Fellowship With the Triune God (Sep. 26)
Read: 1 John 1:3, 1 Corinthians 1:9, Philippians 2:1
The starting point for our fellowship with each other is our fellowship with the Triune God.
1 John 1:3 says, “What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (NASB)
An American doctor traveling in Korea knew just enough of the language to get around. At a station stop, an old Korean boarded the train and sat across from the doctor. He carried a large bundle in a white cloth. Soon the old Korean began to speak to the doctor, pouring out a torrent of words. The doctor replied with the only sentence he had memorized, “I do not understand Korean.” The old man persisted. A second time the doctor gave his stock answer. This was repeated a third time.
In the stream of Korean words, the doctor thought he had detected a somewhat familiar word. Had the old man said something about Jesus?
His doubt vanished when the old man pointed to the doctor and asked, “Yesu?”
“Yesu?” With a smile, the doctor nodded in agreement. “Yesu, Yesu!”
Smiling from ear to ear, the Korean opened his large bundle and proudly displayed his Korean Bible. Then he put his finger on a verse. The doctor couldn’t read it, of course, but carefully figuring out the approximate place in his own Bible, he read from 1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren.” - Leslie B. Flynn (The Speaker’s Quote Book by Roy Zuck)
Two people meet on a train, who the world would see as separated by very challenging differences, especially language, culture, and ethnicity. But one word, a Name - the “Name above all Names” - brings them together with smiling faces and a desire to share a beloved treasure that gives us the message of life and love. They are brethren through the power of that name, Jesus.
God’s written Word teaches us that it’s the Living Word, who John calls “that eternal life” in 1 John 1:2, who is the foundation of all true fellowship, who is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God, He is Man, and He is Messiah.
Jesus and the Father are one, to know Him is to know the Father. Our mission is to “know Christ intimately, and share Him lovingly”. In 1 John 1:1-3 John is sharing with us the intimate knowledge of Christ that he has experienced in his fellowship with Jesus, so that we also may enter into the joyous experience of fellowship with him and the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Action Step: The Greek word for fellowship carries with it the idea “to share with others, or participate with others”. Sharing is more than talking. Be willing to sacrifice for the sake of others. The love that grows from the intimate knowing of Jesus will lead us to consider others and their needs as more important than ourselves. This is the attitude that Christ displayed. Philippians 2:1-8
Prayer: “Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your open arms of welcome to me. Thank you for sending your dear Son, who in his desire to please you, willingly endured separation from your presence to pay a debt that I could never pay. Your servant David has written that there was “one thing” he desired from You, “that he may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life”.
In another place, he said “Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!” Father, please give me a seeking, “one thing” heart, to live in your presence throughout my days.”
Psalms 27:4; 105:4 (NASB)
Author: Ed and Jodi Carroll