Who Should Be the Center of Our Worship

I'll begin by stating a principle that I believe in very strongly, and that is with a better understanding of a topic so we can have a better application of it, with a better understanding of a topic, then we can apply it better in our own lives. I once read the history of the Wright brothers, who in 1903 were the ones that invented the first motorized airplane with all the controls and actually became a model for the future of airplanes, and thanks to them we are able to use air travel because before them it was not possible. But it was very interesting in that story that it mentioned that a year before in 1902 these brothers had struggled for years to understand the mechanics of putting this airship in the air and maintaining it. And they tried different types of models and in Europe they tried as well and basically most have been killed on these contraptions. They really hadn't gotten that far along. And so in 1902 Wilbur Wright, the older brother who was more of the engineer, had mentioned because he was so frustrated and dejected, he said, I don't know about these flying machines. It might take a hundred more years before we are able to have somebody figure this out. But then that following year they had a breakthrough and it had to do with Wilbur's fascination with watching the birds and trying to understand how the wings of the birds function. And he would stay hours looking at the different birds flying. And finally the idea came that instead of having a fixed wing that was completely stiff, if he could bend the back of the wings that he could then control the turns and he could stabilize the plane. So through a series of pulleys they did precisely that because it was basically made out of wood and canvas and they made it flexible enough that with the pulleys they could bend the back of the wing and that would make it turn and lift at the same time. Well, that was the breakthrough where they developed what today are called the flaps on planes. That as soon as a plane is going to take off it lowers its flaps, the wind pushes against it and creates the lift. And then if you want to go turn left, then you let the wing flap go and it'll push it this way and the other. So that's an example of better understanding means better application of something.

And it's the same with a key concept in the Bible. If we don't understand this key concept, we're not going to have the type of personal relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ that we should have. And thankfully, in the churches of God, God revealed to us the true relationship that we should have with God the Father and Jesus Christ, which the rest of mainstream Christianity do not have. They have all kinds of different concepts as we'll cover. And so we're going to cover the subject who should be the center of our worship. Because there are all kinds of ideas out there. And so when we deal with the worship of God, we first of all have to understand that that has to do with the first commandment of the 10 that God gave us. This has to do with regulating and establishing the relationship with God. And as you are well aware, in Exodus 20, where it gives you the 10 commandments, the first one says, I am the Lord your God. And then it says, you shall have no other gods before me. So the first thing God says is that that worship should be exclusive. It has to do with worshiping God, not anything or anyone else. And a lot of people have died because they took that very seriously. Back in those days and times of Christ, when the Roman Empire ruled, they started worshiping the emperors. They called it emperor worship. And if you did not bend down and burn incense to the emperor, you were considered a traitor and a rebel and could cost you your life. But this first commandment says, you are not to bow and worship anything or anyone except God. Now notice, there in Exodus 20, when it says, I am the Lord your God, God uses two terms for identifying himself. Lord, Yahweh, and then your God is Elohim. So it actually has the two words, Yahweh Elohim. Yahweh is used as the covenant God, the one who establishes a relationship with us, a personal relationship. But then it also says Elohim, which is God's family name. Just like we have surnames, which distinguish us from others, God has this, we can call it a surname, the last name. So you can have two Yahwehs, but they're still in the family, the God family. So later on, God would reveal himself as a family, the father and the son.

So this God that says you're not to worship anyone except God says in John chapter 1, here we have two beings named God that share that divinity.

