. Note that the singular noun tselem "image", is used both in the plural and singular. The root word for tselem is "shade". Therefore, mankind was created as a shadow of God, who was one, but cast three phantom (also from tselem) shadows - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Those three shadows cast from Elohim to Adam were mind, body, and spirit. The mind is the shadow of the Father. God is called Father because he is the Creator, in addition to His being the Father of the Son:

Isaiah 64:8 (ESV)  ^"But now, O Lord (Yhovah), you are our Father ('ab); we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand."

Elohim is the Son because His Holy Spirit created Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus was the Word before he became flesh (John 1:14),  but the Word is symbolic of  mankind's body.

Elohim is the Holy Spirit as well. We find that many places, most notable in (Matthew 28:19) where the entire Godhead or Holy Trinity is mentioned. Adam was born with the Holy Spirit. His soul contained God's Spirit. However, because of original sin inherited from Adam, we are not! Mankind since Adam are born with immortal souls (nephesh - living creatures). Soul and spirit are not interchangeable since spirit is ruwach - wind or breath. My thought is that the "soul" is the poterion (Greek) "cup" which Jesus asked the Lord to take from him in Matthew 26:39. Especially since it means more directly "a drinking vessel". Throughout the New Testament Jesus refers to his cup as holding living water, which is the soul.

Consequently, sinful men are born wit empty souls, which are subsequently filled with amounts of sin as the person is deceived. With the second birth, the soul is emptied and imbued with the Holy Spirit, and the Christian becomes again as innocent as Adam was with the same propensity to be deceived. (i.,e., free will remains after being born-again).

Since God is Spirit, Jesus was surely implying that before he died, his humanity would be taken. We know from scripture that he would be glorified thereafter.

As such, to understand the mind, we must understand both God and man. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but man is mind, body, and soul - mankind's trinity. Tomorrow we will look specifically as to why God is Mind, and what the mind is, and that mankind also has a mind but much weaker than God's.

The Adams in Us

I use to enjoy the sitcom The Adams Family. On the other hand, Christians are of the Adams family. What I mean by that, we have two fathers, both of whom are Adams. The Hebrew word adamah means "earth", and adam means "red clay".  As descendants of the first Adam, we are certainly children of the earth.  From Isaiah 1:18, we know that red (scarlet) is representative of sin. With His foreknowledge, God knew in advance that Adam would fail Him, thus the double meaning of his name! Paul explains the two Adams quite well:

1 Corinthians 15:45 "Thus it is written, 'The first man Adam became a living being'; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49  Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

The first question when it says, "it is written," is to ask, "where is it written. Well, here .it is: 

Genesis 2:7  (ESV) "Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature."

Adam is "the man". God took dust from the ground, breathed life into him, and dust became alive! When Adam was formed, the natural came first (the dust), then God breathed life into his nostrils, and as such the spiritual. In our featured passages from Paul, when Adam was created from dust, God gave him His spirit right after that. Adam was born with God's Holy Spirit, and as such he was the son of the earth, and the son of God. And, by the way, because Adam had at his creation the Holy Spirt, he was born "safe" with everlasting life! Adam was intended to be immortal. God did not create his creature to die, but to live!

Now let us look a little further: 

Genesis 1:27 (ESV) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

It was not just air that God breathed in Adam's nostrils, it was His own Holy Spirit. "Breathed" is representative of "the spirit" in Hebrew, which is represented as a "breeze".  Thus, Adam was born with his soul full of the Holy Spirit.

As such, the first Adam's parents were the earth and God who imbued him with His Holy Spirit. This was the first occasion, and the last, which the earth itself brought forth life. Thus, Adam was created from virgin soil and the Holy Spirit. That was never to happen again, or did it? Now let us look at the second Adam - Jesus.

