GOD AND GOD ALONE: PART TWO

I ended yesterday's post by asking a question. If Christians are suppose to worship one God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the Father of Jesus Christ, why do Christians worship Jesus? In my post of March 27, 2011, I explained that the LORD (Jehovah in the Old Testament), was the pre-incarnation of Jesus Christ of the New Testament. After showing that the only revelation man has received about God, the Father, is through "observing" Jesus (Jn. 1:18; 14:7-9; Col. 2:9; 1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 1:30), I then provided just two of the many references that indicate Jesus is God (Isa. 9:6 "The Mighty God"; and Jn. 1:1-2, 14 "The Word Who became flesh and dwelt among us"). What I will say to day is based upon Christ's identity as the Second Person of the Trinity.

The most frequent New Testament word rendered "to worship" is the Greek word, προσκυνέω (proskunevw), which is defined as: "making obeisance, showing reverence to (from pros, towards, and kuneoµ, to kiss)." The word, "worship," is used to express an act of homage or reverence to:

*God (Matt. 4:10; Jn. 4:21-24; 1 Cor. 14:25; Rev. 4:10; 5:14; 7:11; 11:16; 19:10; and 22:9)
*Christ (Matt. 2:2, 8, 11; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 20:20; 28:9, 17; Jn. 9:38)
**The Dragon, that is, Satan (Rev. 13:4)
**The Beast, that is, the antichrist (Rev. 13:4, 8, 12; 14:9, 11)
**The image of the Beast (Rev. 13:15; 14:11; 16:2);
**To demons (Rev. 9:20)
**To idols (Acts 7:43).

Note: * = worship which rightly belongs only to God, and ** = worship which indicates a rejection of God).

Jesus, is not only worthy of worship from His creation (Jn. 1:1-3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:1-2), He received it during His earthly life. He was worshiped by angels (Heb. 1:6), by His disciples (Matt. 14:33; 28:9, 17; Lk. 14:52), the Magi (Matt. 2:2, 11), the leper (Matt. 8:2), the ruler (Matt. 9:18), the woman of Canaan (Matt. 15:25), the mother of Zebedee's children (Matt. 20:20), and the blind man (Jn. 9:38).

Finally, Jesus is worshiped by me, a former atheist. The Father drew me to Jesus (Jn. 6:44), the Holy Spirit used Christians to share God's Word, the Gospel, with me (1 Cor. 1:18; 15:1-4), and then He gave me the faith to believe (Eph. 2:8-9). To God be the glory!

Even though yesterday was "April Fools Day" or as I like to call it, "National Atheist's Day," what I have written today is not a joke. Jesus is Lord, and worthy of our worship, our love, and our obedience! I pray that every soul who reads this post will recognize Christ as his Lord, and will spend the rest of his days worshiping Him! Amen!