John chapter 1 and verse 1, let's read that just to refresh ourselves. It says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, who would later become the father, and the word was God. So it's the same way here as we have expressed it, God revealing through the Bible that you have two beings who are God, who are Elohim. Talking about the word, it says, He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. So they have always existed. They've always worked together as a team. And then it goes on to say in verse 14, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. So one of those God beings was sent to the earth, became man, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So here the introduction of the term Father. Father is a family term. We've all had fathers or else we wouldn't exist. And it says here that Christ is the only begotten. Notice what it goes on to say in verse 18. No one has seen God, and of course it's talking about the Father at any time. The only begotten Son, so here's the other family term, who is in the bosom of the Father in that intimate relationship, He has declared them. So again in the Old Testament it wasn't all clear, but you weren't to worship anyone except God. In the New Testament Christ came and said, well, there is the Father and there is me. And so they are the ones to be worshiped exclusively. And as the Old Testament, the first commandment is given in that sense of exclusivity that you are not to have any other gods. You're not supposed to be following Buddha or Allah or someone else. So in the New Testament, the first commandment is explained in a positive way. You not only don't worship other gods, but the way you worship God is explained in the Old Testament, but Christ magnified it. Notice what He said in Matthew 22, verse 35. Matthew 22, verse 35. So again, how are we going to have a right relationship with God if we don't understand that relationship? Or we have a distorted view of it. Matthew 22, verse 35.

Then one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him and saying, teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. So this is telling us how to worship God. It's not talking about other foreign gods and keeping them out. Now we're focusing on God and saying we are to give Him our best, our all. He is first in our lives.

So again, when you look at the scriptures, you find that it is God the Father who is first, the center of our worship with Jesus Christ at His right hand. Notice in 1 John chapter 2 verse 24, 1 John chapter 2 verse 24.

It says, therefore, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. He uses the term abide like dwelling. This is something that we should incorporate, which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. Those are the two that we are to dwell spiritually when we direct our prayers. God the Father is in the center stage. Jesus Christ is at the right hand. And this is the promise that He has promised us, eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing, which means receiving the Holy Spirit, which you have received from Him, abides in you. And you do not need that anyone teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. So again, the principle is that we should abide, and God the Father, first, and then Jesus Christ. Notice what the Bible knowledge commentary mentions about this verse. Let's go one more, because here in 1 John chapter 5, 19-20, this is what the Bible knowledge commentary mentions. 1 John 5, 19-20, which is related to what I just mentioned, it says, we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. He says the world has been deceived. People have been distorted, and they've been lied to, especially about who God is. And it's so clear if you let the Scriptures speak to us. Notice, it says verse 20, and we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding. He came to understand the Father's role, that we may know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God in eternal life. So Christ says, I am God, God the Father is God, and this is the understanding that we should retain. The Bible knowledge commentary has on this verse. It says, the coming of the Son of God has granted to believers an understanding which makes possible a knowledge of God. Know who is God. John and his circle were in Him who is true, and so were his readers as they continued to abide. But to abide in God is also to abide in His Son Jesus Christ. For that matter, Jesus Christ Himself is the true God in eternal life. With this grand affirmation of the deity of Christ, John concluded his summary of apostolic truths which stand against the falsehoods of the antichrists, especially the Gnostics who wanted to do away with God the Father and Jesus Christ and that relationship. So it is very important to understand it is with God the Father, Jesus Christ, no one else. He who thinks the Holy Spirit is also God, nowhere in the Scriptures is this going to be backed. It's always God the Father, God the Son. It's a family, and they are opening up that God family so they can have many more children come in the future. One of my favorite scriptures also bears this in mind in the Old Testament, Jeremiah chapter 9 verse 23.

This is the greatest knowledge that we can have in this life because everything else is physical. We can learn a lot about physical and material science, but it says here in verse 23, Jeremiah and I, thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. He says, so you're smart, so you have a PhD something. He says that's not something to commend yourself before God. Let not the mighty man glory in his might. Well, you might be Charles Atlas or Schwarzenegger or someone, right? One of these bodybuilders. They're very proud of their bodies. He says that's not something that God is impressed with. Nor let the rich man glory in his riches. A lot of people think their worth is based on dollar signs. How many zeros you have in your bank account.

