Chapter 7

"THAT THEY MAY ALL BE ONE" ⁽¹⁾

In the previous chapter it has been fully demonstrated that the Lord Jesus occupies a unique position in the purpose of God. On the one hand the Scriptures are unanimous in showing him to be always in subjection to the Father, both in his life on earth and after the resurrection (and even post-millennially); on the other hand he is presented as uniquely of God by his divine begettal. He also developed in full measure the moral traits, i.e. the perfect character, of his Father. Because of his obedience even to death on a cross he has been granted the divine titles and honours appropriate to such a victor over sin. These scripturally balanced assessments of the nature and mission of Christ completely rule out the unitarian dismissal of his divinity, and also refute the trinitarian concept of equality with the Father.

We have already seen ⁽²⁾ that Jesus' own words which he had spoken earlier, "I and the Father are one" (John 10.30), are to be understood as meaning that he was always of one mind and purpose with God his Father. In 1 Corinthians 3:8 there is a parallel statement: "Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one" (AV & RV) but which the NIV translates: "The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose". Jesus' words describing his unity with God are not therefore an assertion of equal status with the Father, as this would contradict so many testimonies to the contrary in John's gospel and also in the letters of Paul.

But there is another threefold relationship which also is a theme of biblical revelation. This is clearly expressed in the words of Jesus when he describes the unity that will exist between himself, his Father and the redeemed:

"That they (i.e. those who are to believe in Jesus) may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us ... The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one" (John 17:21-23).

So we find that this basic teaching of unity is not restricted to the two persons of the Father and Son. Rather is the concept of unity extended to include all true believers, as the 'one body' of Christ. This is particularly evident in John's gospel record. Compare the following passages:-

"... that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." (John 10.38)

"Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me...." (John 14.11)

"In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you" (John 14.20)

"If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father" (1 John 2.24)

These references speak of a perfect fellowship between the Father and the Son, but they also contain a promise of its extension. "In that day" the day of judgment and reward all who "walk in the light" of the revealed "Word of life" share that unity. This is evident by putting more words of Christ alongside the full passage quoted on the previous page:-

"I and the Father are one". (John 10.30)

"I do not pray for these only, but also for those who are to believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be ⁽³⁾ in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one .... " (John 17.20-23)

Thus the concept of unity between God and his Son is extended to include all who believe in the apostolic teaching concerning the Son. The attainment of such a unity is, of course, no sudden achievement but a process, as the words of verse 23 above imply: "may become perfectly one" or, more literally: "may be perfected into one." This will be realised only in "the last day" (John 6:44). When this aspect of the process is appreciated, other verses in John's record become more significant in revealing and explaining the growing relationship between the Father, the Son and the believers. For example:

".... I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father, ... " (John 10.14-15)

"... If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home (literally: 'abode') with him" (John 14.23)

".... all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (John 15.15)

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt (literally: 'tabernacled') among us, full of grace and truth...(inherited from his Fathersee Exodus 34.6) And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace" (John 1.14, 16)

"(God) ... has made him the head over all things for the church, which in his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all" (Ephesians 1.22-23)

"... to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3.19)

"... until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood (literally: 'to a perfect man'), to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4.13)

"For in him (Jesus) all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell" (Colossians 1.19)

"For in him the whole fulness of Deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fulness of life in him (NIV: "you have been given fulness in Christ"), who is the head of all rule and authority" (Colossians 2.9-10)

 The prophet Isaiah had a vision of the future glory of Christ. ⁽⁴⁾ Speaking of this future time the seraphim saw this fulness of God extending to embrace the whole earth:-

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory" (literally, as in the RV margin "the fulness of the whole earth is his glory") (Isaiah 6.3)

Further back, in the days of the Exodus wanderings, God strongly affirmed to Moses His ultimate purpose, using a similar expression:-

"... but truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD ..." (Numbers 14.21)

In short, God's "eternal purpose" (Ephesians 3.11) will reach its consummation when every 'saint' (i.e. every sanctified believer) is perfected in mind and body by being transformed into the divine nature, i.e. each one becomes fully united with God and with the Lord Jesus in the resurrection on the last day (2 Peter 1.3-4). As glorious Spirit beings equal to angels (Luke 20.36), they will then shine with God's glory, as Jesus and the angels do now, and will inherit a cleansed and glorified earth for all eternity. Then will be fulfilled the promise spoken to Daniel:-

"... those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever" (Daniel 12.3)

words fully confirmed by Jesus:-

"Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Matthew 13.43) This is the true three-fold relationship not the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but the Father, Son, and the perfected company of the Redeemed who will enjoy throughout eternity a perfect unity, when God will be "all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28 AV, NIV).

One could cite other Bible statements embodying the same promise of incorporation into this ultimate unity, e.g. "I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am He" (Isaiah 41.4), which is relevant because "the last" here is plural, and refers to the same divine purpose. Again, God's declared intention to dwell in a sanctuary in the midst of Israel (Exodus 25.8. Note the description in Exodus 40.34 [and also in Solomon's temple1 Kings 8.10-11] that God's glory filled the tabernacle), finds its ultimate fulfilment in the heavenly temple on earth, the holy city Jerusalem, identified as the Lamb's wife, i.e. the redeemed (Revelation 19.7; 21.2, 9). This temple is also defined as "the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb" (Revelation 21.22). It has been:-

"built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner-stone, in whom the whole structure is joined together ... into a holy temple in the Lord ... in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit" (Ephesians 2.20-22).

See also 1 Peter 2.4-6 in this connection, where both Jesus and his followers are described as "living stones" in God's "spiritual house".

SPIRIT, WORD AND TRUTH

REFERENCES

1. John 17:21

2. pp.30, 215

3.  AV 'one' omitted by the RSV and most modern versions, but the manuscript evidence is pretty evenly divided. Either way the fact of unity is plainly asserted.

4. "Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke of him". John 12:41