Who Is Jehovah? Who Is Jesus? - Part 7 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). At least eight lines of argument combine to make the biblical case for the deity of Christ: Part 2: The Old Testament predicted a divine Savior Part 3: Jesus is called Jehovah Part 4: Titles reserved for Jehovah are applied to Christ Part 5: Jesus possesses all the incommunicable attributes of God Part 6: Jesus does the works of God Part 7: Jesus receives worship. Jesus Himself in Matthew 4:10 said told the Devil, Begone, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only. If Jesus Himself were only a creature, He would have been guilty of hypocrisy, for He himself received worship. Not once did Jesus ever rebuke anyone for worshiping Him. Never did He refuse anyones worship. In fact, He corrected those who scolded others for worshiping Him, as in John 10, when Martha was angry that Mary sat at His feet. And in Matthew 26, He rebuked the disciples for being indignant that a woman had anointed Him with expensive ointment. Listen carefully to these verses, and remember that in every case Jesus welcomed the worship that was offered to Him: Matthew 14:33—And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, You are certainly Gods Son! John 9:38—And [the man born blind] said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped Him. Matthew 28:9—And behold, Jesus met them and [greeted the women coming from His tomb]. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Matthew 28:17-18—And when [the eleven disciples] saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. John 20:28-29—Thomas answered and said to Him, My Lord and my God! [Now listen to Jesus response to Thomas calling Him God:] Jesus said to him, Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed. Contrast Jesus response to worship with Peters response when Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him (Acts 10:25). Verse 26 says, Peter raised him up, saying, Stand up; I too am just a man. Acts 14:11-18 tells of a similar episode in Pauls ministry, when he and Barnabas refused the worship of an entire crowd. Then in Revelation 19:10 and 22:8-9, we have angels refusing worship from the Apostle John. In 22:9 the angel says, Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God. Scripture explicitly states that the Son is to be worshiped. John 5:22-23 says, For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Jesus placed Himself on the highest possible level when He made Himself an object of our faith, John 14:1: Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. You want ultimate proof that Jesus is not an angel? Hebrews 1:6 says that when the Father brought the Son into the world, He said, And let all the angels of God worship Him. Lets move on to the two final lines of argument that prove Jesus is God. I have saved the strongest for last. For if Jesus is God, you would expect the Bible to say so in the strongest of terms. And in fact it does. Copyright © 1996 by Phillip R. Johnson. All rights reserved. Part 8 will follow
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 10:48:51 +0000