But let him, who glories, glory in this. God says this is the most important. That he understands and knows me. That I am the Lord exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord. So an understanding of who God is, what is he doing, and what kind of relationship we can have with both, as God has expressed it in the scriptures, is so important. Traditional Christianity claims to focus its worship mostly on Jesus Christ. You've heard the sayings on the radio, TV, even bumper stickers. Christ is the answer. Or Christ is Lord. But you know what? God the Father is Lord too. Why leave him out? He's at the center stage. Jesus Christ is at his right hand. Not God the Father at the right hand of Jesus, as some would have you believe by the way they emphasize Jesus to the detriment of God the Father. So when Jesus Christ's disciples asked him to teach them to pray, that would have been a perfect time for him to have emphasized himself. He could have said, pray to me, I'm the one you should focus on. Yet instead he said, Luke 11.2 says, when you pray, say, our Father in heaven hallowed be your name. So he himself is not focusing on himself, but on God the Father. He made it clear that God the Father should be our main focus when we pray and that we are to concentrate on his glory, power, might, and love for us while not leaving out the worship of Christ himself.

We even have a short prayer in the New Testament where a believer addressed Jesus Christ in prayer. It's found in Acts 7, verse 59. I'll read it. It says, and they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. So he was still calling on God, who would have been the Father, but then he focused on Jesus. And we even had an example when Lincoln gave the prayer where he talked about God the Father, but Jesus Christ at his right hand. That's what God wants to hear. He doesn't want to be left out, and at the same time, his son is also God and worthy of being worshiped.

Now, it is true that Jesus Christ said that when we end our prayers, to do so in his name. John 14, 13. Let's go there. John 14, verse 13.

He said, and whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. That's the proper way. Christ saying, you do it in my name. But it never says, well, focus on me first, because even here, he says God is the one that is doing the granting.

So when Jesus Christ mentions praying in my name, he is talking of being the mediator between God the Father and mankind. He has a role to carry out. This is very clear. 1 Timothy 2, verse 15. It says, for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. A mediator is an integral part of the communication process, but the focus is on the one in charge. You wouldn't go to one of these corporate offices or to someplace, even if you go to the White House. The White House, the president has staff members that bring the person, but you don't address the person who brought you. He's there as a mediator, intercessor. He's there to help. You direct your speech or your attention on the person in charge. Christ says God is in charge. I am the mediator. Notice in John chapter 14, verse 28. John chapter 14, verse 28. It says, you have heard me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice because I said I am going to the Father, for my Father is greater than I. So yes, there is equality as far as the substance of God, but not the positions. The positions have already been established, and there's God the Father and God the Son. So the Son isn't in charge. He has willingly subordinated Himself to the Father, and that's still the case up in heaven.

Let's go to 1 John chapter 4, verse 12. 1 John chapter 4, verse 12.

1 John chapter 4, verse 16. Christ here is part of the topic. John is speaking. He says, no one has seen God at any time. Of course, Christ has come down here. They were able to see Him. They saw Him glorified. You know, Abraham entertained Him and many others through time. But it says, no one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. So it's not just Jesus Christ's love for us. It's God the Father's love. By this, we know that we abide in Him and He in us because He has given us His Spirit.

And we have seen and testified that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him and He in God. Because again, you have to establish a proper relationship. If you deny the Son, you're not going to have a good relationship with the Father. And if you deny the Father, you're not going to have a good relationship with the Son.

You need both to be in their proper place when we worship them, when we pray to them. Continuing on, it says, verse 16, And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and He who abides in love abides in God and God in Him. So you're not leaving God the Father out at all. So you see how clever Satan is to distort things.

You raise this wrong place of Christ. You lower God the Father. How many that you go to your mainstream religious congregations, you see in TV, how many are dedicated to putting God the Father first? That was never the case when I was a Catholic. You talked about Jesus Christ. You talked about going to marry His mother so that she could entreat Him. God the Father, He was kind of distant and absent.

