Originally posted by peejayd
"I and the Father are one."
John 10:30
* this statement is very broad, especially because it involves God the Father and Jesus Christ...
* we can say that this statement tells us that Jesus implied that He, like His Father, is a God... why? let us read...
"Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from the Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
The Jews answered him, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, ye are gods?
If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken),"
John 10:32-35
* the Jews somewhat understood the statement Jesus declared... the statement, "I and the Father are one" may indirectly imply that Jesus declared Himself a God or equal to God... which Biblically is also correct...
"Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,
But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross."
Philippians 2:5-8
* Jesus, before He was minfested in the flesh, had an equality with God...
* the statement, "I and the Father are one" may also imply Jesus being the express image of God...
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;"
Hebrews 1:1-3
"And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.
II Corinthians 4:3-4
"Who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love;
In whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;"
Colossians 1:13-15
* and it was very evident in this scenario...
"Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father?"
John 14:8-9
* the statement, "I and the Father are one" may also tell us that the Father and Christ are united... in essence, in purpose, in everything...
"And I am no more in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one;"
John 17:11, 22
* and that should be the mindset for Christians, true Christians, to be one with each other, as Christ and the Father always have...
Being one of essence can be broad which is why context is so important.
John 10:
28 And I give eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall my any man pluck them out of My hand.
29 My Father, Which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
30 I and My Father are one.
In this context Jesus is indeed claiming to be God in the flesh.
Hebrews 1:3 is one of the worst translated verses in the entire Bible.
'Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high'
should be more like this:
'Who being the effulgence of His glory, and the exact impression of His substance, and upholding all things by the word of His power*, when He had purged sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.'
The word substance is extremely important.
*The Greek word translated as power is 'dunamis' which is an inherent power capable of reproducing itself (as in the case of Jesus).
When Jesus talks about the believers being one the context dictates that we are to all share one Spirit, that is the Holy Spirit and therefore be one in purpose and essence as Jesus and God are, however, Jesus and God are of one substance and are also the same person as indicated by Isaiah 44:6 which says
'Thus saith Yahweh the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of Host; "I am the first and I am the last; beside Me there is no God". Since we know that Jesus existed 'from everlasting' according to Micah 5:2 we know that Jesus must indeed be God.
Furthermore we have Isaiah 48:12-13
'...I am He; I am the first and the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together."
This tells us that God created the world and when Jesus is acknowledged as creating the world we know that Jesus was indeed God.