PRAYER + PRAISE
Oneness of Father and Son
- Adam Cole // June 24, 2009
I and the Father are one. —John 10:30
This six-word verse is short, but oh so sweet. It paints a picture of the solid unity in identity and purpose between the Father, God in heaven, and His Son, God in the flesh-manifested as Jesus Christ. Prior to this verse, Jesus is talking about being the good shepherd, being the one that will lay down His life for His sheep, to keep them safe in a world where a multitude of evil beings—Satan particularly—want to harm them. Before He speaks this, Jesus praises the Father as being “greater than all” and the Father who “has given them to me,” meaning that the Father has passed His people over to the Son, Jesus Christ. In this way, Jesus links the Father’s sovereignty as ruler over all and to the sovereignty entrusted to Him as the Son, keeper of the sheep, and those that believe on Him as the Son, will have eternal life and not be harmed.
Meditating on Father/Son as one, we see that we must believe in the Son for protection and eternal assurance, a belief only possible if one believes that an all-powerful God is loving enough to give His Son for us. The oneness here lies in the dual relationship of preserving and giving life (of the eternal kind). The Son derives His essence and power from the Father, but is only able to carry it out because He carries the inherent traits of the Father - both in love and omnipotence.
Earlier in 5:17, a similar parallel and oneness prevails, as Jesus explains of His Sabbath healing: “My Father has been working until now and I have been working.” In short, the Father’s work is constant, ongoing, relentless, and timeless; yet equally, so is the Son’s work. Jesus’ work was on this earth, in the miracles and healing of people, but also in the transforming, through the Spirit, of hearts. We can see the dual reality: just as God the Father works in our hearts in a continuous way, so does Christ. His love and compassion endures forever.
The trinity is one of the most complex relationships of the Bible, but we see clearly that there is no mystery when it comes to the oneness of Father and Son, and the ability of each to grant us life—out of love—for those that believe.
Praise: That the Son and the Father give and protect life.
Prayer: That we see the Son and the Father as equally divine, and look to the Son with a full faith, for the power given to Him by the Father. And we thank the Father for the power of protection and salvation granted to the Son to bestow on us.
Prayer for Today: Dear Lord, we thank You for today, as every day. We thank You for this relationship of Son and Father – and the deepness of that relationship, its oneness, and how through that oneness, we can experience the Fullness of You. We thank You that the Son laid down His life for His sheep, us. We pray that we see the Son as our perfect shepherd and sacrificial lamb, and give You the praises for the authority You have imparted on Him to impart to us. For indeed, the Son and the Father are one. All of this, in the Son’s Name, Amen.