No, you had to go through Mary to get to Christ, to get the petitions. So that's wrong. And what do you do when you go to these other congregations? It's all about Jesus, which again is extrapolating and exaggerating what is not found in Scripture.

Because we have to talk about God the Father loving us and how we have to honor Him as well as Jesus Christ. See, Satan is very clever. He uses the Scriptures. You can talk about God the Father. You can talk about Jesus Christ. Just don't do it like the Bible says. Don't put it all in the right proportion, because then you're going to get a distorted view of things.

We're going to go into that in a moment. So while many Protestants focus primarily on Christ and virtually ignore God the Father, and also the Trinity clouds the issue. Because the Trinity, when they explain it to you, say it's a mystery. That it's one being but with different personalities. But it's just one being. Well, the Bible doesn't say that. It says the Word is a being. It says God the Father is a being, and that they are united in mind and spirit. But the Trinity is a way of not worshiping God the right way.

Because you're adding a third person, too. I defy anyone to look at the scriptures and tell me who's on the left side of God the Father. We know who's on the right side, and if you think there's a third one, he'd be on the left side. But it doesn't tell you. It's just the two. So that would be an insult to the third person if it existed.

True worship according to the Bible involves first God the Father and then Jesus Christ. Both are God. Even focusing on something like the cross. You see some of these places, and they'll have the cross. But who is that the center of our worship? No, it's God the Father. So even there, you're focusing on the wrong person in that sense. Yes, Jesus Christ's sacrifice is very important, but who was the one that gave us that sacrifice? It was God the Father, who loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son.

So you see, the cross is not the right symbol, because it does not have God the Father as the center of it. And again, Satan is happy. Just distort things so that you focus on the wrong person that should be in the center piece, should be the one who is sitting on the throne, not at his right hand.

And again, I appreciate what Christ did. I appreciate the cross, or whether it was a stake or whatever. I appreciate his sacrifice, but his sacrifice is not the center of my worship. God the Father is. And Jesus Christ is my mediator. He's on the right hand. He's there to encourage us and help us, but you don't detract from God the Father being at the center.

Christ came to reveal a God who loves us as a father loves his own children. Christ reveals himself as our elder brother. Notice John 14, verse 21. John 14, verse 21.

This is what Christ said. He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. So again, he's saying we're all together in this, and if you're following me, I'm guiding you as I follow the Father and keeping his commandments. Notice in verse 23. Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him. So yes, I have a relationship with Jesus Christ, but I also have a relationship with God the Father. I want to worship both in the right way and proportion.

He says, and we will come to him and make our home with him. It's not just Jesus Christ dwelling. It's God the Father, too. Each has a role to carry out. He who does not love me does not keep my words, and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. Also, chapter 16 of John, verse 26, He says, in that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from God. So again, Christ is trying to say, look, I'm not the only active one. God the Father is active, too. He's not passive, and somehow he doesn't love us as much, or we shouldn't really focus on him as much. He says, God the Father loves you as I love you. That's exactly the right proportion as the Bible teaches. And yet, where would you go to hear what the Bible is saying and putting it in the right proportion like this? I want to have both God the Father's love and Jesus Christ's as well, and I will not settle for second-rate type of teaching. In the back of the minds of many Christians is the distorted idea that God the Father is the vengeful God of the Old Testament, and Jesus Christ came to shield us from the Father's wrath. That is an erroneous view, and in reality there is no difference in the love the Father and the Son have for us. John 3, 16 and 17. It's a key scripture. It says, for God, talking about the Father, so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world. Kind of a wrathful God. Go get him, Son! Punish him all! No, that's not the way he thinks, but that the world through him might be saved. So again, these are the scriptures that we should keep in mind. And if it's not according to God's word, Isaiah 8, 20, if it is not according to God's word, it's because it hasn't been given properly. It is an error. It is this loving God whom Christ wants us to know and glorify. In his last prayer to his Father before his arrest and crucifixion, this is what Jesus said. John 17, verses 3, 4, and 23. John 17, verses 3, 4, and 23.