His name shall be called Jesus (Matt 1:25), yet he was also called Immanuel (Matt 1:23),  or "God With Us". , just as was prophesied.  (Isaiah 7:14). The name Jesus means "Deliverer". Ironically, the name Adam came to represent "evacuation" since Adam was punished by expulsion from paradise, (i.e., the Garden of Eden). When Adam was expelled into the wilderness outside the gate to the Garden, there was one Way back in - through that gate, which by the way, was guarded by seraphim. The way was by Deliverance from the wilderness outside paradise, by Jesus Christ himself. The Gate back to paradise, was the Way of Jesus.

Right there in the Garden, Jesus restored Adam after his sin. He delivered him from his sin within, and restored his immortality. After the Word covered Adam's sin, Adam became spiritually immortal again, but the consequences of sin he still had to suffer by physical death. Ironically, Adam became his own god when he chose sin for he  did what was right in his own eyes, but the One True God saved Adam's own god: The last Adam delivered the first Adam from eternal damnation! (The new birth is when we realize that we can't save our own god, but God can).

Just like our father Adam, each of us, with our own god, must turn to the One True God for salvation - Jesus delivers us from our sins. The first Adam caused us to fall to temptation, and the last Adam delivers us from temptation! What a plan! That was no coincidence, and enforces my faith in God.

Jesus too was born of a virgin. Earth is symbolic of Mary because she descended from Adam. As the earth is, Mary was natural born. The virgin earth produced Adam, and the virgin Mary produced Jesus.  God Fathered Adam when His Holy Spirit breathed life into him. Guess who Fathered Jesus?

Matthew 1:20 "But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit."

God Fathered Jesus. Indeed he is the Son of God, and because of Mary, also the Son of Man - He is God, but from the dust himself, to which Mary returned. It should be obvious by now that Adam and Jesus are brothers, both with the natural mother, and with the same spiritual Father! In the New Testament the story of the prodigal son, presents this dichotomy. (Luke 15). "But," you say,  "It was the younger son who was sinful, and Jesus was the younger son!" Not so with Adam, just as Jesus was after John the Baptist but came before him, Jesus was after Adam but came before him. We know that from John chapter 1.

Adam was the prodigal son in that story. Jesus was the good son. Adam was welcomed back into the fold by grace, just as the prodigal son was. Both sons became reconciled. The first Adam became reconciled with the last Adam, and Adam No. 2 delivered Adam No. 1 from sin!

Adam was born glorified, lost it for a time, and was restored by the blood. He was glorified when he was born, and glorified again when he died. Jesus was born in glory (in the presence of God), lived in spiritual glory, but was physically glorified after his resurrection. The Son of Man became fully the Son of God because his very nature changed - his earthly body was transformed into an immortal one.

Adam died somewhere, but Jewish legend places his tomb on Golgotha - the place of Adam's skull, where Jesus finally died. The two brothers, one prodigal, the other not, were united in death. Now both are united in life! Their Father is pleased, and the curse is gone:

Genesis 3:15 "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head,  and you shall bruise his heel.”

I believe that at the crucifixion, when Jesus died for Adam, that this came to pass -  Jesus stepped on the head of Adam, of course symbolically, but maybe in actuality. This is the premise on which I wrote my book, The Skull of Adam, advertised above.

There are many other parallels. With God, there are no coincidences! I find it ironic that life was given to Eve by her being taking from the side of Adam. Likewise, life was given to mankind, when living water poured forth from Jesus' side at the crucifixion. Maybe it wasn't irony, but done that way to convince the Jewish people who had to have miracles to believe.

When we are born, we are children of the first Adam, but when we are born again, at the second birth, we are born of the Spirit, become adopted by God, and brothers to Jesus and sons of God. Adam ceases to be our spiritual father, and Jesus becomes our spiritual Father because it's by God's own blood that we are delivered!

Never ever neglect the Old Testament. By it, in apostolic times, salvation was explained by that Holy Scripture, and people accepted the Messiah when they placed faith in the Christ.  Jesus is the only way to salvation, and our earthly father, Adam, was delivered by the same person who delivers us - Jesus the Christ, the Word who spoke to Adam and covered his sin!

