Powerful “fellowships” that have eternal value are
now possible. These wonderful unions of fellowship have never before been
available. These new partnerships are gifts that have been given to us by the
power of the “new covenant”. Today it is possible for us to eternally join with
Jesus, God, the Spirit and even other Christians. These new unions were not
available before the coming of our Savior and His Spirit to live on earth with
humans.
John absolutely loved the unique fellowship that he
had with Jesus. He wrote to us: We proclaim to you what we ourselves
have actually seen and heard so that you
may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his
Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share
our joy. 1 John 1:3-4 (NLT).
John had the most wonderful fellowship that ever existed between
humans.
No one had ever fellowshipped with God the way John
was privileged to do. Today the Spirit has come to live in us and we have the
potential for great fellowship with God. The Kingdom of God is being built and
it is based on fellowship. Even in this world, family fellowship is a fact of
life. Usually we don’t like it when some powerful family shuts us out from
something we want. But God is offering His family membership to “who-so-ever
will”.
Paul tells
us about this possible fellowship in ideas that may be difficult to understand.
The Bible says: …The cornerstone is
Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a
holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made
part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. Eph 2:20-22 (NLT). He
is talking about a “new temple” that God is building today out of fellowship.
This new
covenant of fellowship provides us the opportunity to join with the family of
God. Human history is full of people worshiping many things as God, but nobody
believed that anyone could actually become one with God. The Bible says: …God will do this, for he is faithful to do
what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord. 1 Cor 1:9 (NLT). This is an amazing fact.
After Paul
had been transformed into a new person, he worked hard to tell others. He saw
the great potential of the Gospel: …You
have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you
first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good
work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day
when Christ Jesus returns. Phil 1:5-6 (NLT).
Today more
has been revealed about God’s plan than ever before. Everyone has opportunities
to become a transformed person. This must happen to us if we plan on living
with God in the next world. An American must give up the idea of living for
themselves because it will not work in this new life of fellowship. Jesus gave
His life to other people as the example of fellowship that we follow. All this
is possible in the new covenant.
