The Lord Our God Is One :

John, one of Jesus' closest friends, was an old man now and probably very loved and respected by followers of Jesus. It was during these later years of John’s life that he wrote some things down for other Christians…

When we read John’s notes, it may not be clear what John is saying at first, but stick with me because this is amazing and powerful stuff about Jesus. Ready? Let’s go.

John said, In the beginning, before time, God’s living message to us (Jesus) existed. He was in union with God and was fully God. Through this Message (Jesus), all things were created, and nothing was created apart from Him. He is the source of all creation.”

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Now John wrote this in Greek, not english. And the word he used to describe Jesus was “the logos“ or “the Word.” And that did not mean a single word like “boy” or “toy” or “monkey.” Logos meant “the message” or “the reason or purpose.” And John saying this about Jesus was a big deal.

The Jews would have been thinking, “What?! You’re saying Jesus was around in the beginning—Not just uncreated but the source of creation itself!” Yep! And they thought God’s “word” or “His message” was just His written down rules and stuff.

And the Greek people back then loved thinking about big questions—like “Where did the world come from?” and “What makes everything work?” And Greeks had this idea that there was some big mysterious force ruling the universe like a big invisible rulebook. And they called this “logos.”

So in John’s very first sentence, he’s saying, “You think the universe runs by some mysterious force or rulebook? Nope—it’s run by a living Person!” Jesus, who is God Himself!

God’s Reason/Purpose/Message to Us is HIMSELF!

But John didn’t stop there. He wrote, “In Jesus, the Logos, was supernatural life. And this supernatural life flowing from the unseen realm became the light, lighting up the truth for all people. And this light shines on, piercing the darkness and the darkness has not understood it.

Jesus, the true light came into the world. And this very world that came into being through Him didn’t recognize him or welcome him.

But to all who embraced Him with trust and faith—He gave the privilege and power to become children of God, those who believe in His name and character.

No one has ever seen God. But the One-and-Only (who IS himself God) is in closest togetherness with the Father. And HE has made God known.”

I know that as we have drawn pictures for these stories, we have drawn God--Jesus, the Father, the Spirit--in a little bit different ways. But have no doubt about it--GOD is ONE. He is not two. He is not 3. He is not 4. God said that He is One. When God came to earth as a baby boy, God did not all of a sudden become two people. Nope.

It is clear in the Bible that Jehovah, Yahweh, the Father, the Son, Jesus, the Holy Spirit… are all GOD. They are not “gods” with an “s”--they are all GOD (one and the same).

Let’s think about this more. John said, “God is Light.” What is light? Consider all the “light” around you. Consider all the light in the universe. Can you count light? Where does all this light stop and start?

As you picture sunlight streaming down from the sky—it looks like one thing, simple and bright white light. But as you learn about light, light can be separated into colors. Like when white light passes through a prism it splits the light into a rainbow of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

So when the white light splits, does light then become more than one thing? No, it’s just that hidden inside that beam of light is an entire symphony of colors waiting to be revealed.

The very nature, the essence, of Light is that it can be seen or understood by us in various ways. But it is still all light.

In the same way, the Lord our God is ONE God. Is your word different from you? No. Is your spirit a different person from you? No, it’s all part of you/your essence. This is true of God, too.

Why does all this matter? Because Jesus came to make God known to us. Jesus is the very essence of God who came to us as a person to show us His amazing, shining, glorious self.

Why did He do this? Because God wants us to join Him in His unseen, heavenly world. And Jesus is the way in to that world. By His blood and the gift of His Holy Spirit, Jesus invites us to join Him in His supernatural life. Jesus is the bridge that connects our everyday world to God’s unseen heavenly one.