Dear Reader,
The Bible says:
Jhn 4:24 God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.
Is Jesus Christ a Spirit? Is He God? When He was sired by the Spirit of God the Father, did that make Him a Spirit? But before that, when He was brought forth from the bosom of the Father, was He a Spirit? Was He divine? Was He God? Was He the Word? Was the Word God?
So who do we worship, the Father, the Son, or both? There are still professing Seventh-day Adventists who say that Christ was a created being and was not God--that we should worship the Father only. Then there are Adventists who maintain that we worship the Son and that the Son worships His Father. So it begins to get confusing and the question arises, who should we worship?
Since there are professing Adventists who believe that Jesus is not God Almighty and equal to the Father, we need to closely investigate Scripture to see if that is so. We are instructed to worship one God and no other God. Which one of the following God's are we to worship? The very first commandment of God the Father, which He wrote with His own finger, says:
Exd 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Some say Jesus is a god, but not God Almighty. The above command is that we shall have no other gods before Him. Since that could be interpreted to mean we can worship other gods, but not BEFORE worshipping God the Almighty Father, we will give you another double-edged sword command of God:
The Double Edged Sword Resolution to the Godhead Issue
Here comes the sword that will cut you any which way it swings. Watch out!
Exd 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name [is] Jealous, [is] a jealous God:
If you say that the above verse applies to God the Father, then we cannot worship Jesus. If you say the above verse applies to Jesus, then we cannot worship the Father.
If the first four commandments are our duty to God, which God, the Father or the Son? Or both?
The above command says no other God, period. If Jesus is in any sense another god, then we could not worship Him according to the above command. That would make God a self-contradicting liar, because He instructed the angels to worship His Son, Jesus.
Hbr 1:6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
The Bible says that the commandments were written by the finger of God.
Jesus said, if ye love me keep my commandments. Who was the author of the law? Who was the Testator of the Everlasting Covenant?
Exd 20:2 I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Question: The first commandment is thou shall have no other gods besides me. When God told the angels to worship His Son, was than having another god besides Him?
Dr. Luke said in Acts 24:14: But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
1Cr 14:25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on [his] face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.
Phl 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Col 2:23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
Hbr 1:6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
The Four and Twenty Elders--Who do They Worship?
Rev 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."
Question: Was Jesus another God? God said expressly thou shalt worship no other god. Then He God, told the angels to worship His Son. Was His Son another God.? If He was, then God the Father contradicted His own words. This is why I have stated over and over that God the Father and the Son are ONE GOD, because they are of the same Spirit essence and substance--ONE ETERNAL SPIRIT.
Deu 11:16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
Deu 26:10 And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:
Who is speaking in the following verses--Jesus or the Father?
Who does the following two verses say we are to worship--God the Father, or Christ?
1. Psa 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
2. Psa 45:11 So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he [is] thy Lord; and worship thou him.
Psa 66:4 All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing [to] thy name. Selah.
Psa 81:9 There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
Psa 86:9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.
Psa 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Psa 96:9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.
Psa 97:7 Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all [ye] gods.
Psa 99:5 Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; [for] he [is] holy.
Psa 99:9 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God [is] holy.
Psa 132:7 We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool.
Psa 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
Isa 2:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
Isa 2:20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made [each one] for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
Isa 27:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
Isa 36:7 But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: [is it] not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
Isa 46:6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, [and] hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
Isa 49:7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, [and] his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, [and] the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.
Isa 66:23 And it shall come to pass, [that] from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
Jer 7:2 Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all [ye of] Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.
Dan 3:28 [Then] Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed [be] the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
In regard to the above verse, which God, Jesus or God the Father?
Luk 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Zep 2:11 The LORD [will be] terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and [men] shall worship him, every one from his place, [even] all the isles of the heathen.
Zec 14:16 And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Zec 14:17 And it shall be, [that] whoso will not come up of [all] the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
Mat 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Mat 2:8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found [him], bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
Mat 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Mat 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.
