One and Only One!
Marveling at the uniqueness of God
Welcome! It’s the last week of February, and with Easter on the horizon, I pray that remembrance, preparation, and adoration fill your next few weeks. Our recent devotions have focused on some of God’s amazing attributes–His nearness and His boundlessness. Today we maintain that focus as we marvel at the uniqueness of God, honoring a request to explore the phrase “One and Only One.” As always, thank you for taking the time to read these thoughts. It’s a joy to share with you!
Calling again on my math background
Recently, a dear friend and reader asked me to write a devotion built around the phrase one and only. What words come to your mind as you reflect on this phrase?
Incomparable? Different? Special? Unique?
I’m guessing that unique was near the top of your list. Still, the adjective seems to have lost some of its “weight” with its overuse in describing the new approaches, discoveries, inventions, and technologies inundating our current world.
So let’s slow down and reclaim the significance of the term. In the recent snowstorm, as flurries swirled outside your window, you may have recalled that each snowflake is, supposedly, unique.
But that was a lot of flakes! Was each really distinct from every other?
Physicist Nathan Harshman of American University offers this explanation:
A snowflake contains around a billion billion (1018) molecules…and let me assure you that the number of ways to assemble a billion billion molecules into a hexagonally symmetric pattern is quite large enough that in our universe, no two snowflakes have ever been the same.1 (emphasis, mine)
That’s more than amazing; it’s mind boggling! Each snowflake that has ever fallen has been the one and only snowflake with that design.
Still, each flake does fall into the broader category of “snow.” So let’s consider another, more narrow definition.
In mathematics, to describe a snowflake as unique would mean there is one and only one snowflake! Not just “there are no others like it,” but “there are no other snowflakes.” One. Period. Ever. A single element to comprise the entire category because there is one and only one in existence. That’s mathematical uniqueness.
An accurate description of snowflakes? No.
The perfect characterization of the God who created them? Absolutely!
One and Only One God
You know, some of my favorite chapters in the Bible are Isaiah 40-49. There, God promises the people of Israel they will return from their Babylonian captivity. After calling out their sins and pronouncing the consequences in previous chapters, God follows with the assurance of restoration: They will still be His people. He will still be their God.
Historically, though, the people had succumbed to idolatry–honoring God with their words while their hearts were far away (Is. 29:13).
In these chapters, God confronts that issue and declares that He is absolutely unique. Not “snowflake” unique–a different or unusual God in a category of gods; but mathematically unique. Singular. The only God in existence.
Hear his passionate, repeated words recorded in Isaiah:
Can you feel God calling? Not just to the ancient Israelites, but to you and me right now? He wants us to know Him as God–the One and Only One existing in His category. May we never tritely honor Him with our lips while our hearts drift toward the familiar and common. Let us strive to know Him, longing to marvel at His uniqueness and to worship Him accordingly.
(Note: This is only a few of the verses. If you have about 20 minutes, I encourage you to read Isaiah 40-49 and allow God to reveal more about who He is and what He has done.)
Closing
As I read through those verses again, my mind goes to a New Testament passage–probably my favorite if you forced me to choose.
Truly, God is unique, the One and Only One worthy to hold dominion from eternity past until eternity yet to come. May we marvel and give Him glory!
Does God’s uniqueness stir something in you, too? What does it mean to you that there is one and only one God? If you would like to share a thought about His uniqueness–or suggest a future topic–feel free to leave a comment below. (I can’t promise to write on a topic, but I will pray and follow God’s leading.)
©2026 Catherine L Hill. All rights reserved.
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1Housman, P. (January 23, 2026). The Physics of Snowflakes: Why Flakes Have Six Sides and None Are Alike. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
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Prayer please
Susy, your request for prayer came as I was wrapping up a plan to speak on the topic. It is a privilege to lift you up–to ask that you may know His will and be strengthened with His power. In Jesus’ name.