Is it wrong to worship the Father?

[B-A-C]

It seems a number of Christian songs lately have the phrase...
"I will worship you alone" or " I will worship Christ alone" or something else similar.
Some also say I will worship Christ alone "forever"...

I sometimes cringe a little when I hear this.
Now while I agree we should worship Jesus Christ... I'm not sure I agree that we should worship Him alone.
We should worship God, and obviously Jesus and the Father are both God and part of the trinity.
However Jesus isn't the Father, and the Father isn't Jesus.

John 14:6; b No man comes to the Father except through me.

John 4:22; You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
John 4:23;“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
John 4:24; “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Why would Jesus talk about worshiping the Father? True worshipers shall worship the Father... in spirit and truth.

As far as worshiping Jesus alone forever... well eventually Jesus hands all the authority back over to the Father.

1 Cor 15:23; But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,
1 Cor 15:24; then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
1 Cor 15:25; For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
1 Cor 15:26; The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
1 Cor 15:27; For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.
1 Cor 15:28; And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all.

Verse 24 says Jesus eventually gives the kingdom back to the Father...

Now I suppose it may be OK to continue worshiping Jesus at that time.. but is it not OK to worship the Father?

 

[Curtis]

It seems a number of Christian songs lately have the phrase...
"I will worship you alone" or " I will worship Christ alone" or something else similar.
Some also say I will worship Christ alone "forever"...

I sometimes cringe a little when I hear this.
Now while I agree we should worship Jesus Christ... I'm not sure I agree that we should worship Him alone.
We should worship God, and obviously Jesus and the Father are both God and part of the trinity.
However Jesus isn't the Father, and the Father isn't Jesus.

John 14:6; b No man comes to the Father except through me.

John 4:22; You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
John 4:23;“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
John 4:24; “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Why would Jesus talk about worshiping the Father? True worshipers shall worship the Father... in spirit and truth.

As far as worshiping Jesus alone forever... well eventually Jesus hands all the authority back over to the Father.

1 Cor 15:23; But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,
1 Cor 15:24; then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
1 Cor 15:25; For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
1 Cor 15:26; The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
1 Cor 15:27; For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.
1 Cor 15:28; And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all.

Verse 24 says Jesus eventually gives the kingdom back to the Father...

Now I suppose it may be OK to continue worshiping Jesus at that time.. but is it not OK to worship the Father?

John 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.

When we see Jesus Christ we see the Father as Jesus is the "expressed" image of God.(Heb 1:3) Does God have a "body"? Yes he does. His Word is his body, and it became flesh.

Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

This is good news, but the next verse is even better.

Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

 

[Waggles]

Now while I agree we should worship Jesus Christ... I'm not sure I agree that we should worship Him alone.

If one reads the New Testament then the fundamental message of who Christ is and what he accomplished can be understood not only in the Gospels but also in the Epistles.
No one can worship the Father but by Christ Jesus. No one can call Jesus their Lord but by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is central and fundamental to being in the Trinity of God.
ROMANS 8: explains much...
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
1CORINTHIANS 12:3
Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

Jesus is fully entitled to all of our praises and worship, for by Him and only through Him do we gain the Trinity - the Holy Spirit and the Father.
JOHN 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. verse 23: Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him.

Also worth reading John chapters 16 and 17

 

[B-A-C]

I guess this depends on if you view Jesus as a telephone or as a translator.

When you pray, do you ask the Father through Jesus (he is the telephone).
Or hhen you pray, do you ask Jesus to ask the Father for you?

Jesus only taught one of these methods.
By the same token....
We may worship the Father through Jesus.. But are still can worship the Father by calling Him Father.

Also, once we get get to heaven. Do we still worship the Father through Jesus?

 

[Waggles]

Also, once we get get to heaven. Do we still worship the Father through Jesus?

We never go to heaven. The saints will meet Jesus in the air upon his second coming in power and glory with myriads of angels. His feet will descend upon the Mount of Olives to the east of earthly Jerusalem.
Later, after the millennium reign and after the second judgment of all others, then New Jerusalem will descend downward to the Earth and we will all be with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit as part of something more wonderful than any of us can imagine at present.

 

[B-A-C]

We never go to heaven.

Perhaps you are right... Yet it seems some people go to heaven. 2 Kings 2:11;
Paul says a man was caught up to the third heaven ( 2 Cor 12:2; )

Joh 14:2; "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

I have to wonder if the Father's house is an actual place.. or just the air.

Rev 7:13; Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?"
Rev 7:14; I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Rev 7:15; "For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.

I wonder where the throne of God is in this passage... "in His temple" could refer to the New Jerusalem..

Heb 11:16; says they desired a heavenly country... it says God has prepared a city for them.
Now many believe the New Jerusalem to be heaven... others will say it merely comes down out of heaven.


2 Cor 5:1; For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Joh 14:2; "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3; "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

Eph 2:6; and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

 

[Brother-Paul]

I guess this depends on if you view Jesus as a telephone or as a translator.

When you pray, do you ask the Father through Jesus (he is the telephone).
Or hhen you pray, do you ask Jesus to ask the Father for you?

Jesus only taught one of these methods.
By the same token....
We may worship the Father through Jesus.. But are still can worship the Father by calling Him Father.

Also, once we get get to heaven. Do we still worship the Father through Jesus?