Mar 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.
Worship of the Father
Jhn 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Jhn 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
2Ch 7:19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
Exd 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth:
2Ki 17:36 But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.
1Ch 16:29 Give unto the LORD the glory [due] unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
Exd 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;
Exd 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Exd 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Exd 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exd 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exd 20:10 But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates:
Exd 20:11 For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Exd 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Exd 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
Exd 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Exd 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.
Exd 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Exd 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour's.
Exd 20:18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw [it], they removed, and stood afar off.
Exd 20:19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
Exd 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
Exd 20:21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God [was].
The Everlasting Covenant--The Law of God
Gen 9:16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth.
Gen 17:7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
Gen 17:13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
Gen 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, [and] with his seed after him.
Lev 24:8 Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, [being taken] from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.
2Sa 23:5 Although my house [be] not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all [things], and sure: for [this is] all my salvation, and all [my] desire, although he make [it] not to grow.
1Ch 16:17 And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, [and] to Israel [for] an everlasting covenant,
Psa 105:10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, [and] to Israel [for] an everlasting covenant:
Isa 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
Isa 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David.
Isa 61:8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Jer 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
Eze 16:60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
Eze 37:26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
Hbr 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Num 25:13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, [even] the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.
*The entire sanctuary System points to God and Christ. Where was the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? God is Spirit, so it was the Spirit of God and the Son of God.
Worship of the Lamb, Jesus Christ
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Whose "hour of judgment" is come? The Son or the Father?
Some say that God the Father created the earth through the Son, and that the Father is to be worshipped as the ONE GOD ALMIGHTY, while the Son is to be worshipped as a lesser god. They say that since there is ONE GOD, we should worship only the Father as that ONE GOD. But who is the Lamb that we should worship, that was slain from the foundation of the world? We are clearly told that we are to worship NO OTHER GOD:
Exd 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name [is] Jealous, [is] a jealous God:
Rev 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for [thou] only [art] holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
Who do all nations worship, the Father or the Son? Who sits on the throne? The Father, the Son, or both? Who is now seated on the throne at the right hand of the Father?
Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Which God(s) was John the Revelator instructed to worship in the above verse?
The only sane conclusion that we can come to is that the Father and the Son are equal and constitute ONE GOD, because they are of the same ONE ETERNAL SPIRIT--ESSENCE AND SUBSTANCE.
I and my Father are one. John 10:30.
What Does God (Jehovah) Declare Himself to be?
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I [am] the first, and I [am] the last; and beside me [there is] no God. Isa. 44:6.
Questions:
- Who is the King of Israel? Who told the Jews that He was King of the Jews?
- Who is the Redeemer--the Lord of hosts?
- Who is speaking in Isaiah 44:6?
- Who is claiming to be the first and the last in Isaiah 44:6?
In what scripture does Christ adopt the same expression? Answer:
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Rev. 22:12, 13.
Questions:
- How many first and lasts are there?
- Who is coming quickly--the Father or His Son?
- Who is claiming to be the Alpah and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, in Revelation 22:12, 13
It is true that the Son of God voluntarily took a subservient role as a servant while on this earth. Some make the mistake of applying that status to Him forever, and try to make the Father greater than the Son. That is a mistake. Some would inquire: Is not the very description of Father demonstrative that the Father is first in eminence? No. Not in the case of God. The Father and son relationship is presented that way to show the closeness of the relationship--the love relationship, such as Abraham's love for His only son Isaac.
Jer 31:33 But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Now from the New Testament:
Hbr 8:10 For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Hbr 10:16 This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
The moral of this study, friend of mine, is that if God the Father had His finger in the Covenant as Testator of that Covenant, and He did--He wrote it with His finger-- then any person who should die for any violation of that Covenant had to be equal with the Father, because He was the Testator and the Testator had to die. That is the double-edged sword of this study.
Ron Beaulieu