What and Who are you Worshiping?

(Colossians 2:18-19)

What and who are you worshiping? Are you really worshiping God and the Lord Jesus Christ, or has your worship been replaced by something else?

You are warned in these two verses today to beware of what and who you are worshiping. When you dig down, you may think you are worshiping God and Jesus Christ, but in truth that may not be the case.

Paul cites a few examples in these verses, and we will look at some of those things and how they may be occurring today. We will also look at some things that are taken for granted as being Christian in nature, but may not be the case when we examine them in the light of the truth.

What and who are you worshiping?

Before getting too deep into this subject we should consider the scripture at hand.

18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. (Colossians 2:18-19)

There are some churches today that DO insist on self-abasement and worship of angels. And in fact there are many, many churches that insist on the worship of angels without realising they are doing so.

For example, how many churches preach a doctrine of trinity? Many of them. They talk about the three faces of the one God or God in three persons and other such descriptions.

But the Bible does not talk about a trinity of Gods anywhere. It does not speak of three God’s but insists that there is only ONE God, who is the God and Father of all.

Jesus is called the Son of God, and so is A god and is called God by the Father also.

But nowhere in the scripture is the Holy Spirit called God. In fact if you examine the first book of Hebrews and consider what took place at Pentecost and when the children of Israel wandered for forty years in the wilderness, it is evident that the Holy Spirit is an angel. Look at what Hebrews chapter 1 has to say.

Of the angels he says, “Who makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire.” (Hebrews 1:7)

And what happened at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples?

2 And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:2-4)

And finally we see how the angels are to be considered, again in Hebrews chapter 1.

13 But to what angel has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand, till I make thy enemies a stool for thy feet”? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation? (Hebrews 1:13-14)

Who is it that is to obtain salvation? We are. Mankind is the one to whom salvation is promised. It is the Holy Spirit who works with and in mankind to do the work of transformation and bring us to salvation. The Holy Spirit is a spirit sent to minister to us so that we may be saved. Thus, the Holy Spirit is an angel, not God.

So let me come back to my point about trinity doctrine. When you worship God as a triune God that includes the Holy Spirit, you are worshiping an angel. And as we see we are instructed not to worship angels but to worship God, the ONE God who is Father of us all and the Son of God who is Jesus Christ.

Are there other examples of what and who are you worshiping?

The short answer is yes. There are other issues in the modern church concerning what and who are you worshiping.

Let’s take another common so-called Christian emblem that is worshiped almost universally across the whole church. The cross.

What is fascinating in the scriptures is that Jesus may not have died on a cross. The Greek word normally translated as “cross” is “stauros”. The true meaning of “stauros” is a stake or a stick, not a cross. It is highly likely that Jesus may have been nailed to a stake, with His arms above His head, rather than outstretched to the sides as is commonly believed. And if that is so, then what becomes of the worship of the cross?

Even if this is not so, the church has made the cross an idol. And we are warned widely in both the Old and New Testaments to abhor idolatry. Yet the church has adopted the cross as an idol placing it on most things to do with the church. It is the universal sign of Christianity, but in truth it has no place at all in Christian worship.

Whether Jesus died on a cross or not is unimportant. It is His death that is important because in His death we received the gift of life. Through His death we are set free from sins, freed from the law, and receive righteousness by faith. THIS is what is important. The cross is not important at all and in fact has become an idol within the church.

What should you do?

There are more examples I could go into, but these two should suffice to give you an idea of how the church has gone astray from the fullness of the truth that is in Jesus Christ.

Rather than point out what is wrong, seek the truth. Look to Christ Jesus and pray to God the Father through Jesus Christ. Don’t pray to some angel or some idol, but to God the Father. He has said to seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened, and when we ask He will answer.

So do that. Open your bible and start reading it. With each section you read, ask the Lord to show you the truth. Look for yourself and don’t just rely on your pastors, priests, or ministers. We will all stand before the judgment seat of God, and you better know what and who are you worshiping.

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Changing Of The Guard
Trinity Troubles
Problems With Trinity
My God Reigns
One God
Cross Real Symbol Christianity
The Woman At The Well Part 1
Orderly Worship