Tattoos and Piercings

What is in vogue right now are tattoos and piercings. What is not in vogue right now are the things of God. Of course, other things are the things of the world. Dogs mark their territory by peeing on trees. Humans mark their turf by what is important in their life. Ink is one way many of mankind marks their turf. Indeed, tattoos were used by pagans for centuries to designate their tribes. That is tribalism, and that aspect has been restored by some in the modern age. In scripture, the prohibition of tattoos does not stand alone:

Leviticus 19:28 (MEV) "You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord."

Cuttings are included. Those commands were dictated by God, and are His will. One may ask why God even cares. All scripture points toward mankind being our own gods. Elsewhere scripture also says: 

Deuteronomy 18:9 (ESV)  “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations."

What are some of the things which pagans do? Mark and cut their bodies. We're all familiar with colorful totem poles. They represent pagan gods. They are colorful and cut to make and idol of wood. When people mark and cut themselves, it's an idol of flesh which they paint and hew.

Of course you are now thinking, "That is not my reason for doing it!" and you may be getting a little angry right now. Remember, it's not my words, but Holy Scripture. Of course you don't intend to make yourself a god, and you don't intend to make your flesh an idol. As Jesus said about his assassins, "Forgive them, Father... they know not what they do!" (Luke 23:34). Those with artwork on their skin either do not consider what God desires of them or ignores God's will. Most Christians know God's will, and do what is right in their own eyes.

Proverbs 21:2  (ESV) "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart."

Of course, cutting and marking oneself is not of the same seriousness as cutting and marking the Savior! There are degrees of seriousness of sin. The prohibition against tattoos and cuttings are part of Mosaic Law, but murder is God's Law written on stone for the ages. God's Laws are all acts of love in some manner, and are focused on God and others. The command against tattoos focus directly on the self.  Essentially, it is not as serious because the people who do that are destroying their own idol. The problem lies in ignoring the true God in favor of their own false god.

The flesh is mankind's problem. It is the medium which transforms the things of the world into the dirt that contaminates the temple intended for God.

John 1:12 (ESV)  ^"But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."

Basically, the children of God are those, not of the flesh or man's own will, but of God! By cutting and piercing, children of God are certainly not doing the will of God, but their own will. The slogan of paganism is: "Do what thou wilt". In other words, if the flesh wants to do it, do it - there is no one stopping you! Not even God will stop you from marking yourself. It is your own choice! You won't even go to hell just for doing that.

Mosaic Laws are not essential laws. They are, however, still valid as an indication of what God wills. His will is that His children remain unmarked, but being a graceful God, His desire is that His children obey Him of their own choice. This is called Christian liberty.

1 Corinthians 10:29b "For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience?"

You are at liberty to tattoo and mark yourself. I am not! It's my own conscience which dictates my own actions, and you yours. God made this rule. Obedience is between you and God. It is not my place to dictate to you what I deem to be wrong. If others accept my principles because I bully them in the name of Christ, they place my authority over God's. We are to do God's will, not the will of others. I can't tattoo and cut myself because I understand why God doesn't want me to - I decorate my own self-god if I do. On the other hand, you too are decorating your own god because you too are your own other god. What you do with your own god is none of my business. It doesn't bother me when you mark yourself. In fact, I am entertained that you would because I consider it self-indulgent.

To think all my will should be my God's will is silly. Your image should be in God's image by choice. God doesn't force compliance: he wills it. If we only obey because we must, then we are not in god's will - we are slaves to the Law and are in bondage.

Therefore, tattooing is an individual choice. If you have read scripture, you know that God's will is unmarked flesh. Other Christians should worry about their own selfish god, and not the god of others. We all are self-righteous at times, and wish others to do our will. That's not how it works!

How should Christians handle these entangling commands? We each should consider God's will, and examine wherein our own priorities lie: is it on the self or on God?

In all honesty, we all have greater sins than markings to worry about. Our hardest task is to love. There are no loopholes nor alternatives to that. My thought is that for me, obedience is one way to show God that His will is more important than mine.

