Mentoring Manna:  The Principle of One

© 2003 Pastor Keith Hassell

MM00092

John 17:20-21 (NKJV) “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

Before time began, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were alone together as one.[1] One is the number of God: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”[2]  Everything in God’s heaven was one until a thought came into Lucifer’s mind to be equal with God. Then for the first time, there was “two.” Heaven was divided.  However, God’s plan is that all may be made one in Him.[3] We call this the “principle of one.”

Marriage is God’s earthly portrayal of the heavenly mystery of oneness:  “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”[4]  God ordained that two (a man and a woman) become one in the covenant of marriage. The man and woman are no longer two but one.[5]  We do not understand this mystery, but in the economy of God, this oneness is a reality. What God has joined together as one is no longer to be divided.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were one until sin entered and fractured their oneness. For the first time, the husband and wife began thinking and acting as two rather than as one. God said to Eve, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”[6]  Because of sin, the woman is now inclined to control her husband while the man is inclined to exercise lordship over his wife. Their oneness gave way to self-seeking competition within the marriage.  Sin had seriously damaged the oneness and partnership that God had intended for their union.

Oneness needs to begin where it was first lost—in marriage. Just as the church, the bride of Christ, is to reign with Christ, so wives are called to be partners alongside of their husbands. Wives are called to recognize their husband’s headship in the home while the husband is to honor his wife as an heir together in the grace of life. (1 Peter 3:1-7) The blessing of this kind of oneness is greater fruitfulness and multiplication in the kingdom.

            God’s desire is that His church be one. In John 17 Jesus prayed that His disciples might become one as He and the Father are one. There is great blessing released when God’s people are willing to lay aside their egos, competition for acceptance, desire for money, and grasping for control in order to become as it were “one team” for God.[7]  In a team, the potential of many is harnessed to work together as one. Members of a team can accomplish together what they could never accomplish alone. Oneness is God’s key to greater fruitfulness in the home, in the church, and in the kingdom. There is power and blessing in God’s principle of one.

Application:  The strategy of Satan is to divide us so that we will not be one. Division brings barrenness in purposes of God. Oneness, on the other hand, releases fruitfulness and multiplication. What is it that keeps you from becoming one with your spouse, with your brothers and sisters in Christ, and with the Lord?  God’s desire is that we become one in Christ.  Do whatever it takes to see God’s principle of one become a reality in your life.

Prayer:  “Heavenly Father, forgive me for any sinful or fleshly thing that has hindered Your desire for oneness from becoming a reality in my home and in Your church. Help me to be one with You, with my spouse, and with my brothers and sisters in Christ.  I make this my aim so that others may see and believe that You sent Jesus.  I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

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[1] 1 John 5:7; John 1:1, 14

[2] Deuteronomy 6:4 NKJV

[3] Ephesians 1:10 (“all things” includes only those things included in Christ’s redemption)

[4] Ephesians 5:30-32 NKJV

[5] Matthew 19:6

[6] Genesis 3:16 NKJV (See Genesis 4:7 where the meaning can be better understood)

[7] Psalm 133