“Corporate Oneness: Is the Kingdom a Business?” by Dave Bessey

This was the message the Lord gave me while listening to Apostle Deddrik Perry Jr.:

Listening to a recent Zoom meeting on Corporate Oneness reminded me of some studies I did on our “Triune God” and the name YHWH, Elohim and the words “One” or “Oneness”. I have spent a good portion of 49 years defending the “trinity” or “three persons” of our God, with many different sects that reject the divinity of Christ or call Him a lesser “god” or even the “brother of satan”. Revelation of the Kingdom does not come by accident. We must pursue the Word that became flesh-Emmanuel” as we pursue or seek our King’s face. He does NOT want us to be ignoramuses, but to walk in wisdom through revelation of truth by practicing obedience to His word. When Jesus prayed for us to be “One” (John 17).

John‬ ‭17‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭WEBUS‬‬

“I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I AM glorified in them. I AM no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I AM coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.” ‭‭

Wd are one because He wants us to be one.

HE was using the same word “ECHAD” which is the Hebrew word. Some would say because he wants us one as He is one with Father, then we are all equal as in cookie cutter or clones. Is this really true, in the sense of being the same? Is the Father the same as the Son or Holy Spirit. Yes in the sense of being YHWH God, in function, but no in thdxsense each are unique persons. This is why the “oneness” or being “one” is is more of a “compound” versus just a “corporate oneness”.

Compounds are individual elements which come together in a chemical reaction to make all new materials or compounds. The molecules retain what they are, but combined with other elemental molecules they take on a new form and functional use. A good example is Hydrogen and Oxygen forming the compound “H2O” or Water. Hydrogen by itself is very volatile gas. When it is liquid it is even more dangerous, just look at the sun. Yet combined with one molecule of oxygen it becomes so stable it can’t be ignited. It can only produce steam under heat above 100 Degrees Celsius. Yet our Lord Yahweh (Jesus) is called the living water.

Thus the message “Yahweh is One” from Deuteronomy chapter 6, is not just that He is Lord or Just unique, but is our God (Elohim) and Who is united in purpose.

Yahweh is His name…

Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one: This is the essential truth about God. He is a person and not a vague pantheistic force. Being one, He cannot be represented by contradictory images. Since Yahweh is one, He is not Baal or Ashtoreth – He is Yahweh, and they are not.

In the mind of many Hebrews or Jewish people, this verse alone disqualified the New Testament teaching that Jesus is God, and the New Testament teaching of the Trinity – that there is one God, existing in three Persons.

According to Bible Commentator Clarke ”at some times and places, as Jewish synagogues said the Shema together, and when the word one (echad) was said, they loudly and strongly repeated that one word for several minutes, as if it were a rebuke to Christians with their belief in the Trinity.”

Christians must come to a renewed understanding of the unity of God. They must appreciate the fact that the Yahweh is one, not three, as 1 Corinthians 8:6 says: yet for us there is one God. Christians worship one God, existing in three Persons, not three separate gods.

Yet, the statement Yahweh is One does not contradict the truth of the “Trinity”. In fact, it establishes that truth. The Hebrew word used here for one is “echad”, which speaks most literally of a “compound” of unity, rather than the Hebrew word yacheed, which speaks of an absolute unity or singularity (Genesis 22:2, Psalm 25:16).

The very first use of echad in the Bible:

Genesis 1:5: So the evening and the morning were ONE day. This context shows a unity (one day) with the idea of plurality (made up of evening and morning).

· Genesis 2:24 uses “echad”in saying the two shall become one flesh. Again, the idea of a unity (one flesh), made from a plurality (the two).

· In Exodus 26:6 and 11, fifty gold clasps are used to hold the curtains together, so the tent would be one “echad”. This is another unity (one covering) made up of a plurality (the many parts that made up the one covering, joined by the gold clasps).

