This week, Micheal writes that Fellowship
= Fellows in the Ship. 1 John chapter 1 is about what we
call "fellowship" in Christian circles. Fellowship with Jesus
Christ requires "transparency" before our loving Heavenly
Father. How do we portray ourselves? Do we see ourselves in light
of his glorious gospel of truth or according to the darkness of this fallen
world? God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.
According to the gospel of John, light is anything that makes manifest; it is
anything that reveals and illuminates so that we can clearly see. The
light of God enlightens so that we can perceive reality from a spiritual
perspective. Light reveals what already exists. If there is sin and
iniquity in our lives, then these dark places in our lives try to hide from the
glorious light of the gospel of truth.
1 John
1;1-10 “That which was from
the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we
have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life — the
life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that
eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us — that
which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have
fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and
with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy
may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to
you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we
have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the
truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us
from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we
say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
Fellowship
and light go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. Our
primary goal needs to be to walk in the light as He is in the light. What
some Christians think is fellowship, others who attend church often think is
"food and entertainment." However biblical terms need to be
defined in terms of their biblical definitions. The Greek word "koinonia" means to "share fully." It means that we
need to share fully with our Savior Jesus Christ everything that He is.
Fellowship denotes an intimate, participating, and sharing relationship of
community and communion. As members of the body of Christ we must share
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit: the righteousness of God in Christ in
us.
In
marriage God commands husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the
church. Men often have a facade of toughness on the outside because they
are overly sensitive on the inside. However, as David was “a man after
God's own heart," David's prayer was "break my sinful heart and
create within me a new heart." Women are often soft on the outside but
tough on the inside. They are the stable ones who endure hardness and
abusive relationships for the sake of the marriage commitment. Men can
learn a lot from their wives in terms of biblical virtues of forgiveness,
patience, long suffering and kindness.
Let’s
continue Michael’s message on “Fellowship” on the next Post.
In
Christ, Brian
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