2014.09.21_Make Them as One

God is One, but the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are Separate Persons

            God did not endow us with religion but a chance of life. God works fervently to deliver us from eternal curse to eternal life. The work of salvation is fulfilled through the collaboration of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God desires that we also fervently struggle for our own eternal life. In order to obey such will of God, we first need to understand who God is and how He works. The most fundamental concept associated with this is the ‘Trinity.’

            ‘Trinity’ is a theological term used to explain God’s existence and ministry, and its concept forms the basis of our faith. Whoever does not believe that God is the triune God is not a true Christian. A person who claims to believe in God but not in the Trinity actually does not believe in God and thus cannot be saved.

            Among those who deny the concept of the Trinity are the Jehovah’s Witness. They instead challenge Christians by asking, “Where does the Bible mention the word Trinity?” While some people try to refute their argument and search through the Bible, the word Trinity itself is not in the Bible. There is only a verse that indirectly demonstrates the notion of the Trinity in Matthew 28:19, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Although it is not easy to find the grounds for the concept of the Trinity in the Bible, the word of God and His ministry written in the Bible demonstrate that God is the triune God.

            The most important aspect of the notion of the Trinity is that God is one. Jesus had also emphasized the oneness of God (John 17:3). The phrase, “God is the only true God” does have many meanings, but it is fundamentally saying that God is one. Even the very first of God’s commandment to Israel says, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exo 20:3). As the Bible points out in many places, God is one.

            Remarkably, the New Testament emphasizes that to serve Jesus Christ is to serve God, and that this is actually pleasing to God. This indicates that God and Jesus Christ cannot be thought of separately. As man is unable to see God, He manifested Himself by sending His only begotten Son into the world from His bosom. When He was on the earth Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” The disciples answered, “You are the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:15-16), which is the same as saying, “You are God.” God, in essence, is the Father. He manifested His form, which is Jesus Christ. By seeing Jesus Christ, man was able to confirm the existence of God the Father.

            Jesus Christ also spoke about His relationship with the Father. He said, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30); He also said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?” (John 14:19-20). And if anyone wants a more definitive proof from the Bible, we can mention the John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus Christ and the Father are fundamentally inseparable; they are one.

            There are instances when two or more people are described as being one. In such cases, the phrase “they are one” can be understood as being of one accord or a team. However, to say that God is one means He is one in the numerical sense.

            The Bible reveals that the word ‘one’ is not only applicable to the relationship of the Father and Son, but also of the Holy Spirit and the Son, as well as the Holy Spirit and the Father. For example, Peter made reference to Prophet Joel’s prophecy and said, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams” (Acts 2:17). This means God will pour out His spirit upon man. Here, we cannot take God and the spirit of God as two separate entities.

            God the Father is the self-existent One and the Creator. He is God in essence, and determines the will. In summing up about the Triune God we can say, “The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God; the Son is God in form; the Father is God in essence.” God is the three persons in one Godhead.

            There is something to be cautious about here. If we fixate too much on the notion that God is one, it is possible to think that the Father changes into the Son, and the Son into the Holy Spirit. However, that is not true. The three persons are in existence simultaneously.

            The Triune God is one in three persons, each with independent personalities. Since man perceives only the material world, it is very difficult for him to understand such form of God’s existence. It is impossible for anyone to give a perfect definition of the Trinity. We simply try our best to explain its notion

            The three persons have independent personalities meaning that Jesus is not bound under an obligation to obey the Father’s will. The Devil tempted Jesus because He has an independent personality even though He is one with the Father. The Devil wanted Jesus to abandon the Father’s will and be separated from the Father. However, Jesus declared God’s word and overcame the temptation of the Devil that was strong enough to make any man fall into. By His own volition, He chose the will of God and rejected that of the Devil.

