Friday, April 21, 2017

NTDS 87: Fellowship with God

1Jn 1:3 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.

One of the most amazing aspects of the Christian life, is the reality of having fellowship with God. I imagine that since you have become a believer, you have heard this term, “fellowship,” many times. It could be considered synonymous with the phrase, “personal relationship.”

If it is true that we can have fellowship with God, then it would be of the utmost importance to know just what that means and how it comes about. Chapter 1 of 1st John is a great place to find out.

The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia. It is used four times in this chapter alone. It comes from the root word koinonos, which means “a sharer”. It is translated 12 times in the New Testament as fellowship, twice as participation and three times as sharing and twice as contribution. The Greek scholar, Thayer describes it this way, "fellowship, association, communion, joint participation, intercourse(socially).”

Looking at the many descriptive English words used for fellowship, helps to give a fuller understanding of what it entails. You can see some common characteristics that describe true fellowship. What are they?

          It involves some type of sharing
    It involves participation
.       It will involve some contribution on your part
     There will be a need for communication

So, by definition, we see that we can share, participate, communicate and contribute to this fellowship with God. And in turn, He does those same things with us!

Notice here that the fellowship spoken of is with the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ, but we also have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, (2n Cor 13:14). This shows us that God is triune in nature, one God in three persons and that we have fellowship with all of who God is!

Now, there is a requirement to having this fellowship. In verses 5- 7, we are told that since God is light, we must be walking in His light, in order to partake in this fellowship. That begins with our confession of faith in Christ for salvation, but it does not end there. The word “walk”, literally means to tread all around or figuratively to live. It is a continuous action.

We know that we will not always be walking perfectly in the Light. John says in verse 8, that we will still sin. But the key to getting back into fellowship is found in verse 9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Isn’t it wonderful that God not only provided the means to fellowship with Him, by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, but He also provides the way to stay in fellowship, by forgiving us and continually cleansing us!

There is another important aspect to this gift of fellowship. Not only do we get to have a beautiful relationship with Him, but we get to have that with each other as well (v.3). In fact, it is the very way God has designed us to live in this world. He has made His church one body of believers (Eph 4:4-6). We are constantly urged in the New Testament to live in peace, unity and harmony with fellow believers and be known as Christians by our love for one another.

This is what true fellowship is all about. It is walking in His light, speaking and listening to Him, sharing and participating with Him. He should be such a part of our lives, that we literally do nothing apart from Him. It naturally follows that we will then be sharing and participating in life with other believers as well. What a beautiful design God has for His church! Let’s determine to walk closely in fellowship with Him and each other. We will be blessed!

God bless you,

Coach

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

NTDS 86: Looking Forward

2 Pet 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Have you ever looked around at what is happening in the world and wondered, “Is there ever going to be a time when there will be no more bad news to think about? A time where there will be no more evil, no more tears and sorrow, just good things.” The bible gives a resounding and positive answer to that question. The answer is YES! Peter says so in this very verse.

This time will come after the Lord returns. He will destroy the old heavens and earth and He will bring forth a new heaven and new earth. That is promised right here in this chapter of 2nd Peter, as well as other places in Scripture. (Is 65:17,66:22) In fact, in the book of Revelation, chapter 21, we find that the apostle John is privy to seeing this whole event happen before it actually takes place! It comes in a prophetic vision and since over 300 prophecies of the Bible concerning Jesus’ first appearing were literally and precisely fulfilled, I think we can be certain that this prophecy will be as well.

Many times, Christians are castigated for looking forward to this time. We are told that we should be focused on what is happening here and now and not be bothered about what and when this will all take place. It has been said that we become “so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.” Well if it was true, that we never did anything but daydream about what was to become, we would hardly be carrying out the “great commission,” to make disciples of all nations. 

Yet, Peter tell us here, that we should be looking forward to that great day. In fact, in verse 12, he says that we should even be hastening it’s coming. How could we do that? Can we make Jesus come sooner than later? Well, I personally believe that God has set the time for this. The Greek word used for hastening means to “urge on.”  Remember when Jesus taught His disciples to pray? He told them to pray this, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Mt 6:10) That is our part in hastening His coming. We urge God in our prayers to bring this to pass.

Look closely at what our key verse teaches us about this time. It says that righteousness dwells. That means that the new heaven and new earth will be the place where righteousness makes its home. It will live there. Can you imagine how wonderful it will be, to know that everything that happens from that time on, will be RIGHT! In contrast, nothing that happens will be wrong. That is why there will be no more sorrow or tears (Rev 21) but only joy!

This knowledge should not make us less cognizant of our purpose here on earth, but more. Verse 14 of this chapter says that since we look for these things, we are to be diligent in our faith, to be spotless and blameless. If we are to be that kind of person, we will be following the Lord’s commands. We will be sharing the good news of the Gospel. We will be completing the good works that He has prepared for us before the foundation of the world (Mt 5:16, Eph 2:10, 1 Ti 6:18)

I encourage every believer to take some time to reflect on these things and to anticipate the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to be reminded that this world is not our permanent home. We have a place, secured for us by Jesus Himself, which will be our home for all eternity. Now that is something to look forward to!

God bless you,
Coach