Through him and for him

 Things being created through the Lord Jesus Christ and for him does not mean he personally created them: Not in any sense like he can say, “Ooh, I made that”. Look for example at the fish and bread with which he fed the five thousand. That extra fish and bread left over, baskets and baskets of it: He did not create it. It was created through him and for him. 

Jesus has the title The Word of God

 The Lord Jesus Christ, in Revelation 19, where he is shown in robes drenched in the blood of those judged by God, is given the title “The Word of God”: That is ‘Word’ as in the phrase ‘the judge’s WORD is final’. “In this context, ‘word’ refers to the judge's decision, ruling, or verdict. It means that whatever the judge says or decides is the final authority and cannot be challenged or overturned.” (ChatGPT) So Jesus has the title which shows he is God’s decision about each person which is the final authority each person’s life, which cannot be challenged or overturned. What Jesus not only says in judgement but also does, is that Word of God, of God the final and ultimate judge, even beyond the grave. This is glory Jesus also previously had with God before the world began. The Word of God. Besides this we have 1 John 1:1 which was written when Jesus was ascended, but John relates this Word of Life title back to when Jesus was there in body constantly with the disciples too. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.” It shows that in John’s Gospel prolog, John 1:1ff he did indeed consider the Word of John 1:1, which became flesh (John 1:14), to be identified as Jesus. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” … “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John clearly continues this teaching in his epistle as was quoted above, 1 John 1:1 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”

Dwelling with you

 John 14:23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

How can the Father and the Son come to you and make their home with you? I only know by what they did for me. The Father can put Himself in your dream to show Himself and then because He is God He can work in everything for your good. Jesus can project himself by his spirit into your vicinity and can stand by your side for a moment without needing to leave where he is to do so, and can affect your life constantly by his intercessions for you with the Father. Both can work together to give you life. This life dwells with you and in you. They can both send you the Holy Spirit and give the Holy Spirit uplifting help to give you. By spiritual power they can do all this in many lives around the world. The Holy Spirit can come to many at once as we see in the way at that famous Pentecost the Holy Spirit tongues of fire separated and rested on many at once. Many hundreds, that is no problem, or many millions, hundreds of millions, that is no problem for the Holy Spirit.

The Parable of the Just and Unjust Stewards and the Responsibility of Public Servants to be Profitable Stewards

 By ChatGPT 3.5

In the parable of the talents from Matthew 25:23, we are reminded of the principle of responsible stewardship and the importance of faithful management of resources entrusted to us. This biblical teaching holds profound relevance in the context of the public sector, particularly in trade and procurement activities, where diligent stewardship can lead to improvements in profitability and societal well-being.

Stewardship and Accountability

Public servants are entrusted with the responsibility of managing public resources effectively and ethically. Just as the master in the parable entrusted his servants with talents, public servants are called to be faithful stewards of taxpayer funds, ensuring transparency, accountability, and responsible use of resources in trade and procurement activities.

Faithfulness in Small Things

The parable emphasizes the significance of faithfulness in small matters. In the public sector, responsible stewardship begins with prudent management of day-to-day operations, including procurement processes. By demonstrating integrity and diligence in managing even the smallest transactions, public servants uphold ethical standards and lay the foundation for long-term success.

Reward for Faithfulness

The master in the parable commends the faithful servant and rewards him with greater responsibility and blessings. Similarly, in the public sector, responsible stewardship and improvements in profitability of trade and procurement can lead to recognition, advancement, and opportunities for greater impact. Public servants who demonstrate integrity, innovation, and efficiency in managing procurement processes may be entrusted with larger projects and leadership roles, contributing to organizational success and societal well-being.

Shared Happiness and Prosperity

The master invites the faithful servant to share in his happiness and prosperity. Likewise, responsible stewardship in the public sector and improvements in profitability of trade and procurement can lead to shared benefits for society as a whole. When public resources are managed effectively and transparently, it fosters economic growth, strengthens public trust, and enhances the well-being of communities.

In conclusion, the parable of the talents underscores the importance of responsible stewardship, faithfulness, and accountability in managing resources entrusted to us. In the public sector, applying these principles to trade and procurement activities can lead to improvements in profitability, societal benefits, and shared prosperity. By striving for excellence, integrity, and innovation in their roles, public servants can fulfill their mandate as faithful stewards and contribute to the common good. 

God the Father and His Son

 John 14:23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

It might help our view of God and His Son when this happens. Yet we still need correction of our misconceptions and a positive effort to think correctly. Coming to good understanding takes time, even if God  the Father is with us and Jesus is helping us. Discussing these things is helpful, even though our faith should be based on better foundation than human arguments. As we discuss, we maybe learn and we think more earnestly and focus on things above. As we ponder, the Holy Spirit can open our minds to truth and impart true understanding. Yet it is important that we do not miss out on the power of God, the faith we can have from experiencing it, and the discipleship Jesus looks for in us, to believe in God and in him and to hold to his teachings and obey them, then we can know himself and the Father,  because this happens: John 14:23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

How can we follow Jesus today?

