Divine Oneness

Divine Oneness
An Essay by Adam Hendrickson
Jan 7th, 2023

In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus explained that his disciples were to be united with him in a symbolic mother infant relationship. When Jesus saw infants being nursed, he told his disciples that the infants are like those who enter the kingdom of God. Both mother and baby are united as one in a loving connection as a mother nurses her infant. His disciples didn’t understand. Jesus then went on to state, “When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female female; and when you fashion eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in the place of a hand, and a foot in the place of a foot, and a likeness in the place of a likeness; then will you enter the kingdom.”1  

Jesus is the mother and father of humanity. Adam, Eve, and everyone are created in his image.2 Jesus taught Nicodemus that we must be born again. When Nocdemus did not understand Jesus explained that we must be born of water and the spirit.3 In the Book of Mormon, Jesus emphasized that his doctrine is a gospel of baptism and rebirth.4

As Jesus was dying, the earth shook in labor pains.5 On the cross, Jesus’ side was pierced by a spear and out came blood and water.6 This calls to mind Moses striking the rock which sprang a stream of water to quench the people’s thirst. It is also compared to God piercing Adam’s rib to create Eve. The ribs protect the breath of life and the heartbeat of life. Christians are born from the water and blood of Christ on the cross just as they are born from the water and blood from their mother’s womb. Jesus is simultaneously symbolically represented by Adam’s rib and Eve’s womb. The symbolism suggests a womb of the heart [water and blood] and the lungs or breath of life [spirit] from which we are reborn in baptism and confirmation.

Jesus speaking of the future sacrament stated that his flesh and blood would be the best kind of food and drink. Many disciples stopped following him because of those words.7 Who eats and drinks from the body of another? The answer is babies who are nursed. We are spiritually born again through baptism. After being born in baptism, we are then nursed by the sacrament which provides symbolic food and drink to our souls. Our souls are nursed by Jesus’ love as we remember his body that was sacrificed for us. His memory nourishes our spirit and changes our hearts so that we are aligned with him as he holds us near his heart. Like an infant and mother, we are spiritually fed with Jesus’ divine light, love, and grace as he holds us near his heart. His words are the milk and honey of eternal life. He is the bread and waters of life. He is the fruit of the tree of life. He is the divine love of God that is purer, sweeter, and more radiant than any other type of nourishment.

When we are united with Jesus, we become one with him. When we see others with his eyes, we regard others as ourselves. With loving empathy we conceptualize and make the two as one. The boundaries that separate us melt away. We are all of the same family. Your pains and joys become my pains and joys which are God’s pains and joys.

When we are genuine and authentic in our thoughts and actions we are the same inside and outside. In Jesus’ day, there were the religious proud who regarded themselves as better than others. They were hypocrites that were different on the inside than they were on the outside. Jesus calls us to be authentic and genuine with ourselves so the inside is like the outside. 

Jesus died for everyone. He represented all of humanity in his atoning sacrifice. When we regard those outside of our circle as also being divine, then we break down walls that separate us. We see others with the eyes of Jesus’ divine love. Then we can begin to make our church society a heaven on earth so that what is above is like that which is below.8  

Jesus calls us to be perfect or whole like he and his Heavenly Parents are. He calls us to love perfectly and completely.9 This completeness and wholeness can be applied to us individually10 as well as collectively.11 Throughout church history, different minority groups have from time to time been socially rejected by the members. In recent history, church leaders and many church members have recognized that our LGBTQ members have not been welcomed in many of our congregations as they should have been. In Nephite society, the Zoramites rejected the poor from their places of worship. In ancient Israel, new converts, eunuchs, lepers, and others were often ostracized from the community. In the early church, the membership was not always as inclusive as the Lord desired. There were sometimes conflicts within the church on how to integrate Jew and Gentile converts. Paul in his epistle to the Galations12 taught that after we are baptized and have put on Christ, there is no longer Jew nor Gentile, bond nor free, male nor female. When we are born again, we are to be one in Jesus. Class systems are to be destroyed and every member is to be valued. The church which is the body of Christ, should not reject members because they are different. Rather the church should value them for those differences and the spiritual gifts associated with those differences. When Jesus visited the Nephites he reaffirmed that he invites all to him and that no one is to be sent away.13

