Chapter Seven – “I and My Father Are One”

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Lazarus was dead, victim of a fatal illness. His sisters Mary and Martha grieved with his friends over his sudden death. Jesus Christ also wept—though not for the same reason.

When the people saw Christ approach Lazarus’ tomb, “groaning in Himself” (John 11:38), some in the crowd said, “Behold how He loved him!” Others criticized Him: “Could not this Man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?” (Jn 11:36-37). It did not dawn on His audience that Jesus “groaned in the Spirit, and was troubled” (Jn 11:33) because of their stunning lack of faith and understanding.

As He approached the tomb, Martha said to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother [would] not have died” (Jn 11:21).

When Jesus told her that Lazarus “shall rise again,” she simply replied, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (Jn 11:23-24).

Martha and the others “didn’t get it.” Despite the amazing miracles they had witnessed Christ perform, they never considered that He had the authority—right then and there—to resurrect the dead. “I AM the resurrection, and the life,” He assured Martha. “He that believes in Me, though He were dead, yet shall he live” (Jn 11:25).

After the people reluctantly obeyed His order to remove the stone from Lazarus’ grave, Jesus looked up into the sky and boldly prayed aloud before the onlookers. “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me,” He said. “And I knew that You hear Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that You have sent Me” (Jn 11:41-42).

Then Jesus commanded, “Lazarus, come forth!”—and Lazarus instantly came back to life.

The four Gospel books are filled with accounts of Jesus boldly walking in faith to perform astounding miracles. Jesus made it clear that He, of His own physical self, did not perform miracles—His Father performed them through Him: “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwells in Me, He does the works” (John 14:10).

Their relationship was so close, so unique, that they were always of the same mind, will and purpose. Christ confidently knew His Father would back Him up in doing the humanly impossible. Many times Jesus spoke about their special bond:

“As the Father knows Me, even so know I the Father” (John 10:15).
“I and My Father are one” (Jn 10:30).
“The Father is in Me, and I in Him” (Jn 10:38).
“Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me” (Jn 14:11).
“You, Father, are in Me, and I in You…We are one” (Jn 17:21-22).

The bond between the Father and Jesus Christ, which has existed from eternity, serves as a model for the relationship God ultimately desires to share with humanity.

Throughout Eternity

Before the earth existed—before there were moons, planets, stars, constellations, galaxies and everything found in the ever-expanding universe—there was God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). “There is one God,” the apostle James wrote (James. 2:19). “God” in Old Testament Hebrew is Elohim, a collective noun that can be used in both singular and plural forms, such as with “sheep, deer, cattle, offspring, series, species, equipment, aircraft” and other terms. It was Elohim who said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). One God—one divine family, or kingdom—comprised of two individual Members.

God and the Word (who was also God) never argued, never debated, never worked against each other, but instead lived and worked together in perfect unison, harmony and peace throughout eternity.

In the book of Amos, God asks a rhetorical question: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3).

The answer is an obvious “no.” God and the Word were able to “walk together” without contention because they always agreed with each other.

But how?

One had to take the lead and make the final decisions. Think of the sign on U.S. President Harry S. Truman’s desk: “The buck stops here.” The Other—the Word (logos in Greek)—represented God, serving as divine “Spokesman” for God’s kingdom, following, supporting and carrying out God’s commands. One led; the other followed His lead. Yet they were both equally God, in character and power. Their relationship reflected government in action.

For example, the two Beings in the Godhead had a “profession”: creating, planning, designing, building and sustaining. In this regard, each Member of the God Family had a role to play. The One whom we know today as the Father was the executive decision-maker. The Word served as Counsellor and implementer—the One who made the decisions happen, via the power of the Holy Spirit.

Both Beings worked together in one mindset. There was no room for envy, pride or selfish ambition, for God is love (I John 4:16)—and love “is kind; [it] envies not…vaunts not itself, is not puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth…[Love] never fails” (I Cor. 13:4-6, 8).

The government-based relationship between God and the Word functioned through love and truth. Love is outgoing concern for others, lowering the self to serve others’ needs, concerns and interests. Truth—God’s Word and His Law (Psa. 119:142; John 17:17)—tells one how to express love: “Love works no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:10).

Theirs was not a lopsided totalitarian relationship in which one “lorded over” the other. They were a team—they worked together to achieve the same goals. God was the Supreme Leader, and the Word, or “Spokesman,” represented His will and made it come to pass.

As we have seen, God created angels and extended His government through them under the archangels (Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer). Then God created the universe, including the earth. Everything was perfect; all went according to plan…until Lucifer and the angels under him rebelled against their Creator. In the wake of their rebellion, the physical universe was left in decay (Rom. 8:20-21). Many years later, perhaps multiple millions, God recreated the earth (Gen. 1:1-31) to provide a suitable environment for His next creation: man.

Through humanity, God planned to expand His Family. Man was created temporary, fragile, physically limited to his environment. God endowed him with mind power (in contrast to animals, which function on instinct), imparting man with creative intelligence and ingenuity. Yet man was created spiritually incomplete; he needed an additional Spirit at work in his mind so that he could successfully solve spiritual problems and have a personal relationship with his Maker. With God’s Spirit building holy, righteous character in him, man would have the potential to be born into the God Family.

However, man sinned, choosing to eat of the wrong tree—that of self-knowledge, judging for oneself right from wrong. In effect, he cut himself off from God, to live a lifetime of decisions that, at best, would be a poisonous mixture of good and evil.

With the ultimate goal of bringing mankind into salvation, a Saviour was needed, One for whom sin was possible, yet sin-free so He would be a perfect sacrifice, taking onto Himself the penalty of sin—death (Rom. 6:23)—in mankind’s stead.

And so the Word, through the power of God’s Spirit, allowed Himself to be born flesh (John 1:14).

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