Devotional: Divine Oneness

Divine Oneness

In His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said to the Father, "And the glory which You gave me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me" (John 17:22-23). It's no secret God loves us. But I don't believe that is the emphasis of Jesus' statement. His desire was that we be one in Him with the Father.

To better understand what Jesus meant, we must first look at His "oneness" with God and the Holy Spirit, also known as the Divine Trinity. In the Great Commission, Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). In this statement, Jesus very clearly made a distinction between Himself, the Father, and the person of the Holy Spirit. In the Book of John, we find another example of this: "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). In this passage, Jesus once again identified all three of them individually. He said the Helper (one person) who would come from the Father (another person) would testify of Him (a third person).

In the benediction of his second letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul also clearly identified each member of the Trinity. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen" (2 Corinthians 13:14). Here we not only find them identified individually, but we also very clearly see their primary functions. Jesus is grace. God is love. And the Holy Spirit is communion (or we could say the One who fellowships and participates with us).

Now in light of all this, consider 1 John 5:7, "For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one." We understand that John's reference of "the Word" is a reference to Jesus based on John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..." So according to First John, these three, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one. That sounds a little contradictory compared to the scriptures we just looked at, doesn't it? But it isn't contradictory at all. In the original language, this passage read: "... and these three are at one." (It's amazing how one little word can almost change the whole meaning.)

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not "one" person (like an alien with three heads). They are "at one" with one another, meaning they are always unified. You will never find Jesus going against the Father, or the Holy Spirit contradicting the Word. They are always in agreement with one another. And this is why Jesus prayed, "...that they may be one just as We are one..." Just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three at one with other, the desire of heaven is that Christians would understand and operate in this same unity.

Think about it: if we would make regular deposits of God's Word in our heart, and never make hasty statements of "God said..." without confidently knowing it lines up with His Word, we would not only be unified with the Trinity, but the world would know God sent Jesus and has loved us just as He loved Him. Jesus said, "I in them, and You in Me." This is the picture of unity. In another place, He said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you" (John 15:7). Jesus obviously had confidence in the power of unity. He would never give us the freedom to "ask what [we] desire" without the clarifying requirement of being at one. Instead, it is just the opposite: when we line ourselves up with His Word, there is no danger of asking amiss.

Booker T. Washington once said, "In all things... we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand..." What a perfect picture of our unity with Christ! "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together [in divine oneness]!" (Psalm 133:1).