Yes, Jesus in his pre-human existence was definitely part of God's team....but to call Jesus "God" (with a capital "G") is where the problem starts.
Yahweh himself called human judges "gods" in the sense that they had his divine authority.
Do you recall in John 10: 31-36, when the Jews were trying to bring an accusation of blasphemy against Jesus?......
"Once again the Jews picked up stones to stone him. 32 Jesus replied to them: “I displayed to you many fine works from the Father. For which of those works are you stoning me?” 33 The Jews answered him: “We are stoning you, not for a fine work, but for blasphemy; for you, although being a man, make yourself a god.” 34 Jesus answered them: “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said: “You are gods”’? 35 If he called ‘gods’ those against whom the word of God came—and yet the scripture cannot be nullified— 36 do you say to me whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?"
Jesus was quoting Psalm 82:1 where God says that he judges in the midst of those appointed men.....calling them "gods" because they were his representatives. Jesus has that title "god" applied to him too (as he said) because he came as God's representative....and yet he simply called himself "God's Son". He had every opportunity to identify himself as the Almighty right then and there, because the Jews were already going to stone him for blasphemy. Yet we have not a single statement from Jesus that even hints that he was God incarnate.
Yes, Jesus was their "Lord" but not their God. His apostles knew who their God was....
1 Corinthians 8:5-6....
"For even though there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many “gods” and many “lords,” 6 there is actually to us one God, the Father, from whom all things are and we for him; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are and we through him."
Titles in the Bible have different applications. The Jews worshipped "one God...the Father". They did not worship Jesus, but rightly honored him....did obeisance (bowed) to him as God's Son.
If you read the account, he was given a vision of heaven with Jesus at the right hand of his Father (no holy spirit was seen at his left hand and never has been) so Jesus was his Lord and as he was about to die, he addressed his last words to his familiar friend and teacher, whom he knew had promised to resurrect the dead. He entrusted Jesus with his resurrection to life in heaven as one of his "joint heirs".
I don't believe it was a prayer as such because Jesus said we can only pray to God "through" him, not to pray "to" him.
According to the Tanach the festival was....
לַֽיהֹוָ֖ה ...which means "to Yahweh". So the idol they made was supposed to represent their God.
ʼElo·himʹ is the plural of ʼelohʹah (god). Sometimes this plural refers to a number of gods (Genesis 31:30; 32; Genesis 35:2) but more often it is used as a plural of majesty, dignity, or excellence.
Elo·himʹ is used in the Scriptures with reference to Yahweh himself, to angels, to idol gods (singular and plural), and to men. When applying to Yahweh, ʼElo·himʹ is used as a plural of majesty, dignity, or excellence.
Indeed that's true. But God's mercy has to be merited. If we are doing the wrong thing in defiance of Jesus' teachings (justifying what Jesus condemned) then we will answer for that. Mercy is extended only when repentance is demonstrated. In order to be repentant, we have to know that what we are doing is wrong. The ones claiming Jesus as their "Lord" did not see what they were doing was wrong, but they paid the penalty for not checking that their beliefs and practices were pleasing to God, not just their church.
Do we support a political system that we know is owned and operated by the devil?.....would we stand up and be counted in that world when Jesus told us to be "no part" of it? (1 John 5:19; John 18:36)
The one thing that the devil uses as his most successful recruitment tool is patriotism. People get all fired up with nationalism and it becomes a catalyst for all manner of hate to be fed to the masses, dividing people over politics, religion, race, the right to bear arms....or in any other way to cause disharmony.
When Jesus said to 'love our enemies'...how many of us can actually do that? How many can divorce themselves from nationalistic pride long enough to see the 'enemy' as just another human being....somebody's brother, sister, father, mother, uncle, aunt or cousin? When we dehumanize the enemy, we have more reason to hate someone who is probably just like us.
Religiously motivated hatred is particularly rife in the world at the moment. Terrorism has instilled fear and fearful people are easy to control when you present yourself as their savior. But looking at the world objectively, its hard to tell who the real terrorists are. Most people do not understand that they are victims of propaganda.
Not sure what you mean by that, can you explain?
BTW...just asking (not criticizing) sometimes your posts are a bit hard to understand because your spelling is often incorrect. Do you have spellcheck? It might be an advantage to use it, just for clarity. You are obviously a well educated person, but spelling errors can reduce your credibility. Just a suggestion...no offense intended.
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