GOD WAS IN CHRIST: JESUS ACCEPTED WORSHIP

(Message by Tanny Keng)

1. God Was In Christ

a) Occasionally you will hear objection to the statement that Jesus acted as God while on earth. Some interpret the words, "God was in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:19) by inserting commas: “God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to himself ” which takes the punch out of the phrase "God was in Christ", suggesting that Jesus Christ was merely a tool of God, and not God himself.

b) People also try to water down the idea that God was in Christ by saying something like, "Well, when we say of a boy, “you can see his father in him”, we don't literally mean that his father is actually in him. We simply mean that he takes after his Father." The scriptures however do not permit of such an interpretation, and we are about to see why.

c) We notice actions of Jesus on earth that show that quite literally God was in Christ. He was God in the flesh and acting as God. There are certain things in which Jesus would have acted presumptuously if he were not God in this world.

2. Jesus Accepted Worship

a) We know that God was in Christ because people worshiped him and he did not object. By the way, the Greek word for worship is προσκυνεω proskuneo (Strong 4352) which means to do homage.

b) A leper “worshiped” Jesus (Matthew 8:2-3). After Christ rose from the the eleven disciples “worshiped” him (Matthew 28:16-17). There are several other similar examples of people worshiping Jesus.

c) When Cornelius worshiped Peter, Peter protested (Acts 10:24-26). When John worshiped an angel, the angel protested (Revelation 22:6-9). But when people worshiped Jesus, he did not protest. 


The End ...

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