"One" means "united" in this context.
OLD TESTAMENT MYSTERIES: 1. plural for God 2. oneness 3. union of Jew & Gentile 4. Blood sacrifice 5. woman’s seed victory
DEFINITION OF GREEK WORD FOR MYSTERYG3466 myste¯rion A Greek word defined in Mounce Concise Greek English Dictionary as “a matter to the knowledge of which initiation is necessary; a secret which would remain such but for revelation.”
The blood sacrifice mystery in the Old Testament (#4 above) was a foreshadow of the cruifixion for our sins by the Lord Jesus. The woman's seed victory for man (#5 above) was predicting the Incarnation of our Savior via the virgin birth.
Let’s look at the first three of the above mysteries.
After the Patriarchal period, the Jews were chosen by God to care for His Statutes for all of mankind. Prior to this God spoke directly to man (e.g., Job) or indirectly by dreams or angels (Pharaoh; Abraham). One of the purposes of “the calling” of Israel is recorded in Isaiah 42:6, “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness … as a light to the nations.” That’s why Jonah, a prophet of Israel, was sent to preach to a Gentile city Nineveh (Jonah; compare to the warnings of Amos 1; Jeremiah 46-51).
THE NEW TESTAMENT REVEALS MYSTERIES! The apostle writes, “How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel” (Ephesians 3:3-6).
The Spirit of God revealed the Old Testament mysteries through the apostles and prophets of the New Testament. There were things secret and not made known to the Jews, Israel. The secrets are now revealed to all by the Spirit through the apostles and prophets in the New Testament.
MYSTERY OF GODLINESS AND TRUTH IS REVEALED. “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1 Timothy 3:15,16). The mystery of godliness is God revealed in the flesh. God’s gospel mystery is now revealed to all, those in this world and those in heavenly places looking on.
GOD'S PLAN including His Trinity WAS A MYSTERY TO ALL-- INCLUDING ANGELS. NOTE: His trinity was essential for His planned grace of sacrifice for mankind.1 Peter 1:10-12:
"Of which salvation the prophets [Old Testament prophets] have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, [the prophets spoke and wrote from inspiration about the nature of God and His plans ] when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported [that is, now revealed by God's Spirit through prophets of the New Testament!] unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost [Spirit] sent down from heaven; which things the angels [God's plan was hidden from even the angels!] desire to look into.”
THE ONENESS OF THE CHURCH. Ephesians 3:9-10, “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” Even those in heavenly places did not have the knowledge of God's plan in the church.
MYSTERY OF FELLOWSHIP OF JEW AND GENTILE IS REVEALED. Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” All are one, Jew and Gentile are united in the church. This is important for understanding the Bible use of the word “one.”
PLURAL OF “GODS” IN GENESIS 1:1. It is admitted that the English KJV “God” is really a plural in the “Hebrew Scriptures.” The New Testament reveals why there is a plurality for the word God in the Bible’s Old Testament Writings.
Jesus was one with God in the beginning. But Jesus was not only with God, He is God, Himself (John 1:1)! “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. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. … And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-3, 14).
Jesus also is a creator. He made all things in the beginning (John 1:3). Jesus was a participant in making (creating , Grk.,yivoµaιG1096) i “all things” as one of the plural Gods [Heb.:Elohim} of Genesis. When Genesis 1:1 speaks of Gods (plural in Hebrew, Elohim) as creating, Jesus is there with God (Greek singular, theosG2316) because He is God as well (theosG2316). Both Gods create together (therefore the mystery of the singular verb of action for a plural subject is solved in the New Testament).
Philippians 2:6, 7 (CEV) “Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God. Instead he gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us.”
The Jews accepted from the first prophet a plural to designate their Creator in Genesis 1:1 and following. This was a mystery to them but they accepted and used the plural anyway as a designation for their Creator and Benefactor. Now we know from the New Testament why the plural was designated for God. The Jews were not advised as to why the Creator was referred to as "Gods." Their learned scribes have assumptions but otherwise it remained a mystery in the Torah.
BUT HOW CAN PLURAL GODS BE ONE GOD? The definition of the word “one” is imperative here! It is used to make Christianity a monotheistic defined religion. However, the “one” used in both the Old and New Testaments does not necessarily refer to a numeral one person or entity. Rather, it indicates an “united” one. But the three, identified in function as Father, Son (Word), and Holy Spirit, are united as one.
