Previous Questions and Answers
"Should We Pray To The Father Or To The Son?"
Recently,
I met a few Christians who said we should not pray to Jesus Christ but pray to God the
Father in the name of Christ Jesus in the Holy Spirit as St. Paul used to do in all the
epistle. As well when Jesus told the model
prayer He asked them to pray to the Father. Also,
they say we should not glorify Jesus as it should be given only to the Father as per
Isaiah 48. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and
not God but He will be God only during eternity till then he is at the right hand of the
Father. What is this doctrine? Is
this correct?
No,
not everything that they have said is correct. Some is in serious error.
We
are told to pray to the Father in Jesus’ name. Jesus said in Matthew 6:5-13, “And when thou
prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are:
for
they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they
may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet,
and when thou hast shut thy door, PRAY TO THY FATHER which is in secret; and thy Father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But
when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do:
for
they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye
have need of, before ye ask him. AFTER THIS
MANNER THEREFORE PRAY YE: OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it
is in
heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
Amen.” Jesus said in John 16:23, 24, “And
in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, WHATSOEVER YE SHALL
ASK THE FATHER IN MY NAME, he will give it
you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and
ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
In
the matter of glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ, we should seek to do that every day of our
lives. Jesus said in John 5:22, 23, “For
the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 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.” To glorify the Lord Jesus Christ is
to glorify the Father. John 14:1-9 says,
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it
were not
so,
I
would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you
unto myself; that where I am, there
ye
may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the
way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we
know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh
unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known
me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen
him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the
Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto
him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? HE THAT
HATH SEEN ME HATH SEEN THE FATHER; and how sayest thou then,
Show
us the Father?”
Jesus
has always been God Almighty — that is not just some future position. It is blasphemy to say that Jesus is not God right
now, but only in some future sense. As the
previous verse shows, Jesus and the Father are One. Jesus
told them that if they had seen Him, they had seen the Father. Jesus said in John 10:30, “I AND MY FATHER ARE
ONE.” In Hebrews 1:8 we see the Father
referring to the Son as “God,” “BUT
UNTO THE SON HE SAITH, THY THRONE, O GOD, IS FOR EVER AND EVER: a sceptre of righteousness
is
the
sceptre of thy kingdom.” In Isaiah 9:6,
Jesus is called the “Father,” “For
unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his
shoulder: and HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED Wonderful, Counsellor, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE
EVERLASTING FATHER, The Prince of Peace.”
Being
“God” is not some position that can be given and taken. God has always been God from everlasting in the
past, into everlasting in the future. Psalm
90:2 says, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the
earth and the world, even FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING, THOU ART GOD.” That same phrase was used in describing the birth
and the place of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Micah
5:2 says, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though
thou
be little among the thousands of Judah, yet
out
of thee shall he come forth unto me that
is to
be ruler in Israel; WHOSE GOINGS FORTH HAVE BEEN FROM OF OLD, FROM EVERLASTING.”
How
important is it to believe that Jesus is God Almighty?
Jesus said in John 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die
in your sins: for IF YE BELIEVE NOT THAT I AM HE, YE SHALL DIE IN YOUR SINS.” If a person does not believe that Jesus is God,
that person will die in his/her sins (and thus, go to hell).
A “Jesus” who is not “God” is not the real
“Jesus.” Matthew 1:23 says,
“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall
call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, GOD WITH US.”