 How can we follow Jesus today? His teachings, or some of them (I assume there would be no room to record all of them), are there in scriptures. They might not all be understandable. There are parables which are not easy to understand. There are idiomatic phrases not familiar to us outside of that place and time with those customs. Some are difficult to apply to our circumstances. But we can learn them and improve our understanding of them, learning what we can to help with this and asking God for help and understanding and insight. But a lot can be obeyed. If we do so as much as we can, we are doing half of what is needed. The other half is to be confident in him. That comes by hearing his teachings preached and evangelised and seeing miracles or hearing accounts of them. Arguments don’t produce belief as well as the demonstrations of the power of God do. All this brings us to true discipleship. The boosts come when the Holy Spirit brings new things from Jesus (new to us, at least) to us. He is there ready to do this. Jesus is. The Holy Spirit is. Praying for each other can help with this. Ask the Father for the Holy Spirit, like asking for daily bread in the Lord’s Prayer.

The power of words

 When you speak something into happening, whether in normal human work life (such as the boss says “Nobody takes time off until this job is finished”) or in faith (such as when you know severe pain is blocking God’s will being done so you command the injury to go), either way, the words hang there in the ether just existing and affecting all sorts of things until the words’ purposes are accomplished. Even in physics they call particles “charged” because some property given to them makes them behave in certain ways, as if they have been commanded, charged, to behave that way. It is a metaphor, or is it? The OT says that God did not let any of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. Words can have affect, because in some mysterious way they exist. Stoics called this the cosmic ledger. Some assumed there is an ether, a kind of blackboard on which cosmic events can be written and recorded for later effect. Einstein tried to debunk this with his theory of relativity, but could only do so regarding space and time and gravity. More than this exists. So when you next say something very purposefully, believe it can affect things. In practice it might mean spirits know and remember you said it, as with prayers, and it gets honoured if it is said without doubting, with genuine faith in God. That is why we pray, as people have done all through time. We say it or think it intently and trust that it gets heard, remembered, acted on. Words are sometimes powerful. But as when God prepared a big fish for Jonah, it might require actions happen in the past to provide the outcome when needed. God sees the future and can do things or command angels to do thngs now to answer somebody’s future need or prayer. Usually the answer starts to happen after the prayer, but nothing is impossible with God. If we know God’s power, and willingness to do things or command things for us, we can pray with faith, depending on His love. In any case, if spoken or thought words were merely noises or brain waves with no affect, nobody would pray. Yet people of all cultures pray perhaps several times a day.

You believe in God, believe also in Jesus

 “You believe in God, believe also in me.” Before Jesus died for us all on the cross, Jesus understood that his disciples already had a foundation of belief in God, which had been a source of solace for them. However, facing the prospect of his imminent departure and death, he encouraged them to deepen their faith by also believing in him. This additional belief in him would provide them with the comfort and assurance they needed to navigate the challenges ahead, particularly in light of his forthcoming absence. His promise of preparing a place for them in his Father's house served to alleviate their anxieties and strengthen their trust in him during a challenging time. Furthermore he was assuring them that he would never leave them ignorant of reassuring things, such as the place he would prepare for them  He would tell them. But it shows the way Jesus identified the Father as God, not himself as God. This One True God is not the same person as Jesus. We should love both. Love this One True God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength and all your mind. Love Him with your social media posts and whatever other voice you have. Teach His commands. Teach your children. Proclaim them from rooftops, so to speak. In total love.

God is One

God has Himself and His Spirit and His Word. But that does not mean God is three. God the Father is One. God the Father is God. God the Father IS. 

The Greatest Question of All for Humans

 If we believe that Jesus is restoring righteousness and that the Father, the One True God, sent him to do so, is it now our best endeavour to hold to his teachings and know both himself and the One who sent him, and so to have eternal life? 

Gospel, Worded by ChatGPT 3.5

 Worded by ChatGPT 3.5

If you believe in Jesus as the one sent by the Father to restore righteousness, then following his teachings and knowing both him and the Father would align with that belief and could lead to eternal life, as stated in the teachings of Christianity. It's about faith and living according to those beliefs.

In the Father's grand design,

He sent His Son divine,

To restore righteousness,

In a world lost in distress.

Believe in Him, the Son of God,

Follow His teachings, the path we trod.

Know Him and the Father's grace,

Eternal life we shall embrace.

Jesus came to show the way,

To lead us to eternal day.

In His love, we find our light,

Guiding us through darkest night.

Believe in Him, the Son of God,

Follow His teachings, the path we trod.

Know Him and the Father's grace,

Eternal life we shall embrace.

Through faith, we'll walk the narrow road,

In His footsteps, we'll bear our load.

With hearts ablaze, His truth we'll proclaim,

Forever and ever, in His name.

Believe in Him, the Son of God,

Follow His teachings, the path we trod.

Know Him and the Father's grace,

Eternal life we shall embrace.

In Jesus, we find our way,

His love, our guide, both night and day.

To Him, our hearts forever sing,

Our Savior, Lord, and eternal King.

