Worship of Christ
After it is made clear in Matthew that Jesus regarded God as the only proper object of worship (proskuneo), it is striking that Jesus appears so frequently in the same Gospel to be the object of worship (2:2, 11; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 20:20; 28:9, 17), even if in the immediate situation the act is sometimes only a token of humble respect.
Not only did human beings worship Jesus when he was here on earth, but all of God's angels are required to worship him. According to the book of Hebrews, "And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, `Let all God's angels worship him"' (1:6). This statement is very difficult to explain away as meaning something less than worship given to God. is very difficult to explain away as meaning something less than worship given to God.
Regardless of whether Psalm 97:7 or Deuteronomy 32:43 (or Odes 2:43) is the text quoted in Hebrews 1:6, the text refers to the worship of the Lord God. In Psalm 97:7-9 the psalmist is shaming those who worship idols and telling the "gods" to worship the Lord who is exalted far above them. Since both texts in context are speaking of angels as giving worship to the Lord God, the writer of Hebrews, in applying his quotation to Jesus, is affirming that God commanded his angels to worship Jesus.
If angels, who are supernatural beings vastly more powerful than we are, worship Jesus Christ, then certainly we human beings should worship him as well. Indeed, eventually everyone will worship him: "At the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10,11). As Paul says, giving Jesus this divine honor in no way detracts from the glory of God. Indeed, to withhold such worship, when God has commanded it, is to disrespect God.
"Nobody can call himself a Christian who does not worship Jesus. To worship him, if he is not God, is idolatry; to withhold worship from him, if he is, is disobedience."
The action of the elders in worshiping God and Christ is representative of all of those assembled and participating in the doxology-which was "every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them" (v. 13). The passage thus envisions heavenly and earthly creatures, by the myriads (v. 11), bowing down before God and Christ.
The Lamb receives worship along with God, shares his throne, and is sharply distinguished from all of God's creatures as the only one worthy of such adoration. as Peter Carrell notes in his dissertation on Jesus and angels in the book of Revelation, "Jesus is bound with God in such a manner that together they form a single object of worship.... No encouragement is given to those inclined to believe Jesus to be a second god. Rather, there is a strict adherence to monotheism-but a monotheism which allows for Jesus to be included with God as the object of worship and which envisages Jesus sharing the divine throne with God."
Twice toward the end of the book of Revelation, John fell at the feet of the angel who was speaking to him so as to worship him. The angel responded by reproving John: "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant ... worship God" (Rev. 19:10; cf. 22:8-9). These statements by the angel refute the claim that it was acceptable to worship or bow before an angel who was acting as a representative of God.
After it is made clear in Matthew that Jesus regarded God as the only proper object of worship (proskuneo), it is striking that Jesus appears so frequently in the same Gospel to be the object of worship (2:2, 11; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 20:20; 28:9, 17), even if in the immediate situation the act is sometimes only a token of humble respect.
Not only did human beings worship Jesus when he was here on earth, but all of God's angels are required to worship him. According to the book of Hebrews, "And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, `Let all God's angels worship him"' (1:6). This statement is very difficult to explain away as meaning something less than worship given to God. is very difficult to explain away as meaning something less than worship given to God.
Regardless of whether Psalm 97:7 or Deuteronomy 32:43 (or Odes 2:43) is the text quoted in Hebrews 1:6, the text refers to the worship of the Lord God. In Psalm 97:7-9 the psalmist is shaming those who worship idols and telling the "gods" to worship the Lord who is exalted far above them. Since both texts in context are speaking of angels as giving worship to the Lord God, the writer of Hebrews, in applying his quotation to Jesus, is affirming that God commanded his angels to worship Jesus.
If angels, who are supernatural beings vastly more powerful than we are, worship Jesus Christ, then certainly we human beings should worship him as well. Indeed, eventually everyone will worship him: "At the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10,11). As Paul says, giving Jesus this divine honor in no way detracts from the glory of God. Indeed, to withhold such worship, when God has commanded it, is to disrespect God.
"Nobody can call himself a Christian who does not worship Jesus. To worship him, if he is not God, is idolatry; to withhold worship from him, if he is, is disobedience."
The action of the elders in worshiping God and Christ is representative of all of those assembled and participating in the doxology-which was "every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them" (v. 13). The passage thus envisions heavenly and earthly creatures, by the myriads (v. 11), bowing down before God and Christ.
The Lamb receives worship along with God, shares his throne, and is sharply distinguished from all of God's creatures as the only one worthy of such adoration. as Peter Carrell notes in his dissertation on Jesus and angels in the book of Revelation, "Jesus is bound with God in such a manner that together they form a single object of worship.... No encouragement is given to those inclined to believe Jesus to be a second god. Rather, there is a strict adherence to monotheism-but a monotheism which allows for Jesus to be included with God as the object of worship and which envisages Jesus sharing the divine throne with God."
Twice toward the end of the book of Revelation, John fell at the feet of the angel who was speaking to him so as to worship him. The angel responded by reproving John: "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant ... worship God" (Rev. 19:10; cf. 22:8-9). These statements by the angel refute the claim that it was acceptable to worship or bow before an angel who was acting as a representative of God.