· In Ezekiel 37:17 the LORD told Ezekiel to join two sticks (prophetically representing Ephraim/Israel and Judah) into one “echad”, speaking again of a unity (one stick) made up of a plurality (the two sticks).

v. Largely, “echad” does not have the exclusive idea of an absolute singularity. The concept of the Trinity – that there is one God in three Persons – works well with the term “echad”.

c. Yahweh our God: In addition, even the term referring to God in this line suggests the plurality of Deity. The Hebrew word is Elohim(God), and grammatically, it is a plural word used as if it were singular – the verbs and pronouns used with it are generally in the plural except when it is used in reference to Yahweh (the LORD), the covenant God of Israel.

Note: Rabbi Simeon ben Joachi, commenting on the word Elohim: “Come and see the mystery of the word Elohim; there are three degrees, and each degree by itself alone, and yet notwithstanding they are all one, and joined together in one, and are not divided from each other.” Adam Clarke adds: “He must be strangely prejudiced indeed who cannot see that the doctrine of a Trinity, and of a Trinity in unity, is expressed in the above words.”

Leupold quoting Luther on the word Elohim: “But we have a clear testimony that Moses aimed to indicate the Trinity or the three persons in the one divine nature.”

d. Love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength: Knowing who God is allows His people to act towards Him rightly. This is one way that believers give God His due.

i. God wants complete love from His people. This love is appropriate because He loved first and loved completely: We love Him because He first loved us(1 John 4:19).

What God most wants from humanity is love. It is easy to think that God is more interested in many other things: time, money, effort, will, submission, and so forth. But what God really wants from humanity is their love. When people really love the LORD with all the heart, soul, and mind, then all else is freely given to the LORD. If one starts by giving to God all the rest – money, time, effort, will, and so forth – without giving Him love, then all is wasted – and perhaps, all is lost. “Israel’s obedience was not to spring from a barren legalism based on necessity and duty. It was to arise from a relationship based on love.” (Thompson)

“Does not this show what is the very nature of God? God is love, for he commands us to love him. There was never an earthly prince or king whom I have heard of in whose statute-book it was written, ‘Thou shalt love the king.’ No; it is only in the statute-book of him who is the Lord of life and love that we read such a command as this. To my mind it seems a very blessed privilege for us to be permitted to love One so great as God is.” (Spurgeon)

Jesus called this the great commandment (Matthew 22:37-39). Jesus added that the second commandment, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, was like this first, great commandment. When God’s people love the LORD their God with all their heart, soul, and mind, they will then find the ability to love their neighbor as themselves.

Thus how can we come together without the glue called love? The key to corporate oneness is love.

Isaiah‬ ‭61‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ WEBUS

““For I, Yahweh, love justice. I hate robbery and iniquity. I will give them their reward in truth and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they are the offspring which Yahweh has blessed.””

They will know us by our love for one another other.

John‬ ‭13‬:‭31‬-‭35‬ ‭WEBUS‬‬

“When he (Judas) had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in Him. If God has been glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and He will glorify Him immediately. Little children (immature sons), I will be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come,’ so now I tell you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

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God is love, so LOVE…like Him

Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ WEBUS

“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in us all. But to each one of us, the grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”

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“We must humble ourselves and love each other, to see true unity or a corporate oneness.“ Apostle Deddrick

The key is one while keeping your uniqueness in humility and love for each other.

If it was easy everyone would be dojng it.

Apostle Joshua Botello

“Don’t let the enemy rob you of your authenticity! Your uniqueness has a power to unlock.”

Sometimes as we lead we forget to help those we lead. We think they work for us and not our King and Lord. There is only one head of the Church and we are His servants. To Raise up and release helps to keep the army Yahweh (Yashuah) cohesive, united and synergistic in power through righteousness. When we Lord it over others we bring division and unity is destroyed. To truly shepherd like Christ we must truly love those God has entrusted us to feed and train, no matter our gifting or office.

1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭WEBUS‬‬

“Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed: shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily; not for dishonest gain, but willingly; not as Lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock. When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away. Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility and subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.”1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭WEBUS‬‬

We are supposed to be doing our Daddy’s business which is corporately saving the lost and setting captives free and equipping them to do the same!