Colossians 1:15-17....
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
The essential operative here is firstborn, which the Hebrew mind explicitly implies having ALL the rights and prerogatives of the Father, including full deity. Please note the following:
John 8
The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; 26 but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.’
31 The Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus replied, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?’ 33 The Jews answered, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.’
Your entire "first created and most powerful spirit being" doctine hangs on Christ's status as a sub-being to your true God, but the Jews here, Jesus' target audience, knew exactly what he meant when he claimed God as Father and considered it Blasphamy it was so strong.
And yet after all that, there are no Bible translations that I could find that rendered it "together with"....can you tell me why? Should you visit all the Bible publishers and complain about their sloppy translation? Can you demand a revision?
This is verbal barking. OF COURSE Bible translations are updated with time to reflect evolution in the language of the target people group or new nuances in the target culture. Take for example the translation of Jesus' trade as "carpenter". When originally written that word implied simple manual labor, with low to mid range level training. Literally it is rendered "builder". Now the term carpenter has a ring of artisanship to it that is somewhat elitist and I have written to the folks at Wycliff suggesting that they render it "contractor", which is a much closer indicator of the work and culture attendant to the trade than the familiar "carpenter".
On the night of his arrest he told Peter that he could request of his Father more than 12 legions of angels if he needed to (Matthew 26:53)...That puts Jesus below his Father but above the angels.
Strong's concordience renders the Greek for request as:
Orig: from 3844 and 2564; to call near, i.e. invite, invoke (by imploration, hortation or consolation):--beseech, call for, (be of good) comfort, desire, (give) exhort(-ation), intreat, pray.
G3844
Most of these do not carry a strong sense of subordination, and if the chosen word request does remember, it was an act of singular condensation for Christ to enter the world as a man and choose the use the ordinary means of spiritual sustenance to survive.
ASV
For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as
we are, yet without sin.
Orig: from 3844 and 2564; to call near, i.e. invite, invoke (by imploration, hortation or consolation):--beseech, call for, (be of good) comfort, desire, (give) exhort(-ation), intreat, pray.
G3844
More significantly, Strong renders the Greek for give as
paristémi: to place beside, to present, stand by, appear
None of these words carry even the very weak connotation of subordination that "give" does.
And finally the COMPLETE quote of John 17:3 which does in fact contain an explicit reference to Jesus:
John 17:3 New King James Version (NKJV)
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
And once again we see this jaunty, rythmic, almost lyrical compound coupling of the Father with the Son.