In the relation of God and man there is unity of being, but there is distinctness of operation, or activity. God is cause, and man is effect. When we speak of God and man as one, we do not mean that they are the same. Such an error has been a fundamental stumbling block in many theological circles and has led some people astray from the straight line of revelation and logic in Christian Science.
When Jesus said, "I and my Father are one," John 10:30. he did not mean that he was God. And yet a mistaken interpretation of this statement led to the worship of the human Jesus and resulted in the loss of the spiritual power to heal. Christ Jesus' true selfhood was one with God even as effect is one with cause and the son is one with the Father. Each of us can say this of his true identity in God's likeness. But Mrs. Eddy draws the line of distinction when she says of God: "He elucidates His own idea, wherein Principle and idea, God and man, are not one, but are inseparable as cause and effect. If one, who could say which that 'one' was?" Miscellaneous Writings, p. 361.
God is the one Ego, the one Mind, or Soul, of all existence; and man is His likeness or reflection. There is one Being, one Life, and man is the activity, or manifestation, of that Life. In order to realize the power of divine Principle, we must acknowledge its unique position as creator, source, cause. Jesus was very explicit in this respect. He said, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do." John 5:19. Only as we keep ourselves in the position of being the effect of God do we reflect the power to heal.
