The Worship of Jesus Christ
Eternity Online: John Edmiston (Editor)
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(Rev 5:11-14 NKJV) Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many
angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and
the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands
of thousands, {12} saying with a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb who
was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and
honor and glory and blessing!" {13} And every creature which is in
heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the
sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and
glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb,
forever and ever!" {14} Then the four living creatures said, "Amen!"
And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives
forever and ever.
The Bible is quite clear that God alone is to be worshipped (Deut
6:4) and that He will not give His glory to another (Isaiah 48:11).
Yet in Revelation 5 the Lamb is "in the centre of the Throne" is
worshipped by all the host of heaven - in the direct and approving
presence of Him who sits upon the throne. This is St John's
unequivocal portrayal of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. All that
is in heaven and on earth and such as are in the sea worship the
Lamb. The Lamb therefore must be God.
The praise of Jesus Christ is one of the purposes of the Holy
Spirit's presence in us and is one of the central duties of the
Christian life "(Heb 13:15 NIV) Through Jesus, therefore, let us
continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips
that confess his name." The praise of Jesus Christ is also something
we shall be doing for all eternity.
The worship and praise of our Saviour purifies the soul and sets it
above earthly distractions and disappointments. I find great blessing
in praise because it is so hard for me! I can get bogged down in day
to day disappointments so easily. Praising Jesus Christ lifts me
above them and to the air the Holy Spirit breathes.
There are three great obstacles to praise. The sense that God is
unfair, shame over sin and deciding to deliberately sin. If you are
deciding to sin in some way - know that you will find it hard to
praise Jesus, love God and fellowship with Him. Your sin will cost
you dearly. I am sure the price is not worth it. If you are ashamed
over sin - then confess it now, put it right and get right with God
as David did in Psalm 51. If you feel that God has not treated you
fairly then read Psalms 37 and 73 and deal with your inner self. The
psalmist had that problem and his soul "became as a brute beast
within him". It lost its sensitivity and its ability to praise and
became selfish, angry and ungrateful to God. God is fair - it just
takes a while to see it sometimes. Please read those Psalms if that
is your problem.
Praise should be our every breath as a Christian. Lets try and live
this day in praise of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessings abundantly today!
John Edmiston
Prayer:
PRAYER GOES HERE
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John Edmiston ([email protected])
Editor - Eternity Online Magazine http://www.eternity-magazine.org/
Cults, exegesis, bible teaching, Christian life and leadership.
For the thinking Christian!