The Hard Questions: Worshiping a Man as God?

A common claim by anti-missionaries is that worshiping Jesus is tantamount to committing idolatry.

And in a way, they’re right.

Worshiping a man as God would be idolatry, a blasphemous form of idolatry that is unequaled.

One day, the world will be forced to worship the Antichrist, lest the False Prophet (and even the high-tech-sounding Image of the Beast) have them killed.

That will be the ultimate test for humanity before the age truly ends.

See, the reason that will be idolatry and the worship of Jesus is not, is because of their identities.

The Word of God was before even Abraham.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”  (John 1:1 [ESV]).

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6 [ESV]).

“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am’” (John 8:58 [ESV]).

Jesus is the Word of God, and the Word of God is equal to and is God.

When anti-missionaries claim worshiping a man is idolatry, they are correct in some fashion.

But if the identity of the man is, in fact, Yahweh Elohim in human form, then it can’t be idolatry.

God manifested Himself in human form, in mortal flesh, now glorified to be the firstborn from the dead.

Think of Yahweh’s nature as a fire burning.

The fire itself is Yahweh, our God.

A kindling spark that is burning and jumps forth from the fire is Yeshua or Jesus. It came from the fire—it is separate in a way but is still the fire.

And the Holy Spirit is the heat from the fire.

You could even think of it as an ocean. God is the ocean, Yeshua is the water from the ocean in a cup, and the Holy Spirit is the misted air from the ocean. It’s all from the ocean, even in a container (mortal flesh).

If Jesus is God, then it isn’t idolatry to worship Him.

And Jesus claimed to be God all the time, which is why the Pharisees and Caiaphas wanted to kill Him so badly.

Jesus is the Son of Man.

The Son of Man is a figure from Daniel 7:13 who rides the clouds. But only Yahweh rides the clouds. Only God can do this in biblical cosmology and theological understanding. So why is the Son of Man riding the clouds?

If the Son of Man (Jesus loved this title for Himself) does something only Yahweh can do, then, by definition, the Son of Man is a manifestation of Yahweh.

The world will all see Jesus in the future coming on the clouds of heaven, and this event is tied to the Day of Yahweh. If Jesus is the one returning and riding the clouds when doing so, and the event is tied to the Day of Yahweh, this means Jesus is Yahweh.

It is the Day of the LORD because the Lord in a glorified body is returning to save His people and stop humanity from destroying themselves utterly.

The anti-missionaries are mistaken on this one.

And so are the people who claim Jesus never claimed to be God. The Bible shows Jesus is God from Genesis to Revelation.

We must worship no being other than Yahweh. Not angels. Not Mary. Certainly not the Antichrist (I don’t believe he’s even alive yet, though.)

There is nothing wrong with worshiping Jesus as Yahweh.

The Father has committed all judgment to the Son of Man.

And Jesus said He will deny us before the Father if we don’t acknowledge Him as being sent from the Father.

Let’s not make that mistake and understand that Jesus is God.

He wasn’t crazy; He wasn’t lying, and He certainly isn’t a mere man. Prophecy backs up His claims as the Messiah and Son of Man.

Too many people in this world would have diagnosed Jesus with schizophrenia for the things He said. But supernatural confirmation puts that ridiculous notion to rest.

Jesus is Yahweh in corporeal form.

We are not blaspheming God when we worship Him.

It is His due honor.

Will you honor the Son as much as the Father today?

Shalom.