The Lord who gathers the outcasts of Israel will yet gather others to him in preparation for his second coming.14 When members allow themselves to be vulnerable and to understand each other’s wounds and unique spiritual gifts, they begin to see each other and value each other. When we truly see each other, we can then see eye to eye. Then our hearts can be knit together so that we can mourn with those that mourn and truly become united as one body in Christ.15  Like a cut branch grafted into our mother tree who is Jesus, we are bonded into one by our wounds being fused together. We will see the miracles of God through the life of each member. Everyone will be valued for their spiritual gifts within the body of Christ. A hand will be valued as a hand and a foot will be valued as a foot. Then as the Gospel of Thomas states, we will enter the kingdom as a whole and complete child of Christ.

I believe that Jesus will ultimately heal the divisions within the church, within Christendom, and across religious boundaries. As he did with the Nephites in the books of 3rd and 4th Nephi, Jesus will correct our doctrines and reveal new truth when he returns. The division between Jews, Christians, Muslims, and other religions will melt away. He will reveal himself to the Jews as the Messiah whom they have waited for. When we see eye to eye, I believe that we will also see how the Spirit of God has moved throughout different faithful religious communities in preparation for his return. We will see how those outside of the Latter-day Saint community have also been instrumental in the literal gathering of Israel. We will see their efforts to restore the Jews to their homeland in Jerusalem. We will see how the Spirit of Christ has moved our Protestant and Catholic brothers and sisters to spread Christ’s teachings and care for those who suffer. We will see the Spirit of Christ in the testimonies of Messianic Jews16 who spread his gospel in their homeland. We will see the Spirit of the Gathering and the Spirit of the Restoration acting in all people of sincere and humble faith who come together in efforts of interfaith unity. The spirit of Christ which is the Spirit of the Gathering and Restoration is not limited to one people, but is moving across the earth. Jesus said that his disciples were to be the salt and the yeast of the earth to make the bread rise and be tasty. What good is salt and yeast without the flour? All of the ingredients are needed for the meal. Our call as disciples of Christ is to lift others up and make their lives more savory and delicious. It is not to create divisions of otherness, but to be integrated within the same loaf of bread. The work and glory of God spans all of humanity. He is the savior, healer, creator, mother, and father of all. Let us do what Jesus asked and make the two one, the inside like the outside, what is above like what is below. Let us not create divisions but unity in Christ. Let us regard everyone with divine eyes. Let us value each member within the church for the spiritual gifts that they add to the body of Christ. Let us also value each faith community for the spiritual gifts and contributions that they offer as the Spirit of Christ moves across the earth in preparation for Christ’s return.

Notes and References

  1. The Gospel of Thomas translated by Thomas O. Lambdin, available online at the Gnostic Society Library within their Nag Hammadi Library. http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gthlamb.html
  2.  Ether 3:14-16, Moses 1:13, 2:27
  3.  John 3:1-7
  4.  3 Nephi 11:31-38
  5.  Moses 7:55-56, 1 Nephi 19:12, Helaman 14:20-27
  6. John 19:34, also see https://www.gotquestions.org/blood-water-Jesus.html
  7. John 6:47-67
  8. Rosalynde Welch, “Airborne at Low Elevation”, Wayfare magazine, December 1st 2022.  Accessed online at https://www.wayfaremagazine.org/p/airborne-at-low-elevation
  9. 1 John 4:16-21
  10.  3 Nephi 12:48
  11. 1 Corinthians 1:10
  12. Galatians 3:26-28
  13. 3 Nephi 18:25, 2 Nephi 26:24-28
  14. Isaiah 56:3-8
  15. Mosiah 18:9
  16.  https://www.oneforisrael.org/