At one time, my will was to tattoo my arm. My three hours of pain failed to mark me as ironically, I tortured my own other god. When I became mature in my understanding of God's will, my own will changed. I lost the desire to destroy the clean canvas which God gave me, and my new will was to please Him. Of course, there are other cuttings and markings with which I must deal. We all need to cut away the foreskin of the heart. That is the reasonable change which God expects:

Deuteronomy 10:16 "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn."

This is not a pagan ritual, it is of God. It means to have a change of heart, and that is a requirement for the new birth. When we are truly born again, we're more concerned with cutting away the dirty flesh of the heart than of the skin. New creatures are to be changed. Our desires are to do things God's way, not to be our own gods!

While we stand under the needle or submit to the piercing gun, billions remain unsaved. While we decorate our own god, billions are destined for hell! Our calling is not to focus on the self, but the world. The Great Commission, the main job of Christians, is to tell the world about Jesus and his salvation. I suppose a sign which we carry on our forearm may be one way to spread the word, bit honestly, are their better ways?

The Soul: Part 1

What is the soul? Philosophers have studied this for centuries, but the soul is not the expertise of secular thought. They can understand the spiritual no better than a donkey can explain his bray! There is a place to find out about the soul, and that is in Holy Scripture. "It" was made by God and differentiates mankind from the donkeys, so to speak. Let us see how the philosophers define it.

They call the soul an incorporeal essence. This term in an oxymoron, and means "substance without physical properties". Essentially, philosophers don't know because their explanation is an impossibility. The first use of  "soul" in the Bible:

(Genesis 2:7) "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

At that instant divine "magic" happened - I can be oxymoronic as well! The corporeal (the dust) was breathed upon by God, and became a living soul (incorporeal).  God turned lead into gold, metaphorically. In the Hebrew "soul" is nephesh - a breathing creature. "Living" is chay or raw or fleshly. The dust is the "lead" and the flesh is the "gold" in God's magic. We don't know how the animals were created, but in this verse, mankind's aliveness is nicely explained.

Throughout the Old Testament "souls" refer to "lives", but they have importance. Only when humans die is it souls which depart! There is something special about mankind that the animals don't have!

Later on we find that "soul" does more than define mankind's aliveness. Being alive seems to be "breathing". Of course, with modern technology "breathing" can be continued indefinitely, and as long as the rawness is there, i.e., the flesh is still fresh, life still exists. But there is more to the soul than the presence of life!

Genesis 12:13 "Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee."

Abraham referred to his own nephesh as if it is its own entity. It could have said merely chay (flesh), but it's something more than returning to the dust which dying is.  Let's think on  this for a minute. Suppose that one could take a living person, shake the person until all the dust fell away, what would be left? The mind and the soul. Physical life would be gone, but the incorporeal would remain. Abraham held the invisible existence of his body greater than the physical. His life could be taken, but he was more worried about his soul!

Matthew explained the concept of body and soul much better:

Matthew 10:28 "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

In both places the Greek word psuche means "breath", implying "the spirit" because back in Genesis it was God who breathed that into us. As such, when mankind was created he breathed into our souls life. Adam and Eve's soul was alive because "it" contained God's Holy Spirit.  Jesus referred to his own presence several times as his "cup". When he was about to die, he said:

Matthew 6:39b "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

Jesus' cup was the container for his Spirit. It was created as part of his body. In fact, many times Jesus refers to the drinking from his "cup", thus the sharing of his Holy Spirit. That "cup" is his "soul", and thus the soul is the container for God's Holy Spirit.  It wasn't his flesh (bread) that Jesus told us to drink, but his blood, representing his death, and loss of breath. However, he promised that his Spirit would return and comfort his followers. As such, I believe that Jesus' specific "cup" is the bountiful Holy Spirit which resided in his soul at the time of his death. When Jesus ascended in the flesh, his "Ghost" descended. That part of Jesus who is still with us is his cup. The ascension separated his dust from his soul.