A good reply B-A-C although I have never heard Jesus called a telephone before

It got the message over though... Scripture confirms, Jesus is the Only Intercessor of prayers to God our Father :thumbsup:

 

[Curtis]

Heb 11:16; says they desired a heavenly country... it says God has prepared a city for them.
Now many believe the New Jerusalem to be heaven... others will say it merely comes down out of heaven.

I would say the New Jerusalem is in Heaven, and this is were we where translated into when God raised up Jesus from the dead.

Heb 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
Heb 12:23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
Heb 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

This the place God has chosen to rest forever.

Psa 132:13 For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
Psa 132:14 This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

There is no doubt Christ in us is fully aware of his surroundings while living in us, and if that is true, and it is, then why are we not fully aware of our spiritual surrounding living in Christ in Heaven?

 

[Curtis]

Joh 14:2; "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

I have to wonder if the Father's house is an actual place.. or just the air.

Is not Jesus Christ the Fathers house where he lives? Jesus said I dwell in the Father and the Father dwells in me.

Act 17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

 

[Curtis]

Also, once we get get to heaven. Do we still worship the Father through Jesus?

Is the Church not only living in physical bodies here on earth, and at the same time we are living and dwelling in Christ in Heaven? I thought we are sitting on the right hand of God in Christ.

 

[Dovegiven]

Worship the Father

Ephesians 3:9-21 (KJV)
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Pray to the Father by authority of (in the name of) Jesus, having boldness and access to the Father.
John 4:23-24 (KJV)
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.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Jesus prayed to the Father, pointed men to him, gave the Father all the glory, based his words and deeds upon what the Father God told and showed him.

 

[Ophel]

1 John 5:7
For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

John 10:30
The Father and I are one.”

John 17:21
I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

.

 

[HAllyson]

We should worship God, and obviously Jesus and the Father are both God and part of the trinity.

I struggled with this concept for years. More recently I have developed a conviction for the word of God, which, according to scripture, was God in the beginning. (John 1:1) 2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. I have developed a new appreciation of the depth and breadth and length and height of the language of the Holy Bible. (Here is a different can of worms: worshiping the word of God, which was God). I think that the Holy Ghost comes unto man by the word of God. Please allow me to share some scripture to show you where I'm coming from:

There are 6 verses throughout the bible that include the words "Holy Ghost" and "the word."

Acts 4:31 ¶ And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Acts 10:44 ¶ While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

Acts 11:16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

Acts 16:6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,

1 Thessalonians 1:6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

However Jesus isn't the Father, and the Father isn't Jesus.

From what the bible is saying Jesus=God the Father=Holy Ghost (given to us by the word which in the beginning was with God, and was God)...

There are 3 that bear record in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these 3 are one....

Should we not worship the entirety of the LORD? And, have you ever thought of how physical matter exists in 3 states... solid, liquid, and gas. (I suppose we have learned about plasma also...fourth kingdom; another rabbit...I digress


Thank you for this post....Good stuff. God bless!



More verses to ponder:


Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Acts 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

Acts 4:31 ¶ And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Acts 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

Acts 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Acts 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;

Acts 20:28 ¶ Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Romans 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Romans 15:16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

1 Corinthians 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

Hebrews 2:4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

 

[HAllyson]

Worship the Father

Ephesians 3:9-21 (KJV)
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Pray to the Father by authority of (in the name of) Jesus, having boldness and access to the Father.
John 4:23-24 (KJV)
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.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Jesus prayed to the Father, pointed men to him, gave the Father all the glory, based his words and deeds upon what the Father God told and showed him.

Thank you so much for this scripture!

 

[Dave M]

My thought is if your are Worshiping Jesus you are worshiping God and vice versa. 10:30-33, "I and the Father are one."


When you say Jesus isn't the father and the father isn't Jesus I think you are wrong, I also think we as humans can not begin to comprehend how they are one but separate also. TO say JEsus isn't the Father seems to bother me for some reason, he is but he is not , I would never say he is not with out saying he is. I submit that I can not in this lifetime understand how they can be one but separate.

 

[HAllyson]

Now I suppose it may be OK to continue worshiping Jesus at that time.. but is it not OK to worship the Father?

I thought of you and your question today when I read this:
Please Check out verses 22-24
"All men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father"

John 5:16 -31
16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
17 ¶ But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. 18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. 19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. 22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23 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. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. 30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. 31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.


(We learn John bore witness as we keep reading)


God bless!!

 

[B-A-C]

John 4:23; But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

John 4:24; God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Somehow, this got turned into is it OK to worship Jesus? I have always said yes it is.
But Jesus specifically mentions worshiping the Father.
Also, if we take verse 24... "God is a spirit"... is Jesus a spirit? Or is He flesh?

There is a Spirit of Christ ( Rom 8:2; 1 Pet 1:11; )...

23 That all men should honour the Son, <b>even as they honour the Father. </b> He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

This seems to indicate we should honour (worship/prasise, etc...) Jesus...
just as we do the Father. Does that mean if we do not worship the Father, we shouldn't
worship Jesus?

 

[B-A-C]

Isa 63:15; Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious habitation;
Where are Your zeal and Your mighty deeds?
The stirrings of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained toward me.
Isa 63:16; For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us
And Israel does not recognize us.
You, O Lord, are our Father,
Our Redeemer from of old is Your name.