The One True God

 In the 1990s I asked to experience God. I was earnest because the Holy Spirit told me to “Build the Temple”and I did not know how to preach about Him. I asked specifically to know first hand Father and Son and Holy Spirit. I thought of Jesus’ words to his disciples in later chapters of John about him showing himself to those who lovingly keep his commands, and the Father showing or coming to such people too. I checked I was doing all I could to keep commands of Jesus and asked God to show me Father and Son and Holy Spirit so I would know what I preached about. In the night in a vivid dream vision the Father was standing there serene and solemn and awesome and said “I am God”. He told me about a situation the next day and what I must do. When I did it, it saved the day for my work colleagues. It was a unique situation never happening before so I knew it was God indeed in reality in my dream. Weeks later Jesus came to me in a terrible unprecedented rainstorm as I walked and thought of a psalm about the Lord presiding over the floods. It was torrential. I had up a big umbrella. Jesus spoke clearly and authoritatively to me “Put down your umbrella!” Immediately I did the rain stopped dead and not a drop touched my head. If it is you Jesus, I said later that day, make such and such happen. He did. I got to experience his masterful way of doing it too. Later a man took me to experience the Holy Spirit in a church. I had been telling church people I yearned for this. In church a heavy vice grip of spirit was on me. The leader spoke an awesome message in tongues and the spirit made me hear the English interpretation for every word spoken. Then the speaker said in English those same words. Consider the trees. They put forth buds and leaves. They do so by the power of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not long after this happened, back in the 1990s, something happened which had not happened to me before, nor since. The word of God came to me. Indeed, now I have a feeling  of what it means, for the word of God to come. It is very real and very intense. Like being at the dentist and the drill getting into your tooth. It just comes unexpectedly and all you can do is let it happen. You know it is from power and from outside you, going deep inside your head. Here is what came. “ISRAEL HAS SINNED”, that was the spoken word. Then a kind of vision and words followed showing me an eagle black and with a large white eye showing as it soared overhead. The word of God explained “This is the sign”. Then I started to see generals anxiously discussing things because that eagle in the sky meant real trouble on the ground and war brewing. It got worse until there were the mushroom clouds and bombers flying away from them that we so fear. Then I turned away and could not bear to see more. Still in the spirit, still in touch with this spirit giving me the vision, I looked for what could be done and the word came, “Go shout from the mountain top, Love the LORD you God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind…” I was in spirit about to continue the command with ”all your strength” and said “all your…” and the spirit strongly completed it with “VOICE!”. I told this to a church leader, at least he appeared to be a leader. I overheard him telling someone a bit later “It was like those real prophecies in the Old Testament!” Now it seems this was God showing me it is He, Old Testament Yhwh, who is God alone. The experience continued as, this was 1990s, I turned on the TV and the news showed a big black US spy plane being sent to what I presume all these years later was the Balkans. Maybe this was 1995 with the Yugoslav bombing beginning, I am not sure. That same day, overhead flew the very first police surveillance helicopter. On the news they announced a local police helicopter service had started. It was called Operation Vulture. That night it flew over my house. It had a white search light and big camera at the front. On the news they said it had been monitoring a local lad on the roofs of houses near the church where I had told the prophecy, as the lad was throwing roof tiles from houses into the street. I knew all this was my sign. This was God’s word. The surveillance like we never saw before got greater and greater until cameras were installed all over public areas, and it continues today. We had not had wars, but suddenly wars were happening one after the other with Balkans, then Gulf Wars, then more Gulf Wars. It continues and now reaches Israel itself, although Israel in the prophecy seemed to include even that church I spoke at. God’s word is real and solemn and grave. God is to be feared and held in awe. The sin must stop and love for God must increase and one way to love God is with all our social media voice. Tell His words boldly so all can hear His commands. Wholeheartedly loving God. Yhwh, Old Testament God. The One God.

Cleansed by the power of God

 I remember the first powerful preaching of the gospel to reach my heart. It was devoid of Trinitarianism, Oneness, Unitarianism, etc.. It was presented in words that bypassed all the theology. Yet when those words sunk in the met me in my sense of accursedness I suffered because I was such an addicted liar who could never be honest and candidly truthful. It suddenly put real hope within me. It was outdoors in a public square. I prayed in a nearby church with the preacher helping me there in the pew of the large traditional church. It was Catholic I think but that was irrelevant compared to the hope I felt from the effect of the simple message. As I prayed aloud, after the preacher prayed for me, my words whenever honest were with a voice so strong like I had never ever spoken before, but as soon as I started getting proud and dishonest the power went away. So I just kept going back to honesty and it came back and heavenly power made my voice boom. The whole church probably noticed. It went on until the power of lying broke and I was cleansed of it. When I went away I prayed some more with believers and sang hymns and it carried on. It went on for a while. I practiced honest speech when with them and learned to do it habitually. Just because the power of heaven was teaching me how heaven wants my behaviour to be. Now what are the words of the message that did this? Here it is, four words the preacher painted on a board in the public square. CHRIST DIED FOR YOU. 