And this is eternal life, that they may know. See the word no means understand. Understand you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. Verse 23, I in them and you in me that they may be perfect in one, that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. Wow! God loves us like he loves his Son. We certainly are not worthy of that, but that's what it says. His love is great. So he doesn't want to be the absentee landlord that people forget to honor, to come before, and to feel. He loves us just like Jesus Christ. They work in tandem as a team. I was thinking, well, I was meditating on this, that I have met some wonderful people in this life, in the Church, and one person stands out. I had the chance to work under him for three years. I had a wonderful trip to South America with him and his wife, and he was the pastor here of Garden Grove back in the 90s, Denny Luker. And I'm sure if you got to know Denny Luker very well, he was the most encouraging and loving person. And when I met him, especially from 2010 till his death, three years later, I worked under him. And to me, God the Father and Jesus Christ, that's the Spirit. They just love us, encourage us, care for us, and they don't have a selfish bone in their body. Of course, they are far superior to any human being, but I just want to say that to me it's like having two Denny Lukers that are there just encouraging us and helping us and edifying us. I never got any more loving hugs than from Denny Luker. And just encouragement in the good times and the bad times, he was there. And at least he was following in Christ's footsteps. Now, others have done so, but he just stands out as such. And I'm sure John and others, when they got to know Jesus Christ, they were talking about love, about encouragement, about the tremendous sacrifice God the Father and Jesus Christ did for all of us. Throughout his life on earth, Jesus' focus was on God the Father, and Christ remained subservient to the Father. Notice in John 5, verse 19. John 5, verse 19. Then Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do. For whatever he does, the Son also does in light manner. They have the same spirit. They are love, selfless, and other-centered love. In verse 30 of this chapter, he says, I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me. A perfectly subservient, perfectly obedient to God the Father. That's the attitude we should have, too. An attitude of unity, of backing and helping each other out.

According to Jesus Christ, even the words he spoke came directly from God the Father, John 12, 49. By the way, there are about 95 mentions of God the Father and Jesus Christ being the Son, and that relationship just in the epistle of John. John 5 verse 19.

I mentioned that already. I think... Let me read it. 5-19.

Then Jesus answered, And most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the Father do. I mentioned that in John 14 verse 10. This is the other scripture ahead in mind. John 14 verse 10. It says, But the Father who dwells in me does the works. So they're constantly, actively working together, helping us understand that love that they have for us. Jesus Christ lived his life in perfect accordance with God's will, striving to constantly please the Father. And to me, the clincher, the scripture that clinches it all is 1 Corinthians 15 verse 24 through 28. This perfectly describes the relationship between Jesus Christ and God the Father. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 24 through 28. It talks about here about Christ when he comes back, the resurrection. And then verse 24, it says, This is when God the Father is coming down with a new Jerusalem. When he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. Satan is not going to be around. Not going to be any hostility left. For he must reign, talking about Christ, till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For he has put all things under his feet, talking about God the Father, placing everything under Christ's feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is evident that he who put all things under him is accepted. Talk about God the Father. Now when all things are made subject to him, then the Son himself will also be subject to him who put all things under him. That God, talking about the Father, may be all in all. He will be over everything. There will be harmony and peace forever. And so again, these are the relationships that are so vital for us to understand. The apostles mentioned God the Father first and then Jesus Christ.

