Jesus taught in no uncertain terms that we are one with God our father. When saying he was his Father, he never claimed this was an exclusive relationship. In fact, in the prayer he taught, it opens when declaring and directing it towards “Our Father”. This strongly indicates to us that we are all reflections and images of our greater father and source, God, Our Father. That said, he wanted everyone to realize the same unity with all that he himself had achieved. He was no gatekeeper.
John 17:21-23 (NIV): “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me — so that they may be brought to complete unity.”
You are one with God—or more precisely, we are all one with God. Jesus himself affirmed and supported this profound truth, though, as always, he communicated this through poetic and symbolic language. He proclaimed that he is not the only child of God, but we are all his children, human incarnations of our father, and carry the potential to remember this firsthand upon following his teachings and making and upholding peace in our lives where there isn’t any. The realization of our unity with God, the universe, is a reward of experiencing enlightenment (heaven within) while we are alive. This is experienced and enjoyed during our life, not after death.
Those who do not walk the path of truth he laid out may never come to the realization of their own oneness with God, just as Jesus himself embodied and understood. Despite all of us remaining one with God, only those who seek to realize it on a personal level, will get to realize that for themselves firsthand.
As an aside, I often wish Jesus had been more explicit in clarifying to both the people and the authorities of his time that being “one with God,” as he proclaimed, did not mean he was declaring himself to be a unique individual God, but rather that he had attained enlightenment—a state realizing our profound unity with the divine universe. Nowhere in the scriptures does Jesus claim to be a supreme and unique God himself; instead, he teaches that this oneness with the universe is something all his followers can achieve. Such clarity might have spared him the wrath of the establishment and perhaps even prevented his execution, who likely saw him as a heretic, even though he was teaching all of his peers and students to experience and realize that same oneness with what he called God, the greater universe.
Being “One with God” was a state attainable by anyone who embraced and followed Jesus’ teachings, which notably included elements reminiscent of Buddhism, so these teachings were not exclusive to his ministry.
Jesus often employed metaphorical language, referring to us as “God’s children” to convey a deeper truth: we are all products of the universe and reflections of that divine source, just as he was. By this logic, we are also brothers and sisters, in a literal sense as we are all part of the same human family, and it underscores our shared unity. At its core, his message was clear: we are not separate; we are, in fact, one.
If expressed in more literal terms, Jesus might have simply said that we are all one singular entity—each of us a human incarnation of God our source whom he poetically and figuratively referred to as our Father.
Our egos have deceived us into believing that we are separate and distinct from God—a falsehood that is erroneous and that is disproven at the heart of Jesus’ teachings. His message was clear: we are not separate from God, but deeply unified with Him. Salvation and ultimate truth are found in the profound realization of this fact within the course of our lifetime if it is sought. It is not enough to simply acknowledge it as true; we must transcend the ego’s illusion of separation and embrace our oneness with the Divine, our Father, and our brothers and neighbors. By actually following the directions to experience that enlightenment and oneness with the universe, not just by simply saying ‘i believe in Jesus’ or ‘i believe he died for me’
Knowing that we are literally one should give you pause and time to reflect on how you treat others as anything you do to others will inevitably come back to you. Something Jesus stated when he taught that “you reap what you sow” It is also another incentive to forgive others as this not only maintains peace but also acknowledges that you are treating others as you would treat yourself because they are you, and you are them. Literally.
The ego’s greatest illusion and deception is the belief that we are separate and distinct. When Jesus spoke of certain individuals being unable to achieve heaven, he was referring to the attachments that tether us to our egos and constructed identities. How can one fully embrace and realize our inherent unity when clinging so tightly to a unique identity the ego seeks to cultivate? True enlightenment comes from releasing these attachments and recognizing the oneness that transcends individuality. Take a moment today to declare to the universe that you relinquish all attachment to your body, your identity, your ego and your life story up until this point.
The desire to be seen as unique, different, or separate lies at the root of unnecessary barriers to experience enlightenment (what Jesus called Heaven). Let go of the need to be distinct, special, or apart from God and others, and the pathway to heaven will reopen. God does not hate anyone, nor does He punish us. Instead, we construct our own obstacles, making the journey harder than it was ever meant to be due to attachment to identity and ego.
Jesus explicitly teaches unity with God
1. Jesus prays that humans share the same oneness he has with God
“That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us.”
— Gospel of John 17:21
This is the clearest statement in the entire New Testament.
Jesus is not claiming exclusive unity.
He is explicitly praying that others experience the same oneness he does.
If Jesus were claiming a unique ontological status, this passage would make no sense.
2. “The Kingdom of God is within you”
“The kingdom of God is within you.”
— Gospel of Luke 17:21
This removes God from an external location and places divine reality inside human consciousness.
This is not future, not post-death, not institutional.
It is immediate and internal.
3. “I am in the Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”
“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”
— Gospel of John 14:20
This is mutual indwelling language.
Not hierarchy.
Not separation.
Not worship-from-a-distance.
Unity.
4. Jesus denies separation between himself and God
“I and the Father are one.”
— Gospel of John 10:30
Later theology turns this into an exclusivity claim.
But Jesus immediately quotes Psalm 82 to defend himself:
“Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?”
Meaning: this oneness is not unique to him.
What Jesus is actually teaching (without church distortion)
Jesus’ message is not:
- “I am God, you are not”
- “Worship me so you can access God later”
- “I am ontologically different from you”
Jesus’ message is:
- God is within you
- The ego/self-identity must be surrendered
- Separation is an illusion
- Unity with God is realizable now
This maps cleanly onto:
- Ego death language
- Enlightenment / awakening frameworks
- Non-dual consciousness traditions
Which explains why later institutional Christianity had to blunt, externalize, and postpone it.
Why this teaching was dangerous
If people realize:
- They are not separate from God
- Authority is internal, not institutional
- Transformation is immediate, not mediated
Then priests, empires, and power structures lose control.
That’s why:
- Paul reframes salvation as belief-based
- Heaven becomes post-mortem
- Jesus becomes an object of worship instead of a model of realization
Bottom line
Yes — Jesus taught that humans are one with God.
Not metaphorically.
Not symbolically only.
But experientially.
He just didn’t use modern phrasing — he used first-century Jewish mystical language, which later theology worked very hard to neutralize.
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