Endless joy

 John’s gospel at the end of chapter 8: Fame and joyful knowledge foreseeing Christ was there in the time of Abraham. Abraham had insight and inspiration and knowledge of prophetic revelations to rejoice when foreseeing and hoping the Christ would come and save Abraham’s descendants from their sins one day. Glorious day. Abraham rejoiced to see it. Jesus proclaimed this. Jesus proclaimed it was him himself who was this one foreseen with joy by Abraham. The Jews could not imagine how this would be possible unless Jesus had been there in the flesh at the time of Abraham. How else could anyone be so famous and glorious unless they physically existed as a living person. Jesus would not be shut down but such lack of knowledge of spirit of prophecy and power of God to make the future known. He restated it. “Before Abraham was born, I am.” It is just a fact, he was saying. Abraham did rejoice in the day of Jesus because the reality of Jesus was spreading joy through all time. Jesus did not need to be physically alive for this. Abraham knew God would provide a lamb for his many children. God could raise the dead to do so. Abraham, in his faith, had hope and love to be assured of it. The Dead Sea Scrolls, Epistle of Jude and the church fathers Tertullian and Justin Martyr also show us that prophecies of Enoch were known among scriptures in Jesus’ time and had been enlightening Noah, Abraham and his descendants from the very distant past as they had been preserved through time. So here too Abraham had access to prophecies of the Christ coming eventually to help the righteous of Abraham’s seed and open eyes. In later times, a year or so after Jesus discussed this view of history and his place in it, the Holy Spirit was given to Jesus’ disciples and by this spirit we know that even Nature’s processes run by the power of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as Enoch’s writings taught. Angels before the Flood were helped by this name in running Nature and resisting temptations to quit, knowing that the Christ would one day come and would be righteous, and he would save righteousness from being wiped out by evil, saving from sins. Even from those very ancient times, Jesus is. 

Keeping it all together

 Imagine if you were famous even before you were born. Possible? Did it happen to anyone other than Jesus? Some great extremely famous king or celebrity with no children who marries an extremely famous woman then announces he is going to give his first child the world’s biggest diamond mine as a first birthday gift, then half the world’s kings each promise half their wealth to whoever is born first to this king or celebrity. It might all be enough to make the firstborn famous and talked about and hyped up in all the gossip press long before they are even born. Maybe. Maybe something like this once happened, perhaps to someone like firstborn of Mansa Musa or Genghis Khan or Emperor Zhao Xu or Mir Osman Ali Khan. But it did happen with Jesus Christ. He said it happened not just before his own birth but in Abraham’s time and even before Abraham was born. Even then it was as if Jesus existed and existed ever since then even before birth and now and forever, such that he can say “I am” without any tense limiting it. But it is likely to mean more than this. The teachings about Logos holding the universe in balance and being agent of God in all creation, all was prevalent in the time leading up to Jesus and Philo wrote about it but Stoics and Heraclitus and Plato wrote similarly long before. John wording his gospel prolog like he did implies it is as if the very fame of Jesus held things together, such is the power of his name, and today if you hear the Holy Spirit you might him tell of this. “Consider the trees, they put forth buds and leaves. They do so by the power of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The very assurance promised by the giving of God’s word on it that a true Christ, Jesus, would come into the world and save the people of God, saving them from their sins, was enough to prevent all-out angel revolt before the Flood and keep Nature together. The name, the famous reputation this Christ had even way back then in the mists of time, is what has kept it all together. 

Before Abraham was born

 One of the most important verses in the New Testament in relation to the saying of Jesus “Before Abraham was born, I am” is Jude verses 14 and 15. Only this verse in the KJV 66 book Bible contains what is unequivocally a reference to Jesus which existed in prophecy from before the birth of Abraham. Jude states firmly that Enoch the actual person historically seventh from Adam, hence long before Abraham was born, prophesied “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” It is clear that Jude would have believed firmly that the ‘Lord’ in this prophecy is Jesus. Hence Jesus existed in true, heavenly prophecy since before Abraham was born. Of course the prophet Enoch would have known far more than just this about Jesus and when he ascended he went to be where angels longed to look into these things. 

The crux of the gospel

 To tell the crux of the gospel today we must dig deep. Not many actually witnessed the Lord, Jesus, dying physically on the cross two thousand years ago. Not many even at the time. Now little except the first hand testimony of John in the Gospel of John and indirect testimony of Mary in the Gospels in general remains to tell about it authoritatively. It is challenged by Islamists who say Jesus did not die on the cross, and secularists, influential thought leaders and atheists who insist that the only claims of great weight we can make are those greatly backed up by verifiable evidence. The veracity of the Gospel testimony is truly known by those who choose to follow the commands and promises and persuasion of these accounts. Then we can know the reality of Jesus making himself known in fulfilment of these accounts, and we can then be more certain they must also be correct that Jesus indeed died on that cross for you, each one, and me, for the freeing of us from guilt and power of sin, and this means real hope in holding to Lord Jesus Christ’s teachings.

Jesus today

 Today Jesus is not God but he is like a human and like God in a toned down way, just enough for us to not be overcome by fear like we would be with God but similar enough to God that knowing him gives us the benefits we would get if we knew God directly. Since he is human like us we can know that he truly knows what it is like to be us, and we can know that the Father has this one like us with Him to represent us utterly effectively. Jesus is spiritually able to reach us where we are and interact effectively with us at a spiritual level. The Holy Spirit can interact with us on Jesus’ behalf too and do so with many all at once, throughout the world at once, without human limitations. So Jesus is similar now to how he was as the word of God before he was made human in flesh and bone. Yet he is still human. Resurrected and with God the Father but human nonetheless. We could touch him and know it for ourselves. If we see him it might blind us. We can hear the spirit of his voice in the depths of our psyche. He is fully master of our real inner being and can work with us effectively at all levels in the master nature God has given him. One day he will judge us all and at his coming raise very many people from the dead all at once giving them and many still alive at that time immortality along with himself. This is glory such as he had as the word before becoming flesh: Glory he had before the world began. 