Just in the epistle of the Romans, Paul mentioned God the Father 145 times, according to some that have calculated all of that. If Paul wanted the primary focus to be on Christ, he would have referred to Christ a lot more. But he referred to God the Father first. In fact, the Apostle Paul starts every one of his epistles, except Romans and Hebrews, with the greeting, "'Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,' always putting God the Father first." So he understood the proper relationship between the Father and the Son. Paul knew who is to be the center of our worship and identifies the God family. In Ephesians chapter 3, let's go there in verse 14. Here's one of the times where it mentions about the God family explicitly, which means you can see it in Scripture, the term God and family together. Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14, it says, "'For this reason,' says Paul, "'I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.'" So here the term family, patria in Greek, it means getting together of people. And of course, angels were created by God. Everything here on earth was created by God. And there's a family involved, continuing on, "'That He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.'" God is creating that. He's producing this, "'That you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.'" And he continues in verse 20, "'Now to Him," talking about God the Father, "'who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus, through Christ Jesus, to all generations, forever and ever.'" So Paul understood this. This is what he's teaching people. This is what should be taught. This is the way it should be understood.

Sadly, that's not the case. Much of the prejudice against the view of God the Father, as the center of our worship, has to do with the wrong concept of God's law. Many associate the Ten Commandments and other laws based on them, strictly with ancient Israel and a flawed concept of the Old Testament God. They think, Father equals law, and Christ equals grace, and grace equals freedom. So to avoid the obligation to obey the law of God, many shift their attention to the concept of Jesus and the mistaken belief that all Christ asks is that we, quote, love one another and rely on, quote, faith and, quote, grace, while downplaying God's law. The result, thanks to this vague interpretation, is a wide variety of beliefs that spring hundreds of competing denominations, all claiming the name and authority of Christ, and in the meantime, 98 percent ignoring the fourth commandment. The keeping of the Sabbath is holy. Yet it was Jesus who complimented the commandments of God with his teachings. Notice what it says in John 15. John 15, verse 9 and 10. It says, As the Father loved me, I also have loved you, abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken you, that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. So you see, it's working together. It's not pitting one against the other. It's not choosing sides. It's having both, but in their proper place.

If we are to follow the examples of Jesus Christ and the apostles and what they taught in Scripture, God the Father must be the central focus of our worship. Jesus Christ made it clear that we should pray in his name directly to the Father. And Jesus perfectly reflects God's love and character. John 14, verse 9, summarizes this. John 14, verse 9, Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, Show us the Father? They reflect the same spirit, the same focus on things. By becoming God-centered Christians, we will hold the biblical perspective of always looking to God the Father, following the example of Jesus Christ himself and all he did, and also considering Christ himself. Our focus should first be on God the Father, his merciful law, and on Jesus Christ the Son. And a good summary of what true Christianity is all about. You want to summarize it in two descriptions of what true Christianity is all about? Notice in Revelation chapter 14, Revelation chapter 14 verse 12. Here again, God the Father and Jesus Christ are together.

We're not separating them. We're not focusing just on one and detriment to the other. Revelation 14, 12, it says, Here is the patience of the saints. Remember, saints are people who have God's Holy Spirit in them. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Both are put together. The commandments of God, the backbone of the Bible has to do with the commandments of God. But then, the faith of Jesus. We can't do it just following commandments, but we can't just have the faith of Jesus and leave the commandments out. We need to combine the two. We have to have God the Father and Jesus Christ working together in us, dwelling in us, producing spiritual fruit. Even at the end of the Bible, God the Father is found to be the center of our worship and then Christ the Lamb. The Bible never leaves either out. Both have key roles. Let's finish the message for today, Revelation 22.

In verses 1-5, this is the last scene described in the Bible. When God the Father has come back, the New Jerusalem has been established. This is the description of that New Jerusalem in verse 1. He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. God the Father and the Lamb being Jesus Christ the Son. In the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations, and there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no light there, nor sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. So again, God the Father, Christ the Lamb, we see the proper proportion, the proper perspective of how to worship God in spirit and in truth. And so we've been blessed with this wonderful understanding to help us properly address God the Father in our prayers, taking into account Jesus Christ and His role there at His right hand as our mediator, high priest, and elder brother. This should strengthen our personal relationship with both God the Father and Jesus Christ. It's such an important understanding. It can change our lives, our spiritual lives as well, so let's learn to apply it.