Jesus declares this unity of the Godhead in John 10:30, “I and my Father are one. G1520”
ONE EQUALS ‘UNITED.’ The English “ONE” used in reference to the deity in the Old Testament Hebrew is 'echa^dH259; e.g., in Genesis 3:22. According to Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary, 'echa^d can mean “properly united, that is, one” (e.g., Genesis 11:6). “One, 'echa^dH259 people” is used many times in the Old Testament. People are said to be one but yet are distinct individuals. The people answered with one voice [kol echad] (Exodus 24:3). “Then I will give to the peoples purified lips, That all of them may call on the name of YHVH, To serve him with one shoulder [shechem echad]” (Zephaniah 3:9). “The Hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart [lev echad]” (2 Chronicles 30:12). iv And so we can understand how the united God(s) of the Old Testament are one, united in every respect. They are not like the competing fake idols of pagan polytheism myths and the false gods of Egypt or the idols of Canaan.
The King James Version translators also translated this Old Testament Hebrew word 'echa^dH259 with other words such as "together." Ezra 2:64 "The whole congregation together ('echa^dH259) was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore." Ezra 3:9, "Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together ('echa^dH259), to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.” Ezra 6:20, "For the priests and the Levites were purified together ('echa^dH259) ..." Nehemiah 7:66, "The whole congregation together ('echa^dH259) was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore"; Isaiah 65:25, "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together ('echa^dH259)." So we can subsequently appreciate how the three Gods could be together or one ('echa^dH259)!
Likewise, oneG1520 is used in the New Testament Greek the same way. Mounce’s Concise Greek-English Dictionary identifies this “one” as heis) ε'ισ G1520. ii It often implies unity (as in the unity of God or the church), singularity of purpose or action, or the first in a series. iii Ephesians 4:4 has “one body.”; the Father and Son are “one”; John 17:21. This Greek word “one” can of course be the “numeral” one or it can be “one virtually by union.”
JESUS PRAYER THE NIGHT OF HIS BETRAYAL (JOHN 17). Jesus revealed the actual meaning of the trinity’s oneness to us in His prayer to God the Father as recorded in John 17. Jesus is God and the Father is God (John 1:1-3). Each is a person. Two persons, but yet, one in union. Even as Jesus calls Christians to be “one.”
John 17:1, 20-23. “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: … Neither pray I for these alone (His 11 apostles), but for them also which shall believe on me through their word (apostles’); That they all may be one (Greek: heis G1520 ); as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one (heis G1520) in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: ( heis G1520) I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one (heis G1520); and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”
DID JESUS REQUIRE SOMETHING WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND? A popular TV preacher says that the “one” is simply a mystery. Humans cannot understand how the Trinity can be “one.” That is, “one God.” We are just to accept it. But Jesus did not teach this. We know by reading His prayer in John 17 that He expects us to understand it because we are supposed to be “one” like He and the Father are “one”. Jesus prayed for believers, “that they might be one as we!” “That they might be united as we!” But the devil would have us to not understand it this way because he would not have Jesus’ prayer for our unity answered: i.e., that Christians should be united. He prayed that believers would be as God the Father and God the Son are united!
DOES GOD REQUIRE US TO DO SOMETHING WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND? The Spirit commands this in 1 Corinthians 1:10-- the church IS to be one. “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” Therefore, the Trinity speaks the same thing with no division but is perfectly joined together in the same mind and judgment!
The denominational world is divided. Perhaps, the denominational world that preaches, “Join the church of your choice” cannot comprehend the trinity’s definition of the unified Deity for they cannot appreciate the prayer of Jesus to the Father for His people, the church.
The New Testament reveals the mysteries taught in the Old Testament. The gospel was hidden to all including the angels of God. By the wisdom of God it was hidden to Satan who sought always to thwart the plan of God from that first scene in the Garden. Satan like the angels would have had hints just like the Jews did. He tried for example through King Saul to save the Amalekites since he knew God wanted them destroyed. God knew that down the road of time Satan would have power to annihilate the Jews. It was through Haman a descendant of the Amalekites; but God’s servants, Esther and Mordecai, rescued the nation of Jews.
Jesus commands were given to His apostles WHICH INCLUDE BEING ONE LIKE HE AND THE FATHER, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
The trinity is one. We must comprehend that oneness of the Trinity. We must appropriate that oneness to our fellowship in the church if we are to expect to hear Jesus say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of thy Lord ” (Matthew 25:21).
GAYLON WEST
i Mounce’s Concise Dictionary of Greek
ii This is [heis], one, and is not the eis the preposition “unto” or “for” of Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized everyone of you for [eis] the remission of sin
iii https://www.equipgodspeople.com/lexicons-word-study/new-testament-greek/strongs-g1520
iv https://www.hebrew-streams.org/works/hebrew/echad.html