The glory of Jesus

As the word before Jesus came in the flesh, the word was God: the word was with God and was God, in a certain sense, in the way what a person says can be said to be that person, they speak and you hear them speak and you can say you are hearing them.

The word became flesh. As Jesus, the Christ, he is the Son of God and human. Not God, but with some god-like glory in being the Son of God, such that when speaking of it the Jews thought he blasphemed.

Having been raised from the dead to never die and going back to be with the Father he went back to being the pervasive word with glory like he first had as the word of God: Glory of God but not literally God except in a certain sense, still the Son of God, still a human, but in form of God more now he is raised and with the Father. He is a life-giving spirit who can reach many, many through the work of the Holy Spirit and by the mighty spiritual power God gives him. Yet he is still a human and as such he can mediate between mankind and God the Father.

Darkening God’s counsel?

 Consider how the New Testament presents what might be understood to be Jesus' divinity through a combination of explicit statements, implicit teachings, and narrative accounts. While there are numerous passages in the New Testament that affirm what could be understood as Jesus' divinity, any emphasis on his divinity may not always be as systematic or doctrinal as it is in Trinitarian theology. Has the Trinity dogma eclipsed this message that Jesus is the man who mediates for mankind with God? John 1:1 mentions original divinity of the Word but does not directly apply this to the word made flesh, Jesus. Paul alluded to divinity of Jesus at some level in some sense by stating he was in the form of God. Mankind is stated in Genesis as originally being in the form of God, and other scriptures state that this is still the case, that we are in God’s image, so does Paul saying Jesus was in the form of God  imply divinity any more than humans, especially believing saints, have in general. Trinitarian theology, on the other hand,  heavily emphasises Jesus having shared homoousios, a word it invented to convey a substantive nature which is the same as God’s nature in many ways. This is far greater an emphsis on a far more explicit and systematic concept of divinity such that it needed a new word. Is this eclipsing the true message of God which comes through the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh?

Unity of Purpose and Essence, by ChatGPT

 The Unity of Purpose and Essence: Exploring the Shared Values of the Father and the Son in Christian Doctrine (as worded by ChatGPT 3.5, with a Trinitarian bias)

Within Christian theology, the relationship between the Father and the Son is often depicted as one of profound unity despite their distinction as separate persons. This unity extends beyond mere coexistence to encompass a shared essence and purpose. Central to this understanding is the idea that the Father and the Son share fundamental values, beliefs, and principles that underpin their divine nature and mission.

The notion of shared fundamental values, beliefs, or principles between the Father and the Son underscores their unity in purpose and essence within Christian doctrine. It suggests a deep alignment of their divine wills and intentions, reflecting a harmonious relationship that transcends human comprehension. This unity emphasises the inseparable bond between the Father and the Son in their divine nature.

In theological discourse, this concept finds expression in various biblical passages and doctrinal formulations. For example, the Gospel of John frequently depicts Jesus referring to his intimate relationship with the Father and expressing his alignment with the Father's will. Jesus often speaks of carrying out the Father's work and obeying the Father's commands, highlighting their shared purpose and unity of mission.

Moreover, Christian doctrine teaches that the Son is begotten of the Father, not created, emphasizing their eternal and unbreakable bond. This eternal generation signifies an inherent unity of essence between the Father and the Son, wherein they share the same divine nature and attributes. Thus, their unity in purpose and essence is not merely a temporal or contingent reality but an essential aspect of their divine identity.

Ultimately, the concept of shared fundamental values, beliefs, or principles between the Father and the Son serves to deepen our understanding of the divine mystery. It invites believers to contemplate the unfathomable depths of God's nature and to marvel at the profound unity that exists within the Godhead. In embracing this theological concept, Christians affirm the inseparable bond between the Father and the Son, affirming their shared divine essence and purpose as foundational truths of their faith.

Warning about hypostasis

Trinity dogma uses an Ancient Greek Neoplatonism philosophical word hypostasis to describe the Father and the Son. Hypostasis does not mean what the simple explanation suggests it means. People taking the meaning usually given - of one substance - are likely to read it in terms of the modern meaning of substance and be very much misled by this. In modern terms, one could say that the Father and Son share fundamental values, beliefs, or principles. This idea aligns with the theological concept of their unity in purpose and essence. But see how different this is from our common concept of substance in this scientific age. 

What people might mean by “our God”, “your God”, “my God”

 Expressions “my God”, “your God” or “our God” are possibly describing profound reverence and devotion to a source of inspiration, comfort, and meaning in one’s life, perhaps shaping their identity or providing a sense of purpose, holding a central and deeply spiritual role in life. It often conveys a deep personal connection and devotion, signifying a profound reverence and attachment to that entity, which may provide inspiration, comfort, guidance, and a sense of purpose in their life. This could encompass a wide range of beliefs or sources of inspiration, from religious figures to personal heroes, to ideals, to aspects of nature, or even concepts like music or art.

