Sorry, this is a long-standing thread and I didn't read every post.
That's OK, the subject is a difficult discussion because so much is unknown. Some is known, but only enough to confuse many.
When did Christ go through this progression to become Jehovah God before Jesus was born on earth?
Colossians 1:14-15 King James Version (KJV)
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
We know this is a description of Jesus given to us by Paul. Jesus shows us what the invisible God looks like.
And Jesus is the
firstborn of every creature.
We believe this scripture literally. The term 'creature' is unfortunate, for it does not do justice to Jesus or us. But the idea that Jesus was the 'firstborn' is important.
Which brings us to the OP. I will answer it this way:
God the Father was uncreated and has always existed.
Jehovah/Jesus was uncreated and has always existed. However, he is different from his Father in that his Father brought forth (in an unknown way)Jehovah/Jesus's eternal spirit (which includes his intelligence/mind/personality) so that this entity could have the ability to interact with God and others of their kind.
You and I were uncreated and has always existd. However, we are different from the our Father, in that our Father brought forth (in a uknown way) our eternal spirits (which includes our intelligence/mind/personalities) so that these entities could have the abiltiy to interact with God and others of our kind.
IOW the progression from eternal parts, to spirit child of God was accomplished by God for all of us, including Jehovah/Jesus. AND AS THE SCRIPTURE SAYS, JESUS WAS THE FIRSTBORN OF THESE CREATURES (BETTER WORD = SPIRIT CHILDREN). JESUS WAS THE FIRST OF US.
AND HE EVENTUALLY (TIME UNKNOWN) WAS ASKED TO SIT ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD AND TO BE JEHOVAH GOD.
Psalm 110:1 King James Version (KJV)
110 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
"The Lord" = God the Father, "my Lord = Jehovah/God the Son.
AND
God refers to His God/Jehovah as God in:
Psalm 45:6-7 King James Version (KJV)
6 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
In the second line, "God, thy God" = God the Father, and "Thy throne, O God = Jehovah
Now notice that Jehovah is anointed with the oil of gladness above who? THY FELLOWS!!!!
Who are Jehovah's fellows? They are those that were born after him as spirit children of God.
It has taken me 68 years of study to come to my understanding, so I don't expect you will understand today and perhaps not believe a word I am saying, but in a nutshell, the progression of Jesus is exactly our progression, except along the way Jesus determined to love righteousness and hate iniquity and was rewarded to sit next to the Father and even create the earth that we would live on in the future. You and I are taking the long way to get where Jesus is now.
To wrap it up, Jesus was in a spirit existence when he was the God of the OT, Jehovah. He was incarnated into a flesh body and accomplished his mission of earth and was able to progress to an exalted and perfect resurrected man, just like we will do too. And we too can sit with Jesus next to the Father for eternity. (Revelation 3:21)
Jesus and all of us on the same progression path. That is why he is our brother, he was the firstborn spirit child of God. You may have been the 1,110,000th spirit child of God. Who knows.
And yes, Origen did believe in the pre-existent earth life. Other Christian churches do to.
True. Does LDS have teaching about animal spirits?
Yes.
