Introduction: The deity of Jesus Christ has been under attack for some time by such groups as the Jehovah Witnesses and others.  They say that Jesus is not God but a created being, Michael the archangel.  The basis for what we believe is the Word of God, and if we can not substantiate from the Word of God that the Jesus of the New Testament is God then everything we have becomes rubble and a waste of time. It has been the point of this series of studies to defend this cardinal doctrine of the Word of God, and to be better prepared to defend what the Word of God teaches on the deity of Jesus Christ.  So far we have seen that the Bible clearly defends the deity of Jesus Christ by the names ascribed and given to him, and by the attributes of God that He exhibited while on this earth.

 

Tonight I want us to come at the deity of Christ from a different angle - that Jesus is God because of the divine worship ascribed to Him.  Before we get into the details of how this can be proven I believe it to be wise to review what worship is.

 

If someone were to ask you - “What is worship?” how would you answer them?  The word worship comes from an old English word that contains the ideas of honor and worth.  When we worship God, we are honoring Him.  When we worship God, we are recognizing His inexpressible, indescribable, infinite value.  Like the angels in heaven, all true worshipers say Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.   Rev. 4:11  True worship not only recognizes the worthiness of God but also rejoices in it.

 

The Old and New Testaments have a number of words that are translated “worship.”  The Hebrew word used most often in reference to worship means “to bow down, to do homage” (Gen. 18:2).  The most prominent Greek term for worship conveys the idea of “showing reverence” or “bowing down to God” (John 4:21-24).  A second Greek word means “to serve, to minister” (Matt. 4:10).  Worship, then, involves both our attitude and our action.  Worship is the attitude of reverence and adoration, as well as the action of humble, loving service to God, who alone is worthy.

 

With that definition of worship in our heart and mind we can now take up our defense of the deity of Jesus Christ by the worship that is ascribed to Him.

 

I. The Scriptures Recognize Worship As Being Due To God Alone

1. Matthew 4:8-10 says, Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.  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.

 

2. When Satan asked Jesus to worship him, Jesus told Satan that the only One deserving of worship was the Lord thy God.  Now I understand that this verse is Jesus’ rebuttal to Satan, but we also know, from our previous studies that Jesus is God, so He is actually telling Satan to worship Him, not the other way around! 

 

3. What Jesus told Satan is exactly the message of the OT.  It is the message of Exodus 20:1-5 And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 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. 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;

 

4. As we will see in another point tonight, many people did, in fact, worship Jesus while He was on this earth.  If Jesus was not God then what was taking place and is recorded in the gospel accounts is nothing more than sacrilegious idolatry.  If Jesus was not God, then why didn’t God deal with him as He dealt with others in the Bible who lifted themselves up in pride and made demanded worship from others, or accepted worship from others?  Here are some examples of what I mean.

Ÿ         Nebuchadnezzar 9 (Daniel 4:29-33)

Ÿ         Herod (Acts 12:20-25)

 

5. On the other hand, we are also given examples of those who had people attempting to worship them  because of some great deed or miracle that God had done through them, and how they vehemently protested and put a stop to it.

Ÿ         Peter (Acts 10:25,26)

Ÿ         Paul in Lystra (Acts 14:14,15)

Ÿ         The angel of Rev. 22 (Rev. 22:8,9)

 

The next point is an obvious one that follows right on the heels of the last point.

 

II. Jesus Christ Unhesitating Accepted Worship

The proof for this statement is found in the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ ministry.  Let’s take a look at some of them.

 

1. Matthew 8:2-4  - And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

 

2. Matthew 14:33 - Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.  This was on the occasion when Jesus came walking on the water and Peter asked Jesus to bid him to come out on the water as well.  He did and Peter walked briefly and then took his eyes off of Jesus and sank.  Jesus rescued him and thus the response of those in the boat who saw all this happen.  Jesus does not reprimand them for worshipping him and saying “Thou art the Son of God.”  Some might want to say that Jesus accepting worship doesn’t make Him God.  If I was to demand worship of myself from others because I thought I was God, would that make me God?  Of course not, so they have a point.  The difference is that Jesus was walking on the water, Peter walked on the water, and Jesus rescued Peter.  This is why these people in the boat said what they said.

 

3. Matthew 9:18 - While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.

 

4. Matthew 15:22-28 - And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

 

5. Matthew 28:9,17 - And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.  And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

 

6. Luke 5:4-8 - Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

Again, in the text there is nothing said by Jesus that Peter should not have said what he said.

 

7. There are many other passages of scripture we could reference for where people worshipped Jesus and He did not tell them to cease.  There are only two conclusions we can reach with this point: either Christ was God or He was an imposter.  When we take the whole of Christ’s life, his words and deeds, and compare them with other scriptures, we cannot escape the fact that Jesus is God.

 

III. It Is God’s Revealed Will That Christ Should Be Worshipped

God states a number of times in His Word that worship should be given to Christ, to the Savior.  We see this in the OT and the NT.

 

1. Isaiah 45:21-23 - Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.  Peter states in Acts 4:12 - Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. 

 

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

It is clear from these two verses that Jesus is to be honored, worshipped, in the same way that God the Father is honored, worshipped.

 

3. Hebrews 1:6 - And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

There are various ways that this verse has been interpreted.  Some have seen in the wording at the beginning of the verse that the author of Hebrews is referring to the second coming of Christ to this earth and compare the quote to what we find in Rev. 5:7-12 where angels numbering 10,000 times 10,000, and thousands of thousands saying “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”

 

Others understand the verse to be referring back to the incarnation of Christ when the angels sang to the shepherds.  The difference between the two has to do with the words “And again.”

 

The JW’s love to jump on the word “firstbegotten” as proof that they are right about Jesus being a created creature, not eternal; not God.  The Greek word that is translated here is “prototokos” which is almost always speaking of priority or superiority.  It is not referring to Jesus being a created being.

 

The point for us in our study about the deity of Jesus Christ is that the angels worship Him.

 

4. Phil. 2:9-11 - Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

Conclusion: We have seen tonight that the Word of God makes it very clear that God is to be worshipped, that God’s will is for Jesus to be worshipped, and that Jesus fully accepted all worship given to Him.  Based on those three central truths, the Word of God teaches that Jesus is God, not a created being, and deserves all the worship and worthship that is due to Him.

 

That is the doctrine, but what about putting it to practice.  Are we truly worshipping Jesus Christ as God in our formal worship and in our informal worship?