I knew and worshipped the Father (Yehovah) before He revealed to me that his Son, Yeshua (Jesus), was and is the Messiah. Perhaps that is the reason that I am so saddened. It seems that much of Christendom has forgotten the Father.
I have a difficult time finding contemporary worship songs that direct worship to the Father. There are some, but they are in the minority.
There are many instances where Yeshua (Jesus) talks about worshiping the Father, which, by the way, was and is a very Jewish thing to do.
In Matthew, Yeshua (Jesus) quotes Deuteronomy 6:13-14, from the Torah. The Torah is the first five books of the Old Testament. The literal translation is “teaching,” but the word “law” is frequently used. He says, “Worship Yehovah your God and serve only him.”
In John 4:22-23, Yeshua (Jesus) says “You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”
The Father, Yehovah and the Son Yeshua are two different personas.
In Mark 12: 28-29 “One of the Torah-teachers came up and heard them engaged in this discussion. Seeing that Yeshua answered them well, he asked him, “Which is the most important mitzvah (commandment) of them all?” Yeshua answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel, Yehovah our God, Yehovah is one and you are to love Yehovah your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your understanding and with all your strength.’”
If you work for a small family business run by a father, the CEO and his son, the company president, you have a clear understanding of who, is “really” in charge and who has had “authority” given to him by a “higher power.” Yes, the father may love his son, but, he still is the one who built and established the business and still holds the final authoritative position. Yes, he gave him a name above all other names, except his own. That wasn’t specified anywhere, but it is certainly understood. If you are given two weeks of extra vacation or a large surprise bonus, you know who had the real authority to allow or disallow those things from coming your way.
Yeshua (Jesus) said that no one could come to Yeshua unless Yehovah, the Father, the one who sent Yeshua (Jesus) draws him/her.
So, unless Yehovah drew you to Yeshua, Yeshua wouldn’t have revealed himself to you.
At the beginning of this article, I wrote that I have a difficult time finding contemporary worship songs that direct worship to the Father. It really does make me feel very uncomfortable and I would love to grab the mike to let everyone know that yes, Yeshua, is to be worshiped and yes, he is the Messiah, but it is not he “alone” who is to be worshiped.
Iris Salmins is the owner of Sites by Iris. An online marketing company that offers website, search engine optimization, social media, blogging, newsletter and Google Alert creation, training and management and Life on the Wall a fine art oil painting restoration service.