What does it mean to be ONE?
In Hebrew, there is a word for NUMERIC ONE, and there is a word for UNITY ONE (Echad). Many get their theological panties in a twist because they are mistaking the Biblical understanding and use of “ONE”.
Millions of Muslims, for example, fail to understand that just because God the Father has a begotten Son, that God is still ONE (echad), not numeric two. They fail to distinguish numeric one with unity one, and thus reject Jesus as the Son of God. Millions go to hell over this single misunderstanding!
Husband and wife are ONE in the body and yet clearly remain two distinct people. This is not a numeric one; it is a physical oneness from being IN each other physically through sexual intercourse. That physical oneness is to correspond with and reflect oneness of heart, mind and being. The wife does not need to become the husband to be one with him, nor does the husband become the wife to be one with her.
They are aligned and intended to pull in the same direction in life because they share the same values and purposes. Physical penetration into the other makes them one, sexually. Living in unity and partnership makes them one in life together. This is how the numeric two are one in being (echad). Believers are also ONE with the Trinity according to John 17. The Father is IN Jesus and Jesus is IN the Father.
John 17:21–23 Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God is praying to Father God: “I pray that they will all be ONE, just as You and I are ONE — as you are IN me, Father, and I am IN you. And may they be IN us so that the world will believe You sent me. I have given them the glory You gave me, so they may be ONE as we are ONE. I am IN them and You are IN me. May they experience such perfect UNITY that the world will know that You sent me and that You love them as much as You love me.”
Being One with the Trinity does not make us God or equal with God. Being One with God makes us ALIGNED in heart, mind, spirit, and soul with God — His values, His character, etc.. Oneness is complete unity and alignment in purpose and being.
Oneness is central and foundational to God. He did not want humans worshipping the lesser gods, the fallen eloheim. He as the One God, the Most High God (El Elyon) alone deserves worship. He is the God of the gods. The King of the kings, the Lord of the lords. Whatever you do, DON’T fall into worshipping another, and thus a LESSER god! This is emphatically stated by God every early on in the relationship between God and humanity. It has become the CORE statement of faith in Judaism.
Deuteronomy 6: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is ONE (echad). And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
God is making it clear that if you want a relationship with Me (covenant promises and relationship benefits), then this is non-negotiable at the core, You have to not confuse Me — the Most High, the Creator, the true God that Keeps all my Covenants — with the created angelic host that is trying to lure you away from Me! Never EVER give to them, what belongs ONLY to Me! I am the ONLY one, the God of gods, that deserves your devotion, worship, fealty, and complete love, not them! I am not merely one of those territorial spirits that may call themselves ‘God’, I am the LORD GOD — the God of all those gods and your God too! Devotion, worship, sacrifice or service to any of those lesser gods is considered faithlessness — spiritual adultery — and the importance of this distinction cannot be emphasized enough.
Jesus is ONE with Father God because he completely shares His Father’s values, motives, purposes, perspective and core being. He does what His Father does, speaks what His Father Speaks, etc.. (John 8 and other passages) There is no conflict and no barrier to the free flow of love between the two of them.
Jesus replied, (John 14:9–11) “Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. [because we are One] How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 1Do you not believe that I am IN the Father and the Father is IN Me? The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the Father dwelling in Me, performing His works. Believe Me that I am IN the Father and the Father is IN Me
I could dare to try to explain as best I can in limited English language: In sex there is sexual penetration. In spiritual oneness, there is interpenetration of being. As if Jesus is saying: “I am One with Father God whereby He, and all that He is, flows freely into Me and I flow freely into Him, unhindered.”
Oneness is something profound that we are, something existing outside of time because it is bigger than time:
• We WERE made one with God through the sacrificial death and resurrection of the literal Jesus of Nazareth. (“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” — 1 Peter 3:18)
• We ARE one with God through the life of Christ, while still on this Earth. (Apostle Paul writes, for “me to live IS Christ” in Philippians 1:21 for example)
• We WILL BE made one with Jesus at the future Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Our oneness in heart will be formally celebrated in heaven with the ultimate lover of our souls. Not a physical thing like here on Earth, but a joining of our spirit with Jesus’ Spirit in a full and complete way.
