Do Unitarians Worship Jesus?

… if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:7

To have fellowship with another we must walk in the same light as Jesus Christ, who told us that He is God. Jesus is the true Light. John 1:7-9. He and His Father are One. John 17:21,22. He prayed that His disciples would also be one with Him as He is in the Father and vice-versa. Jesus said He was with the Father before the world began. John 17:5. John 1:1-3 & 14 tells us Jesus is God and Creator of the universe.

But Unitarians do not believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is God. Then who do they worship? Can they worship Jesus who is not God in their theology? Unitarian theology seems to fall into two categories: Arianism where Jesus is a special angelic creation or Socinianism where Jesus was just a special man.

The First Commandment of YHWH is

You shall have no other gods before me. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,
Exodus 20:2,5a

We are commanded to only worship God (YHWH, Jehovah) and no other God. We can easily identify YHWH as the God Man Christ Jesus before His incarnation on Earth. He is the self-existent One, who identified Himself to Moses from the burning bush (Exodus 3:13,14) simply as I AM.

After Christ’s resurrection and after He had spent time with the disciples He was taken up into heaven. When this happened the disciples worshipped Jesus as God.

And they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:
Luke 24:52

These disciples were Jews, who knew the Commandments very well. They would not worship Christ if He was not God. On the occasion Thomas first met Jesus after He was resurrected we read:

And Thomas answered and said to Him, My Lord and My God.
John 20:28

Only God is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient.

[Jesus Christ] has made us kings and priests to God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail [mourn] because of Him. Even so, Amen.
Revelation 1:6,7

How is it possible that globally and temporally all will see Him? This is a characteristic only of God, which is called omnipresence. Note this scripture also tells us that those who killed Him, who are in the grave [Sheol, Hades] will see him at His return. So His presence transcends space and time. That is not an attribute of an angel or of any human.

Scripture tell us Jesus has omnipresence. He says if we pray or ask for anything and it shall be done of the Father.

Again I say to you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.
Matthew 18:19,20

How can that happen if believers are praying all over the globe? Only because of His omnipresence can He be with all groups of believers simultaneously. It also demonstrates His omniscience. This is not a property of a created being, whether angel or human.

Remember at the end of His ministry on Earth Jesus told the disciples and, by extension, us:

Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28:19,20

This tells us two important things in regards to the question at hand.

Firstly, Jesus Himself identified the three persons of the Godhead – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is confirmed by the angel that came to Mary before the conception of Jesus.

And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest [the Father] shall overshadow you: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:35

Jesus was born of the heavenly Father not of an earthly father. It was a miraculous conception/creation. This demonstrates the omnipotence of God, but John 1:3 tells us the Creator of all things is Jesus Christ. Luke 1:37 tells us that “nothing is impossible with God”, which is also demonstrated in the creation of all things including the whole universe (Genesis 1:1 and John 1:3).

This is confirmed in this same passage.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, All power [authority] is given to Me in heaven and in earth.
Matthew 28:18

Secondly, in Matthew 28:20 Jesus promised to be with us always to the end of the world. That is everywhere and at any time. That is omnipresence, an attribute only God has. Isaiah 46:10.

Now to Him [our Lord Jesus Christ] that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Jude 24,25

Jude under inspiration of the Holy Spirit penned these words. This tells us of the power and glory [omnipotence], and identifies God as Christ the Saviour.

Here is another on God’s omnipotence.

For the Word [Logos] of God is quick [living], and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12

From John 1:1 and 14 we know that the Word of God is Jesus Christ. The Greek word translated ‘Word’ is Logos. I have capitalised it here like in John 1:1. It is the same Greek word used in this verse and in John 1:1. The Greek word translated ‘quick’ is zao meaning to live. So we might translate the phrase here as “The Word of God is living”. (Note: ‘is’ there is an insertion.) Thus the verse’s meaning includes the words of God but also identifies Jesus Christ here. It demonstrates His omnipotence. No angel or man has the power to see into soul and spirit and know the thoughts of one’s heart. That also then demonstrates God’s omniscience, His all knowing knowledge. But this is Jesus Christ we are talking about.

There are many more scriptures that illustrate the omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence of God and especially of Jesus Christ. These attributes can mean only one thing. Jesus Christ is God. He is one of the Godhead with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Like the Apostle Thomas, I worship Jesus as My Lord and My God, but I don’t know who Unitarians worship.

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By John Gideon Hartnett