Submit to and do obeisance before the “Lord of Lords and the King of Kings
Should Christ Be ‘Worshipped’?
What does the Bible have to say about the matter?
And if Christ is to be ‘worshipped’, then how?
The word ‘worship’ is a translation of the Greek word ‘proskuneo‘ or ‘proskunhsei‘.
Paying ‘obeisance‘ is worshipful honor and respect. It is not in rivalry with worship of God but relative to it and for Christians, in conjunction with the worship of God.
Here is the definition of obeisance according to the Cambridge dictionary:
noun. a movement of the body expressing deep respect or deferential courtesy, as before a superior; a bow, curtsy, or other similar gesture. deference or homage: example: The nobles gave obeisance to the new king.
Hebrews 1:6 tells us it by the Father’s command that all the angels “worship” His “first-begotten”, Christ.
Various Bible Trasnslations:
Hebrews 1:6
“And again, when he brings in the firstborn into the world he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him.” NHEB
“And again, when he is sending his only Son into the world, he says, Let all the angels of God give him worship.” BBE
“And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.” KJV
Here, in the King James Version note the greek word used:
“And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship (proskunhsatwsan) him”.
Note too what Jesus said about his faithful brothers at the time of the End:
Revelation 3:9
“Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship (proskunhsousin) before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee”.
Of course Jesus was not saying that they would be ‘worshipped‘ as we worship the Father. So, he is not contradicting the statement he made to Satan when being tempted by the devil:
Luke 4:8
“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship (proskunhseis) the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”.
Here the same Greek root is used as ‘proskuneo‘ and ‘proskunhsei‘ as found at Hebrews 1:6 (proskunhsatwsan) and Revelation 3:9 (proskunhsousin).
Christ as both High Priest and as King is worthy of worshipful acts of obeisance because God glorified him to be worthy of such. As Hebrews 1:6 clearly states, it is God’s command. The command is not only for the angels in Heaven but applies to humans as well.
When an Israelite appeared at the Temple to offer sacrifices, he knelt before the High Priest out of respect. Also important is the fact that there was no one standing between him and the High Priest.
There is a difference between worshipful acts of obeisance honoring our Lord and the worship we on render exclusively to God Almighty.
Those Who Refuse to Give Proper Honor to Christ
Jesus said, “You will tell a tree by the fruit it bears”. Conversely it stands to reason that you can also tell about a “tree” by the absence of “fruit”.
This is the lesson found at Mark 11:12-14:
‘The Barren Fig Tree Is Cursed’
12 The next day when they came out from Bethany, He was hungry.
13 After seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, He went to find out if there was anything on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.
14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples heard it. (HCSB)
“Jehovah’s Witnesses” are among many other professed groups of disciples of Jesus who have all but omitted Jesus from their teaching in any meaningful way.
They bear a type of “fruit” that glorifies men such as Charles T. Russell, J. F. Rutherford, and the man behind those men Frederick Franz.
Doing so, they have no “fruit” with respect to Jesus and are “barren” trees according to the Lord.
The Watchtower Organization and its leaders attempted to make themselves the intermediary with God in the absence of Christ.
They do not refer to themselves as the ‘church of Christ’ but rather ” God’s spirit directed organization.
Jesus told the outcome of such barren trees: Matthew 7:15-20
15 “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves.
16 You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit.
18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit.
19 Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 So you’ll recognize them by their fruit”.
Those who attempt to worship God without Christ are ‘antichrist’.
‘Antichrist’ is simply anyone or anything in opposition to the authority of Christ. Who were the antichrist when Jesus was on Earth?
They were those who rejected him and sought salvation through another source…Jewish nationalism. Today that particular ‘antichrist’ is still in operation. In addition there have over the centuries arisen other antichrist.
It was Almighty God who put Jesus Christ in the position of High Priest. Therefore there is but one means to approach Him and that is through Jesus.
No more than a person could approach the earthly temple of God and offer a sacrifice without the high priest positioned as the intermediary, can a person approach God without doing so through Christ the eternal High Priest of God.
brotherjohnsite.org 
I do sincerely appreciate this explanation or differentiating of Worship with regards to God and Christ. I personally agree on this too.
But I stand to object to this viewpoint that Jehovah’s witnesses play down on Jesus in their ministry. As a former Pentecostal and presently one of Jehovah’s witnesses, I have come to see deep reasons why certain things are operated as seen from their standpoint.
It has been in the attitude of the Lord Jesus to distract from merely lip servicing him and giving him accolades that are not critical to gaining God’s approval. What I mean is, at one instance he said “Not everyone saying to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter into the Kingdom of the Heavens but those doing the Will of my Father…”
Also he corrected a Woman who was swept off by his profound wisdom when she said “Blessed is the Woman whose breasts you sucked…”. This was a great opportunity to give grounds to Mary’s adoration. But Jesus rather directed attention to ” those who hear these words and put it into practice.” Luke 11:27,28
From this background, I understand the Christ to not be interested in just identifying him as Lord or physically pouring adoration to him. He later said “You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:14
If Jehovah’s witnesses are found by Jesus not to be physically consumed with pouring accolades to him or shedding open tears for him to people’s delight but are up and doing with his directives, this indeed is Worship and the due honor to the Christ. Nothing better. No wonder judgement day will be full of surprises against many who thought they were really serving the Lord Jesus. We all need to recheck our commitment to the words of Jesus.
True. Jehovah’s Witness behavior reminds me of that of the first woman. She desired to circumvent God’s arrangement, bypass her head and mediator, and become a law into herself choosing what is right and wrong….becoming a god unto herself.
The so-called governing body rejects the only Mediator and only Head, Jesus Christ. They exclude him from their teaching as much as they can.
I can remember the ‘canned’ prayers offered at the close of their meetings that ended with the cursory phrase, “In Jesus’ name…” It was as if they used his name to cosign their thoughts and do not see the Lord standing before God as High Priest mediating as they pray.
Thank you for your comment!