Though the Son is not Bound to Submit to the Father, He Submitted to the Point of Death and Obeyed the Father’s Will, and the Father Exalted Him

            Jesus Christ, the Son of God, strictly obeyed the Father’s will despite having His own volition to do differently to God’s will. He said, “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.” In saying so, He highlighted the point that He conveyed only the Father’s word and never added any of His own to it. Jesus also said, “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 like manner” (John 5:19). The reason Jesus did only what the Father had done was not because He was bound under some obligation so that He is intrinsically unable to reject the Father’s will. He exercised His own volition and chose to obey the Father. This is because His goal was to please God and exalt God’s name.

            The Holy Spirit does not work on His own accord. Jesus said, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come” (John 16:13). At first glance, the Holy Spirit can be mistaken as an assistant to God’s Son. People might disregard the Holy Spirit not knowing that He is assuming such a humble attitude. However, He is One whom we certainly cannot despise. The Holy Spirit is God who nurtures us.

            To obey the will of God is not as easy as it sounds. It is a mistake to think that God’s Son would have no pain or anguish. How difficult would it have been for the Son of God to live the life of a man and at the same time, save mankind? He had to pay the price. He was scorned by men, rejected and threatened with death. But the hardest of all was to carry the cross.

            The cross is the most painful, cruel and humiliating form of punishment for man to undergo. Since the Roman Empire had to rule over a huge empire with a small army, the cross was used as capital punishment to threaten the people and prevent them from thinking about committing a crime. There is probably no one who wants to experience the suffering that Jesus went through from such terrible punishment. Nevertheless, Jesus spoke several times about how He would go up to Jerusalem, suffer and be killed (Matt 16:21). He had known the kind of death He was going to suffer.

Even so, when the time of His death was near, He earnestly prayed saying, “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’?” (John 12:27). He then said to His disciples, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me” (Matt 26:38). And on the cross He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt 27:47). At last He said, “It is finished!” and passed away (John 19:30).

            The Bible is saying, ‘Have the heart of Christ Jesus within you. Though being in the form of God, He did not consider Himself as equal to God. He lowered Himself and submitted to God even to the point of death. Thus, God was pleased with Him and exalted Him, giving Him the name of God. Then He made every knee bow down before that name and everyone confess Him as Lord’ (Phil 2:5-11).

            The Scripture says in another verse, ‘God has given the Son the authority to give His life to man. He has also given His authority of judgment to His Son. This is to make all creations honor the Son. You will be amazed when the dead hears the Son’s voice and are raised to life’ (John 5:22-23).

Since Jesus Has United Us with the Triune God, the Whole Church Must Unite and Fulfill the Name of Jesus

            Jesus said, ‘And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine. I am taking good care of the ones You have given Me. Father, I pray that they may be one as We are one in Trinity’ (John 17:10-11). When Jesus asked the Father, “Make them one as We are one,” He does not mean for just the people to unite but that they would be united as one with the Triune God. Similarly, 1 John 1:1-3 says, “We bear witness of that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life. We now want you to have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is not only with us but also with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” This fellowship is a matter of course for anyone who is a Christian.

            Some people say, “I don’t go to church but I still believe in God and try to live according to His will.” However, they cannot live according to God’s will when they are apart from the church. This is because God’s zeal is focused towards the church. Jesus said to His disciples before His ascension, “Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the Promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4). Although the disciples were not from Jerusalem originally, the Lord commanded them not to leave the place. The Lord’s interest was in establishing the church and for that, it was absolutely essential for the disciples to stay together. They received the Holy Spirit according to the Lord’s desire and hence became the church.

            Jesus said, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him” (John 4:23). He was not implying an end to the Israelites offering sacrifices together and the start of individuals worshipping God separately. Christians now need to unite as one to worship in spirit and truth and meet God. Of course a mere gathering of people cannot become worship. Unless the Holy Spirit comes and works inside the people, the church cannot be established. Even though they remained in Jerusalem, they only became a church after receiving the Holy Spirit and were able to preach the Gospel only after being filled with the Holy Spirit.

            Every member of the church must form one body as God has willed, and be full of the Holy Spirit. It would not be right for the church to hastily set out on mission work without having the strong enthusiasm to lead 3000 people to repentance and baptism in a day. As God has willed, the church must first form one body and be filled with the Holy Spirit. The church would then be able to carry out the work that Jesus has given, according to the inspiration of God.

