It is acceptable to pray to Jesus Christ After Christ ascended into heaven, Stephen prayed to Jesus:
“And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’” [Acts 7:59]
As the author of the book of Revelation, the apostle John addressed a request directly to Jesus Christ:
“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ ‘Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!’” [Revelation 22:20]
The woman at the well was told she should have asked Jesus for living water:
“Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you,
‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
[John 4:10]
If we ask anything in agreement with the will of the Son of God, he hears us and answers our prayers:
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
[1 John 5:13-15]
When Jesus Christ returns we will no longer ask Jesus directly, but in his name will ask the Father:
“Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
[John 16:22-23]
Jesus told his disciples that he would personally answer prayers that are asked in his name:
“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.”
[John 14:13]
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God’s name belongs to Jesus Christ As the Son of God, Jesus Christ inherited the name of God:
“Having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” [Hebrews 1:4]
Only God’s name is exalted, yet God gave Jesus the name that is exalted above all others:
“Let them praise the name of the Lord, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven.” [Psalms 148:13]
“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.” [Philippians 2:9]
Jesus Christ has a name that only he knows suggesting he and the Father are One:
“His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.” [Revelation 19:12]
Every knee will bow at the name of Jesus:
“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” [Philippians 2:10-11]
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God planned a visit to Earth
A messenger would prepare the way for Lord God himself to come:
Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. [Malachi 3:1]
Before the glory of the Lord would be revealed, a messenger’s voice would cry out: The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” [Isaiah 40:3-5]
John the Baptist would be a prophet who would prepare the way for the Lord:
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways.” [Luke 1:76]
Quoting Isaiah, we are told John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord God: In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord. Make His paths straight.’ ”[Matthew 3:1-3]
Mark tells us that John the Baptist would prepare the way for Jesus Christ:
As it is written in the prophets: Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make his paths straight.”
[Mark 1:2-3]
Before he introduced Jesus, John the Baptist said he was not worthy to loosen his sandals: John came baptizing in the wilderness and….
he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I
indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” [Mark 1:4-8]
As prophecied, Jesus would be called “God with us:”
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” [Matthew 1:23]
Martha believed that Jesus Christ was the one the prophets promised would come:
She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” [John 11:27]
The wise men quoted the prophet saying Christ would be the Ruler who would come: But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel. [Matthew 2:6]
God is our Redeemer:
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon, and bring them all down as fugitives the Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships. I am
the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.” [Isaiah 43:14-15]
Other than the Lord God, who is Israel’s King and Redeemer, there is no other God: Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God.”
[Isaiah 44:6] Also see Isaiah 43:1,15; 44:23,24; 47:4; 48:17,20; 49:7,26; 52:9; 54:5,8; 59:20; 60:16; 63:16.
God became Israel’s Savior and Redeemer: I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has bestowed on us…. For He said, “Surely they are My people, children who will not lie.” So He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them. In His love and in His pity He redeemed them. [Isaiah 63:7-9a]
Redemption came through Jesus Christ: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
[Romans 3:23-24]
The Father sent his son as Savior of the world: And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
[1 John 4:14]
The Redeemer would come to Israel: The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, says the Lord. [Isaiah 59:20]
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God chose to show himself in Jesus Christ If you see Jesus Christ, you see God:
“The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” says the Lord. [John 12:44]
Jesus is the image of God:
Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
[Hebrews 1:3]
Jesus Christ is what we see of an invisible God: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. [Colossians 1:15]
God was seen in the flesh and ascended into heaven:
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. [1 Timothy 3:16]
The one who sees Jesus Christ sees God: And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.
[John 12:45]
Jesus is the express image of God: (He) has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.”
[Hebrews 1:2-3a]
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Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are extensions of God
Isaiah prophecied the arm of the Lord God would be a man, and many would not recognize him: Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
[Isaiah 53:1-3]
Jesus Christ is the Arm of the Lord God, but many have not recognized him:
But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” [John 12:37-38]
The Holy Spirit would come, proceeding from the Father:
“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. [John 15:26]
When the Lord God comes, his arm will rule and gather the flock, and will care for them like a shepherd:
Behold, the Lord God shall come [a]with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him.
Behold, his reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.
[Isaiah 40:10-11]
God’s glorious voice will be heard, and his arm will be seen with a mighty storm:
The Lord will cause His glorious voice to be heard, and show the descent of His arm, with the indignation of His anger and the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, tempest, and hailstones. [Isaiah 30:30]
Likewise, Jesus Christ will be seen with lightning on the day of the Lord:
For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. [Matthew 24:27]
The Lord God will be seen with lightning on the day of the Lord:
Then the Lord will be seen over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord God will blow the trumpet, and go with whirlwinds from the south. [Zechariah 9:14]
God will let the world see his holy arm when he brings back Zion. He will be a comforter and a savior:
Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together; for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the Lord has comforted His people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. [Isaiah 52:8-10]
The Lord God himself will descend on the day of the Lord:
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel,
and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
[1 Thessalonians 4:16]
Men will see Jesus Christ coming with the clouds on the day of the Lord:
Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. [Matthew 24:30]
The arm of the Lord is the one who does great things for God’s people. He gives joy and is our Comforter:
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! Awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Are You not the arm that cut Rahab apart, and wounded the serpent? Are You not the One who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that made the depths of the sea a road for the redeemed to cross over? So the
ransomed of the Lord shall return, And come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness.
Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. “I, even I, am He who comforts you. [Isaiah 51:9-12a]
The Lord Comforter and Savior. The Lord will bare his arm. The whole world will see God’s salvation:
Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations. And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. [Isaiah 52:9-10]
Jesus said the Father would send another Comforter other than himself:
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever…. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. [John 14:16,26, KJV]
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. [John 15:26, KJV]
God’s Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of his Son, who was sent forth from the Father:
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
God’s arms will judge the world and distant lands will wait on God, trusting in his arm: My righteousness is near. My salvation has gone forth, and My arms will judge the peoples.
The coastlands will wait upon Me, and on My arm they will trust. [Isaiah 51:5]
As noted in the previous verse, as an extension of the Father, Jesus Christ will judge: For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
[John 5:22-23]
The title “Branch” for the coming Messiah suggests Jesus would be an extension of the Lord God: Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness. A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely. Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS. [ Jeremiah 23:5-6]
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