Jesus Christ the brand

 I don’t think we understand spirit enough. God today has Jesus Christ as a kind of brand, a bit like how celebrities these days often own a brand perhaps for perfume or fashion and they use that brand alongside the brand which is their own stage name. Think what a tremendous brand name and logo Jesus Christ is for the Father. Well before Jesus was conceived and born this brand already existed. God had revealed it to angels. To some extent it was revealed to prophets too. We especially think of Isaiah in this regard but also David knew it. David could speak of “my lord”. David could say “He will not let my body see decay” referring to this brand of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some say this was foretelling the future, but that misses some important truth. They were tapping in to a reserve of prophetic mystery of the brand that is, was, will forever be Jesus Christ. Jesus had not been formed in the womb, but brand Jesus already existed. The name, in the sense of the brand name, not literal moniker name, already existed known among angels and used in their governing of Nature. How do I know it? Many scriptures plus the Holy Spirit revelation. Trees grow by this name. Many trees were seedlings before Jesus was born which were growing 100 AD. Nothing changed. So they were growing by his name’s power even before he came. Therefore the name’s power existed before he came. Book of Enoch parables section quoted by Tertullian bears this out. Isaiah bears it out. David bears it out. Jesus saying “Before Abraham was born I am” bears it out. John the Baptist saying “he is greater than me because he was before me” bears it out. It explains some verses of epistles too. God’s own brand name and logo is the Logos, who became Jesus Christ. This did not start when Jesus was conceived. God had that brand name from the beginning. He made all things through it and Nature runs on it and was running on it 3000 BC. 

Bridge and Mediator

There is a passage in the Bible, Zechariah chapter 2 verse 22, which implies that the word of Yhwh is Yhwh too. Obviously this could be misunderstood in a way that could confuse anyone taking it too literally. Hyper-literalism is a problem with many poorly taught teachings in Christianity. If we are careful to get this right it helps us understand the true meaning of John 1:1 “the word was with God and the word was God”. Your spoken word could be said to be you. If I hear your word, in one sense I hear you. But clearly this should not be taken too literally. Hyper-literalism is the bane of Christianity. Literally Jesus is a human. Period. We might draw on the way God, Yhwh, expresses Himself in Jesus to somehow say Jesus IS this Yhwh. But it is not literally so. It is a spiritual overlay of poetic theological meaning overlayed on the fundamental fact that literally speaking Jesus is a human like you and I, albeit now forever alive from the dead. That is how it is that Jesus mediates for us humans with scary spirit God the Father, all fire and gravity of death if you get too close. Jesus can get close but we can get close to Jesus and learn from him precisely because he is as totally human as we are. That is why it was said by Moses that God would send one like himself, one who could be the bridge between us humans and a consuming fire God. 

True, but not literally

Is Jesus God? Is Jesus Yhwh? Not literally. I mean, say I wrote a computer game and we were all in it, and I could show it in real time here in this group of readers of this post, and you and me were all avatars shown in this game, my avatar was red and yours were each some other colour. Maybe each avatar would have a likeness of each of us. You might point at a green avatar and say “that is me”. I could point at the red one and ask “who is that” as the avatar went across the screen. You could answer “that is you”. “Yes, that is Stephen Green” I could say. “Me”. This would not be a lie. But literally it would not be Stephen Green. It would not literally be me. Even though I made the game and set it up with the avatar in red for myself. I am not an avatar. My avatar in the game might look like me. I could  point to it and say, “Hey, that is me. I set that up as myself. It is me.” Just not literally me. It is similar to this the sense that God’s word is God. The word of Yhwh IS Yhwh. Yes, but not literally. The word became flesh and dwelt among men. But not literally. Jesus is that human. But Jesus is not literally God. When we accept the word of God, God is then happy to live among us. But that word, though it can be said to be God in one sense, it is not literally God. Yes, Jesus is the word of God. Not literally. We each one should understand it rightly, especially those who teach it. 

Is Jesus Yhwh (God)?

 Is Jesus Yhwh (God)? 