            Jesus earnestly prayed to the Father, ‘may those whom You have given Me, that is, the members of the church be one as We are’ (John 17:11). The one who is not of one heart with the church, and whose will is in discord with the church life, is not the one whom the Lord nurtures. How detrimental to our spirit is the life outside the church? In a world where the Devil rules like a prince and the work of evil spirits are rampant, we are exposed to a force that makes us go against the flow of the church. A proper foundation of our spiritual life can only be laid in the church. Therefore, everyone must be a part of the church and build up their spirit firmly.

            Jesus said, “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours” (John 17:9). Jesus carried the responsibility for those given Him by the Father and cared for them. The church of Christ is a congregation that follows God’s will. The power of eternal life ought to be at work in them always and the chance of eternal life must become a reality. If their goal were set on the pleasures and glory of the earth like the unbelievers, even a small careless step they make would be contrary to the Lord’s will. And in doing so, they would inevitably fail in both their life as a Christian and that of the world, and they would have very meager preparation for eternal life.

            We need to build up our faith in God, and every member of the church must be built up to become one. Our church life should be of greater happiness than that of the world. To achieve this, every member needs to have the willingness to show consideration, care and love, taking them as the saints’ obligation. Those who have been a believer for a long time should be even kinder and more considerate to others; those who have much spiritual knowledge should be more understanding towards others; those who are full of the Holy Spirit should instead encourage others with great humility. We cannot say that we love the Lord and be indifferent to the members of His body. As much as we love the Lord, we have to care for the other saints with compassion. Who could find peace in the church if the saints are being cold and unfriendly? How can the church grow healthily if the souls come, only to leave again without being able to settle their hearts? The church may set lofty goals, but if the internal foundation were weak as such, that goal would remain as a distant dream.

            Everyone has a family. And family is important. Man did not choose to have a family but it was given by God. Within the family, everyone naturally loves and misses each other, and they all work together for the family’s happiness. God desired for the power of eternal life to be added upon such a family to bring forth families of Jesus Christ. God used the family of Noah, and governed the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with love. Their families received God’s help and lived together with Him. The household of Zacchaeus received salvation as the Lord had commanded; Cornelius’ family also experienced the presence of God; the guard of the prison where Paul and Silas were kept, also experienced God’s salvation in that unexpected place. The saints’ families ought to be ruled by the comfort of God’s salvation and the power of eternal life.

            For that to happen, the church and the saints families need to be made one. As the church obeys according to God’s will, families have happiness when they are one with the church. Otherwise they experience difficulties. Even having one unbeliever in the family for example, can make things very difficult. Plus people are becoming of rough temper and bringing much hurt to people’s hearts. People bring their wounded hearts to church and try to overcome their arduous life in the world by faith, but it is in fact quite overwhelming. For this reason, the members of the church have to encourage one another with love, compassion, kindness and care. Consequently, the families determined to be victorious by faith will be strengthened.

            Instead of being indifferent about the problems facing the members of the church, the congregation should at least share the heart of those in suffering. God will be pleased with those who comfort the families in suffering. God remembers the poor in spirit, the mournful, and those with anguish in their hearts. Moreover, He treasures and rewards anyone who is mindful of such people. Obeying the Lord’s command to love one another will store up rewards in Heaven instantly.

            How encouraged would people feel if they just made it to the church all worn out, and someone warmly greets and comforts them in the church? Conversely, what use is it to assert the power of eternal life if the church members all turn their faces away with a cold look? How can anyone with such an attitude claim to be of the Lord?

            Jesus prayed to the Father, “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are” (John 17:11). In the name, Jesus is the authority, glory and power of God given to the Son. And in that name we are able to lead the souls. That name is of salvation, eternal life, mercy, forgiveness and sacrifice, comfort, healing, hope and joy. Jesus prayed earnestly that we be one with the Triune God in that name. In our spirit and in our families, that name must become the power of eternal life. The might of that name should be manifested completely in our spirit and in our families.