CAN WE WORSHIP JESUS?

Recently, I have had a number of people question me about worshipping Jesus. The question is normally along the lines of ... "If we believe that God the Father is the "only true God" (John 17:3, 1 Cor.8:6), then how can we worship Jesus also? The first commandment says that we are to have "no other gods" before the one true God. So are we breaking the first commandment by worshipping Jesus also?" I have had a number of people question me on this recently. So it is my prayer that this page will answer this question.

First of all, think about this ... What kind of 'other gods' do you think we are NOT to have before the Father? We will answer this further down the page.

It is clear that the Bible says Jesus can be worshipped, from what we read in Hebrews 1:6 and other verses. But how can we who believe the Father is the "only true God", worship both the Father and His Son, without breaking the first commandment? The answer is simple. Jesus isn't just some 'other god', as the Father dwells in His Son and has ordained that His divine Son is the only way for us to get to the Father. Jesus said ... "I am THE WAY, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, BUT BY ME." (John 14:6)

Can we worship God the Father without Jesus? No! Jesus told us that He is the way to the Father. We can only get to the Father THROUGH His Son. And that includes worship.

God the Father does ALL THINGS through His Son. This means that ALL THINGS go back through Jesus to the Father, and the Father will not accept worship from us, apart from His Son Jesus.

1 Corinthians 8:6 ...'But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.'

Did you see that? The Father is the 'source of all things', which makes Him the 'only true God'. But it is by and through His Son Jesus that all things consist, and we are by whom? The Father only? No, by Jesus in the Father. So this is how it works. The tide of love and blessings comes from the Father, THROUGH His Son to us. And then that returns in praise and worship THROUGH the Son, to the Father.

"All things Christ received from God, but He took to give. So in the heavenly courts, in His ministry for all created beings: through the beloved Son, the Father's life flows out to all; through the Son it returns, in praise and joyous service, a tide of love, to the great Source of all. And thus through Christ the circuit of beneficence is complete, representing the character of the great Giver, the law of life." (Desire of Ages, p.21)

Do you see how it works? This is how God ordained it. ALL things are done through His Son, and ALL worship is to go back through Christ to the Father. Which means that to worship God the Father, the worship must go through Jesus for it to be acceptable to the Father. Look at what Jesus said below:

John 5:22-23 ...'For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.'

So we are to honor Jesus, even as we honor the Father. You cannot have one without the other. You cannot worship the Father without the Son, or the Son without the Father. Because as Jesus said ... "I and my Father are one." (John 10:30, John 14:10). This does NOT mean they are one person, as some people like to think. The Father and His Son are TWO separate individuals. But they are so closely united by a bond that humanity cannot fully comprehend yet at this time, that we worship them "as one." You cannot have one without the other.

John 17:5 ...'And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.'

Matthew 11:27 ...'All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.'

John 14:13 ...'And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.'

How many things have been given unto the Son? ALL things. Where is the Father glorified? IN THE SON. How do we pray? Through Jesus Christ, in His name. How do we reach the Father? "no man comes to the Father but by Me." - Through Jesus Christ. So how do we WORSHIP the Father? Through His Son. They are united 'as one', so we cannot have or worship one without the other.

Jesus counted it as 'not robbery to be equal with God', being 'in the form of God' (Philippians 2:6). Therefore it is 'not robbery' for us to worship Jesus also, along with the Father. Is Jesus 'worthy' to be worshipped? ... "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." (Rev.5:12) - THAT is worship.

Colossians 2:9 says that in Christ is 'ALL the fulness of the Godhead'. So all the fulness of the Father dwells in Christ, which Jesus confirmed Himself. So if we worship Jesus, while acknowledging the Father as the only true God, then who are we ultimately worshipping? The Father. It's the same with following man and the traditions of man. Who are you ultimately worshipping by following man and the beast system? SATAN.

As long as we acknowledge the Father as the 'only true God', being the 'source of all life' (John 17:3, 1 Cor.8:6), and acknowledge Jesus as the literal, divine Son of God the Father (Romans 8:3, John 3:16-17), then we are not breaking the first commandment by honouring and worshipping both. It is the Father's will for us to honour His dearly beloved Son and has ordained that ALL THINGS be done through Christ, including worship of God.

We are COMPLETE in Christ (Colossians 2:10), because the Father fully dwells in His Son (Colossians 2:9) and has given ALL things unto His Son.

So are trinitarians or 'oneness' believers ok, because they worship Jesus too? No, because they reject the Father as being the 'only true God' and they reject Jesus Christ as being the literal Son of the one true God. Therefore, according to 1 John 2:22-23, they reject BOTH the Father and His Son. The trinity god and 'oneness god' are false gods. They are not the true Godhead of the Bible. So by worshipping a 'Jesus' who is NOT the literal Son of God, they are worshipping a different Jesus and following a different gospel. And if you are worshipping a different Jesus from the scriptures, then you are not worshipping the Father either, because He will not accept worship through a 'different Jesus'. He will only accept worship through HIS SON ... "no man comes to the Father but by me."

So what 'god' do you think we are NOT to have 'before' the one true God, as the first commandment states? A FALSE god. But the Son of God is NOT a 'false god'. He is divine Son of the Father, and the Father even calls Him 'God' in Hebrews 1:8. Now in the original Hebrew of the 1st commandment, there is the implication that we are not to put the one true God 'behind' us and TURN AWAY to 'other gods'. Are we turning away from the Father by worshipping His Son? No! We acknowledge and honour the Father by honouring His Son (John 5:23).

So it is clear to me that we can and should honour and worship Christ, as the divine Son of the inifinite God. Jesus is our Redeemer, our Comforter and the one through whom all blessings flow. Revelation 5 even tells us that for all eternity, blessing and honour [WORSHIP] will be given to God AND Christ:

Revelation 5:11-13 ...'"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands. Saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, AND unto the Lamb for ever and ever."

"Although he ascended into heaven to the glory of his Father, our blessed Saviour did not forget us here on the earth. And what was the answer that the Father gave to the Son?--"Let all the angels of God worship him." And then they all bowed in adoration before him; they worshiped him, and their song of praise filled the heavenly courts. Honor and praise and majesty were ascribed to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever." (Review and Herald, July 29, 1890)

Do you believe that the Father is the 'only true God'? Do you believe that Jesus is the literal, divine, begotten Son of the one true God? Then the Father will accept your worship of His Son, as the Father dwells in His Son and will accept nothing from us, unless it is given THROUGH Christ.

Ephesians 1:17-23 ...'That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought IN CHRIST, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.'