There is a passage in Zechariah, Zechariah chapter 2 verse 8, which implies that the word of Yhwh is Yhwh too. Obviously this could be misunderstood in a way that could confuse anyone taking it too literally. Hyper-literalism is a problem with many poorly taught teachings in Christianity. If we are careful to get this right it helps us understand the true meaning of John 1:1 “the word was with God and the word was God”. Your spoken word could be said to be you. If I hear your word, in one sense I hear you. But clearly this should not be taken too literally. Your word is you in a very limited sense. Your spoken words are not as much you as you are you, and so you are greater than your words. There is much more to you than your words alone. Clearly Yhwh is greater than His word. Now this can get more confusing because John also points out in John 1 that the word became flesh and Jesus is that word made flesh. If we now combine these two concepts it has to be done with great care lest being over literal in our understanding leads to a confusing mess. Jesus is not literally the word of God. Jesus is a human being. He ran around and played as a child and fell over and did things which got him told off. His own family often found it hard to believe he was anything very special. He was literally human, not a sound filling the air with noise like a voice does. Not literally just the word of God nor is the word of God just Jesus. He is the word of God in a certain sense. God sent Jesus just like in Zechariah we are told that God sent His word. Jesus is the word of God, yes, but in a spiritual sense of the reason his human life started in the womb of his mother and the purpose of that life coming into the world. Only this sense, not a hyper-literal sense, should be combined with the concept in Zechariah 2:8 of the word of Yhwh being Yhwh. John 1:1 combines the two but we need to understand it correctly. The word of God is God. In a certain sense. Jesus is the word of God made flesh. In a certain sense. If we misunderstand it we can get to a kind of mistaken idea that Jesus literally is God, that Jesus is Yhwh. Only in the sense that Jesus is Yhwh’s word come in the flesh sent from Yhwh (sent from God) is he Yhwh. No more than this. Any more literal than this and it gets confusing and erroneous: Especially confusing since he is the Son of God, the Son of Yhwh. We must correctly understand the language and the concepts and not be hyper-literal in that understanding. Hyper-literal misunderstandings have been the bane of Christianity throughout its history. 

Miracles and the Holy Spirit

 Miracles and Holy Spirit are two separate things. There was a man working miracles in Jesus’ name who was not a disciple. Moreover, the disciples worked miracles when out on missions for Jesus years before they were given the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught them that anyone with faith who does not doubt regarding a matter can do a miracle where God makes happen what they command in faith. It does not require that they are first given the Holy Spirit by God. The Holy Spirit was not given to the disciples until after Jesus ascended. Yet they still had faith to heal, cast out demons, do miracles like moving mountains. Peter even walked on water. He did not have the Holy Spirit at that time, only faith in God and in Jesus. Now that the Holy Spirit is given, God gives those who believe His message both His miraculous works among them, and the Holy Spirit, but it was not always like this. 

Hyper-literalism

 The term "hyper-literalism” refers to an extreme interpretation of religious teachings, taking them overly literally or rigidly. This fairly crude, unsophisticated kind of erroneous thinking is probably behind Trinity misunderstandings just as it is behind poor teaching outcomes in Christian doctrine such as  transubstantiation. This is probably how it came to be that Jesus was understood to literally be the word of God and the word of God to be literally God, and hence to (mis)understand Jesus to be literally God. It seems spiritual concepts have been grasped wrongly by unspiritual people and then taught and retaught by similarly unspiritual people over the centuries. 

God and the word of God

 There is a sense in which scriptures Zechariah 2:8 and John 1:1 are prophetically describing the Word of God as God. in this sense, no other, I accept that it is true to say Jesus is the Word of God and therefore in a small sense is God. But just in the sense that a person’s word is to some extent actually that person. This is NOT to say that the word of a person is as much that person as the person themselves. That clearly is not true. Hearing what I say, you hear me. But it is misleading to insist that my word IS me, in the fullest extent of what is meant by ME. God is greater than His word. God is more than His word. His word is not one substance with Him any more than your word is one substance with you. In some ancient Greek philosophical sense it might be correct to use the word substance, or hypostasis, in this way. But in English terms we would not normally say a person and their word are the same substance. We do not use the word ‘substance’ like that. Maybe Neoplatonists did use it like that but that was centuries ago. My word is one being with me? Not in the normal English way the word ‘being’ is used. Jesus is not the same being as God. He made this clear when he explained that the Father testified about him as a second witness to himself such that his own testimony was backed up by the Father’s (via the miracles the Father does through him). That could never be true if Jesus and God are one being. Jesus is the word made flesh. Jesus is the word sent as flesh from God. Jesus is the word of God. In one sense the word of God IS God, but not in any sense that contradicts his existence as a human and a second testimony to God. 

Like the testimonies of twins

 Apparently, identical twins can vouch for each other in court, but their testimony might be scrutinised more closely due to the potential for bias or mistaken identity. They might biologically come from the same cell dividing in early stages of the pregnancy. Yet they are individuals, to the extent that courts accept their testimonies as distinct enough to be considered as two witnesses and one can vouch for the other. This is relevant to Theology and Christology. Jesus and the Father are so alike in many ways and many characteristics. The Son is truly like his Father. Yet the Father’s testimony, Jesus asserted, is able to be a second witness vouching for Jesus and by the miracles He performed through Jesus there are thus statements from God the Father to endorse Jesus and back up what Jesus asserted about himself. 

Is Jesus God?

 Is Jesus God? Is Jesus Yhwh? (Same single question really.) 

As the Word of God, he is, but only that sense. The word of Yhwh is Yhwh too. But just as your spoken words are not as much you as you are you, in the sense that you are greater than your words, so with Jesus, the Father is greater. Yhwh is greater than His word which He sends.

Gospel song worded by AI

In the beginning was the Word, sent by God above,

To bring us truth and light, and shower us with love.

For when His Word is received, God's presence does descend,

And in our hearts, His dwelling place, His love will never end.

(Chorus)

Jesus, the Word of God, sent from above,

Bringing truth and light, showering us with love.

God with us, Emmanuel, His presence here to stay,

When we receive His Word, His love will light our way.