I believe that the mind stays with the soul since the body only returns to dust. Matthew bears out that the body and soul are separate, and the story of Lazarus in heaven bears out that the mind is engaged to the soul forever. Therefore, I have firmed up, in my own mind, that the soul is the container for God's Spirit.

Adam and Eve were born filled with the Holy Spirit as God breathed his spirit into the dust. We find that again in Acts chapter 2 when those who were of one accord, received the Holy Ghost, the very Spirit - that part of God's Spirit which was on the cross with Jesus within his cup. The soul is as a wind, but "it" is blown into the soul. Actually, the soul is neither an "it" nor a "person", but an aspect of God. When a soul receives a portion of God's Holy Spirit, it resides in him. Man's goal is to keep the temple - cup or soul, clean for God to live within him. Who lived in Jesus's temple was the Holy Ghost and when we accept Jesus, his Spirit that endured the cross is shared with us. The Holy Ghost is not a different Spirit, but the essence of God when he became man since Jesus Is God.

That is not to infer that there are two Holy Spirits for there is only one. Think on God's "Spirit" as an available pneuma , as a wind from God bearing power. Those "powers" are twelve-fold, and its fruits are -  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control from Galatians 5:22-23. Since we know that the Holy Spirit calls us, so he is also encouragement. Of course we don't know for sure what the three not mentioned are but Revelation does mention twelve.

As such, our own soul has within it those same things. When Adam sinned, all those things were discarded in favor of the fruits of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil - envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like (Galatians 5:21). Adam was born "safe" (sozos in the Greek) since he was innocent and had a spirit filled soul.  He was at that time immortal, and had the hope of salvation. His hope was dashed when he chose evil over righteousness. It didn't take many sins, but onky one to condemn him. However, as he failed to effectively cover his own sin with leaves, the Voice came in to save the damned - God covered Adam's sin with the blood of an innocent animal as a picture of Jesus shedding his own blood.

At that time, Adam's soul began to be imbued. Why do I say imbued rather than filled? Because the word pletho in Acts 2:4, and elsewhere, means filled or imbued. I believe that since Adam had sinned, he certainly wasn't filled, but only imbued - which means "tinged". I liken that to partial absorption in a sponge. In other words one can have the Holy Spirit, and at the same time, not be filled with the Spirit since sin does still enter in. Therefore, there remained in Adam the propensity to sin, and due to God's grace, he was no longer condemned to death by one mere sin.

Therefore, post-innocence Adam and mankind received grace. Christian liberty is allowing sin into our soul, but as sin enters in the Holy Spirit is sort of squeezed out. When one becomes "reprobate" unrepented sin has entered in to the degree that the Holy Spirit has no temple in which to live. God is evicted and Satan, by default, invited in. In this condition, apostasy happens as the will of the Father is abandoned, and the "safe" person becomes "unsafe" to the extent that without repentance that person becomes lost to eternal life.

Mankind claims to want eternal life. It's not their earthly flesh which is saved, but their immortal souls. After the soul is saved by grace, the body is resurrected and glorified -  become as Jesus's. Although it's our soul that we want saved, many people haven't a clue what is saved! It's actually their flesh that they desire to keep, looking back, and caring not that it is the old creature that they are so worried about!

If the importance of scripture lies only on salvation, perhaps we do need to know what we are saving, what we are saved from, and it doesn't hurt to understand the grace by which we are saved; and that the Savior is not a liar - that his Word is truth!

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").

Wherefore Art Thou?

William Shakespeare circa 1593 wrote Romeo and Juliet. It was a story of unrequited love. One of the most memorable lines was "wherefore art thou, Romeo?" As most readers of the play, I too believed that meant where are you, Romeo? Not so!

What does it mean?

Years later I learned that it meant, why are you, Romeo?

My question to the reader is why are you, (reader) - fill in your own name. "Wherefore art thou?"

We all have a corporate purpose in life. Think about that right this instant: What is the purpose of mankind? You have some in mind? Keep them to yourself for a moment.

Here are some passages for why art thou mankind?

