God Extends His Felllowship To Us (Part 2) - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 1 John 1:3,

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

Again, the online definition of Merriam-Webster for “fellowship” includes companionship, company, community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience. The state of being a fellow or associate, a company of equals or friends, association. The English word is translated from the Greek word, “koinonia” and is sometimes also translated as “common”. Of course we understand that our fellowship with God does not indicate “a company of equals” as he is the Creator, we are his creation. He is God and forever will be; we are man and forever will be.

Yet, there is nothing in the least “common” about the relationship the apostle John and those with him enjoyed with God the Father, his Son Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Mankind over the ages has been estranged from God through his sin and rebellion against him as described in Genesis 3. Because of this estrangement, God has only revealed himself in limited ways through a very select few individuals. For John to say he enjoyed “fellowship” with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, indicated something very unusual and unique.

For God to purpose to “fellowship” with humans is a singular expression of his love and passion for mankind, his creation. It required the cleansing of all sin and defilement for God to invite mankind into such a relationship with him. It also expresses a desire of our God to share of himself with us in a way that results in a transformation that inevitably takes place as we are indwelt with his Holy Spirit.

God has chosen to share the things of himself with mankind!

How remarkable that God has chosen to share himself in this way! How remarkable he has such a love and passion for mankind that he was willing to send his one and only Son to die a miserable death to pay for our sin, qualifying us for an intimacy with him! How remarkable that God has chosen to spend eternity with those of us who have reached out to embrace him in faith!

How remarkable is our God!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

God Extends His Felllowship To Us (Part 2) - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 1 John 1:3,

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

Again, the online definition of Merriam-Webster for “fellowship” includes companionship, company, community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience. The state of being a fellow or associate, a company of equals or friends, association. The English word is translated from the Greek word, “koinonia” and is sometimes also translated as “common”. Of course we understand that our fellowship with God does not indicate “a company of equals” as he is the Creator, we are his creation. He is God and forever will be; we are man and forever will be.

Yet, there is nothing in the least “common” about the relationship the apostle John and those with him enjoyed with God the Father, his Son Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Mankind over the ages has been estranged from God through his sin and rebellion against him as described in Genesis 3. Because of this estrangement, God has only revealed himself in limited ways through a very select few individuals. For John to say he enjoyed “fellowship” with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, indicated something very unusual and unique.

For God to purpose to “fellowship” with humans is a singular expression of his love and passion for mankind, his creation. It required the cleansing of all sin and defilement for God to invite mankind into such a relationship with him. It also expresses a desire of our God to share of himself with us in a way that results in a transformation that inevitably takes place as we are indwelt with his Holy Spirit.

God has chosen to share the things of himself with mankind!

How remarkable that God has chosen to share himself in this way! How remarkable he has such a love and passion for mankind that he was willing to send his one and only Son to die a miserable death to pay for our sin, qualifying us for an intimacy with him! How remarkable that God has chosen to spend eternity with those of us who have reached out to embrace him in faith!

How remarkable is our God!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

God Extends His Fellowship To Us! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 1 John 1:3,

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

John reveals here that he has “fellowship” with God. In 3:24 and 4:13 he tells us he has been given the Holy Spirit and here he says his fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

Merriam-Webster defines “fellowship” as companionship, company. Community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience. The state of being a fellow or associate. The quality or state of being comradely. Quite a claim for anyone to say they have fellowship with God!

But that is exactly what John claims here. Not only does he have fellowship with God but he extends an invitation to all his readers to this fellowship. “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.”

That God would step down and extend the hand of fellowship with mankind is remarkable – even a bit bewildering! Our Creator God is a holy and righteous God. His ways are perfect. His qualities are pure, pristine and many-splendored! How could such a One stoop to make fellowship with lowly mankind?

For an inexplicable reason, given our sin and rebellion against God himself, he loves us! He loves us and desires fellowship with us. He has demonstrated this desire by sending his own Son into his creation to make a way for us into this fellowship!

How remarkable for anyone to claim to have fellowship with our Creator God! How, even further remarkable is it, that God desires that fellowship with us!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

The Son Of God Appeared! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 1 John 1:2-3,

"The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ."

"The life appeared…" To imagine that God would send his Son into the world to take the penalty for our sin is an expression of love that transcends my ability to comprehend!

Luke quotes Jesus Christ as saying, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Luke 19:10.

The apostle Paul tells us, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners- of whom I am the worst." 1 Timothy 1:15.

And then to realize that he has done it all that we might have fellowship with him! Astonishing!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

The Apostles Lived Life With One From Heaven! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 1 John 1:2-3,

"The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ."

This morning my thoughts are drawn to the apostles. John had encountered someone very unique during the formative years of his life as a very young man, maybe an older boy. He became one of an inner circle that Jesus shared select experiences with: Jesus' transfiguration on the mountain, his moments in the garden of Gethsemane, etc. Together with Peter and his brother James, the first martyred apostle, he spent time with Jesus on a very personal level. John describes himself as the disciple Jesus loved, John 21:20-24.

John had the amazing opportunity to spend time with someone who was from heaven itself! John acknowledged to his readers that he and those with him had fellowship with the Father and with his Son. When Jesus was here on earth John lived his life with Jesus. They ate together and encamped together. They traveled together and brought the most amazing news to the Jews, "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" They shared many experiences in those years and I can only imagine the conversations they must have shared that are not recorded in Scripture.

We live in a world that is estranged from God. There exists a great gulf between us and heaven itself. Heaven is from where our eternal destiny springs for those of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith, and yet we know so precious little of it. There are no travel brochures to provide us pictures, we have no friends who have visited and come back with video clips, etc. But John had access for a period of years to one who came from heaven, the Son of God himself!

If I were John, what might I have asked Jesus about? What was heaven like? Do we relate to it and all there, just as we do on planet earth? Does heaven resemble God's creation in any way? What are angels like? What is it like to live in God's presence? What are the "rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms" like?

We know that the apostles were very limited in their understanding of just who Jesus Christ was when he was with them, and we know that it wasn't until the Holy Spirit came to them after Jesus' death that they had much better insight. But here John and the others experienced on a personal level someone who had eternally existed in heaven and was now within their midst and within their fellowship!

Just what must have that been like for them?!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.