Misunderstood as God Himself, the Word made flesh to dwell,

Yet He's the vessel of God's love, His story He does tell.

For when God speaks His Word, His presence is made known,

In Jesus, God with us, His love is fully shown.

(Chorus)

Jesus, the Word of God, sent from above,

Bringing truth and light, showering us with love.

God with us, Emmanuel, His presence here to stay,

When we receive His Word, His love will light our way.

Yhwh, the God of all, His Word and He are one,

In Jesus, we behold, the Father's only Son.

So let us open up our hearts, and let His Word abide,

For in receiving Jesus, God Himself resides.

(Chorus)

Jesus, the Word of God, sent from above,

Bringing truth and light, showering us with love.

God with us, Emmanuel, His presence here to stay,

When we receive His Word, His love will light our way.

Do not misapply this truth

 The whole purpose of showing that Jesus is the word of God sent by God is to apply the truth to his coming that when God’s word is sent and well received, God Himself supports those who receive it and dwells among them. Hence Jesus is called ”God with us” because receiving him leads to God the Father dwelling among us. This is misunderstood as meaning Jesus is literally God. When God speaks His word, both God is Yhwh and His word is Yhwh: the word of God can be described prophetically as God too. Do not misunderstand, misinform and mis-teach this. Focus on the true meaning and apply it faithfully. 

Miracles are God’s doing not ours

I have done miracles by Jesus’ teachings and it is psychologically vital to realise we do not make the miraculous happen ourselves, even if it is our faith and command which seems to make it happen, really it is God who makes it happen. Otherwise, it would cause madness to think “I did that”. If it was me doing it, I might do something in my sleep or when not thinking straight. Nobody can cope with such power, not when we have weak human brains and thought processes. King Cnut commanded the waves just to prove he could not do it. By faith anyone of us can command the waves and they would obey. We must not think it is us though or we would go mad with megalomania. Seriously. God the Father does the miracles. He might do it through us, just exactly like He did it through Jesus, but it is God doing it. That is vitally important. Vital to the gospel truth too. God doing miracles through Jesus was how Jesus could insist both he himself and God the Father were testifying about him, hence the validity of a testimony by two witnesses. Imagine if we were like superheroes the exact way the comics depict them and it was actually us doing the miracles. Well the government special services would kidnap, sorry ‘arrest’ us, like in comic stories, because we could be forced to do anything they told us to do. Like when Daniel was asked to explain a forgotten dream and later interpret miraculous writing on the wall. He said “no it is not I who can do it, but God can give it to me”. I once started thinking it was me who could command things around me and exactly what I wanted would happen. It had seemed like that with miracles God gave me previously and in my youthful naivety I got to thinking about it wrong. It started to drive me a bit mad. One time on a long distance flight I got impatient and in a bit of mad thinking found myself unable to resist faith-commanding the plane to land. But we were halfway across the Atlantic ocean. I was afraid to fall asleep on flights in case I crashed the plane in my sleep. Such mad and erroneous thinking but I could not figure it out because in the past I had actually done many things miraculous which were very similar. I calmed down later in life when I realised no miracle was me, it was only God. More importantly it was always preordained and decided on by God. Jesus was tempted to force God’s hand by commanding stones to become bread or jump off the Temple and be caught, but he resisted. We should resist trying to force God’s hand, but even then it is only God who would be involved in the miracle happening, hence Jesus explained he must not put God to the test. It would be God involved personally. Otherwise we would never be allowed on flights!

Zechariah 2

 God in Zechariah 2 was sending His word to the nations, His prophecy. The word of prophecy is speaking as having been sent by God. The prophet describes the word as if it is God Himself. Later John wrote “The word was with God and the word was God.“ The word spoken by God and sent by God is effectively God. This word became flesh. This flesh is Jesus Christ, yet it is not accurate to say simplistically that Jesus is God, but rather Jesus is human as we are human: Albeit he is now resurrected and alive forever by the power of God who sent him. 

Life and death: Two ways

 Sometimes the way leading to life and the way of death is just about not being a hypocrite even if others around are behaving hypocritically. If you are suggesting others work in a certain way to a certain goal, then it is about pitching in to help the effort and not just standing by and watching. Jesus by the Spirit by the Father’s own teaching taught of the hypocrisy of those who put loads onto the backs of others, very heavy for them, but do not lift a finger to help. Sowing to the Spirit is that if you put a load on others then you do what you can to lighten that load. Sowing to the flesh is standing and watching those who try to carry a heavy load you tasked them with carrying but doing nothing to help them. It is as simple as that. One way leads to life. The other to death. 

God the Father

 The meaning of The Father, in its use for God the Father, transcends the Bible. You can find that it goes back to 3000 BC and 2000 BC when Sumerians called the Most High God ‘ANU’. This meaning of the Father God, ANU, seems to relate to fatherhood over all gods, like the term Most High, or King above all gods. Now in Christ it includes fatherhood over special righteous humans too. One God who is over all and through all and in all, comparable to a great father of a large family who is head of family and produced each of the family making each one in it what they are (except those who go rogue or go awry, not portraying the family character or father’s character and values) and is exemplified in all.