Luke 10:27 (ESV) And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13 (ESV) "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. " 

1 Samuel 12:24 (ESV) "Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you."

Isaiah 43:21 (ESV) "The people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise."

1 Corinthians (ESV) 10:31 "Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'” 

Romans 12:1 (ESV) "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."

Taking these six one at a time, what are some of the purposes of mankind?

• Love God and love others. (How much do you love yourself?)
• Fear and obey God (What does scripture say about this? Your duty.)
• Fear and serve God. (Why should we? For doing great things for you. Like what?)
• Be God's. Praise Him. (How are we His? What is Praise?)
• (What is this verse  saying?) Be like God. Be responsible to God. 
• Sacrifice the self for God. (How can we do this?)
• (Are their others?) Believe - Accept - Obey - Trust - still more?

Why are you? The same as all mankind. We all our to magnify the Lord. All these things are giving credit to God for creating us!

Psalm 69:30 "I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving."

Why must we magnify the Lord? For his loving kindness in creating us. Our own creation was God's second act of grace. What was his first? The creation itself! He made a home for us!

We are to magnify God for His creation, but what does mankind do instead?

Psalm 35:26b "... let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me."

Our purpose, then, is to magnify God, but who turns out to be our god? Indeed, man returns God's grace by magnifying ourselves?

What is this self-magnification called? Pride. The world was meant to have an atmosphere of love, and it came about that it is the battleground of self against God. Mankind, commencing with Adam, began to serve the self rather than God.

Who are our other gods? We are the other gods which the serpent warned against, and what is our idol? The flesh! Our purpose is not for pleasure.

Galatians 5:16 (ESV) "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." 

Romans 8:7 (ESV) "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot."

What is the Satanic command? Do what thou wilt. 

Romans 8:13: "For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." 

Just what is the flesh? It's the mental condition inside which craves all sorts of pleasure - sexual, the appetite, power, prestige, wealth, etc.

The world was not created for these things. Our purpose is to magnify God, and what happens to us when we fulfill our purpose? Contentment, happiness, even joy, but most of all hope!

Your purpose then is to magnify God. What is it that all men desire the most? Eternal life, perhaps. What is it that we crave most, at least until we're saved? Pleasure. With each moment of sin, doubting humans gamble eternal life. Of course if we're born-again, we are not subject to the Mosaic Laws.

God's reason for creating us, then, was to commune with us for eternity. To be friends? What are friends? Friends are forever! 

He designed us immortal but one instance of sin created spiritual mutants. We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Our purpose was to be perfect for He is perfect.(Matthew 5:48).  Perfection is our ultimate purpose, remembering that we were created in the image of God.

"But," you say, "I'm merely human. I can't be perfect." You are so right for to think so would elevate you to  godhood! However, God can perfect us:

2 Samuel 22:33 "God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect."

Can we ever be perfect? No, but unlike everything else, we get credit for our willingness.

A big difference between Calvinism and Arminianism is regarding the Law.  With the former, the focus is on sola gratia, by grace alone. With the latter, the focus is on magnifying God by honoring Him.

What is the difference in how we look at works? Christians don't have to but desire to and are willing to attempt perfection.

Because God created us in his image, we all have a will. What is the will? Our mechanism in making a choice. When God assigned Adam the purpose of tending the Garden (Genesis 2:15), mankind's purpose became "dressing and keeping" the Garden. What does that entail? Let's see. Who is at the center of the Garden? The Tree of Life. Who does that represent? God. How about the other trees around the center of the Garden? People. From the creation, mankind's purpose was to love God, and love others, which Jesus said was the Greatest Commandment!
In order to do God's will, we needed a place to do it. Since we are physical beings we required a material existence. Why the creation? For us and God. God wanted someone with whom to commune, and mankind needed a place to magnify the Lord. He is Lord and we are His tenants.

In summary, the creation was for us to serve our purpose of magnifying God by being like Him. Do we fulfill our purpose? Man never did, but grace is God's overlooking our failure to be as He designed us.