Law vs grace

no ., it is" God with us" or "with us is God," from the Hebrew

The root word is from "the highest"

From the NT the translation is offered theos meta hemon
God with us

More importantly, the angels are addressing God in Luke for what he had done and and explains the peace and good will to men
The Good Will is choice.

God had not dwellt on a full time basis with man before Jesus, Then the Holy Spirit

Artfuldodger said:

Yes, and I would think it beneficial to the service of our Lord that we know in what capacity his Son came to the earth in. I don't believe it's a prerequisite to salvation as some other believers do but still it could be beneficial to the service of our Lord.

There really are no prerequisite beliefs for salvation other than those acquired from the Holy Spirit.

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As there is no benefic assessment of benefit other than that acquired from the Holy Spirit.

Artfuldodger said:

Under the concept of God's election, all questions might be viewed as universally absurd.
Considering that God will call the elect from all time periods and the various lands, I'm sure that during this calling he will enlighten this person to how he wants them to know him to provide salvation.
Therefore when you really think about it, and I do, why do we ponder what we ponder?

Why do we worry about the lost? Why do we even wonder about our own salvation?
Why ponder if He11 is eternal fire or if Heaven is physical or spiritual?
Why wonder if Jesus falls under the Trinity belief or the Oneness belief? Why wonder if God's promise was to a nation that changed to mean the Church?

Why would God even create a person with the mental capability to imagine?

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yes, you mentioned doctrine from man's errors, we do not think God has made mistakes or left inaccuracies.
Man is discussing man interruption and doctrine problems that God has not expressed.

marketgunner said:

no ., it is" God with us" or "with us is God," from the Hebrew

The root word is from "the highest"

From the NT the translation is offered theos meta hemon
God with us

More importantly, the angels are addressing God in Luke for what he had done and and explains the peace and good will to men
The Good Will is choice.

God had not dwellt on a full time basis with man before Jesus, Then the Holy Spirit

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Are you saying the angels thought Jesus was a prophet?

Artfuldodger said:

Yes one must read the rest of the prophesy;

15"He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. 16"For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.

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Yes, and the context is the Israelites kept saying during their journey, "Is God among us or not". And the word of God, his promises to them, their expectation of this fulfillment had come to pass when Jesus was born to them. Yes, finally, the fulfillment of all those many promises. The King, Son of David, they had hoped for..... yet they could have never imagined the magnitude of this servant King. Immanuel, God is among us [in the context of the OT]

In my spiritual journey, I have been tested, always having the mindset, God is with me. It's not like always having correct change, or catching all the green lights as I travel through town, or such, but having the feeling of blessing, as if God's got my back. Yet, in times of hardship and heart ache, it's easy to without doubting God's existence, but to say to oneself, I see now how they said "Is God among us or not". Times of testing come so that we might ask ourselves this and remember, yes, he is with me, and draw strength from this knowledge and strive not to be like those who gave us this example of "Is he with us". Then I am reminded of my Lord's faith as he proclaimed in faith, "he will never leave me nor forsake me". One of the most influential verses I know of

Artfuldodger said:

Those in the Old Testament times that were called, given faith, and were justified. Were they given the knowledge that the future Messiah would be God? If that is a prerequisite for salvation as most Christians believe today, was that a prerequisite then? Did those who come then know this as those who are drawn today?

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They believed God and it was reckoned to them as righteousness. They only had a glimpse of the Messiah as was prophesied. But they looked forward to that day that He would come.

Artfuldodger said:

Are you saying the angels thought Jesus was a prophet?

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No They also recognized Him as God but they also knew Him as God, the evil spirits too,

The OT has an emphasis on giving everything to the firstborn. We can't relate well because not many of us inherit our fathers business. But in OT times, it was the "head" of the household position. He ran his fathers household. It's family members and people he had acquired. As well as the business aspect of it all, the way the family provided for itself. There had to be a head of the household or imagine the rival among members. This head of the household was honored because it was not man's idea but God's. The firstborn was the head. All authority was given to him. OT examples give indication that some estates were large numbers of cattle, fighting men, etc. They were the modern day millionaires. Because "cash" was not a trading commodity. At some point, the "power" was transferred to the firstborn son. A so called retirement, you might say. This is the context of Jesus having been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Note the "given". If Jesus had created the heavens and the earth, it would no doubt already been under his authority. This NT mindset has to have an OT context applied. It has to be interpreted from the OT mindset of the NT writer who wrote it. Context is everything