Our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
There are several
pictures the Bible uses to describe “us,” the Church. “Church” is one of those: we are an assembly
of believers. That says something about
our “fellowship.” We gather for “fellowship”
regularly. But there are some other
pictures of “us” that get deeper than that.
·
We are the “Body of Christ” and Christ is the “Head
of the Body” (Eph. 1:22-23). Think about
this. If you lose your head, literally,
you’re done for. Nothing else works;
nothing else lives. But if your head and
body are well connected then it all works.
You can walk without stumbling over your elbow. Pardon me, but I’m serious about this. That’s what Eph. 4:11-16 says about the Body
of Christ. Our head makes sure the
entire body is knit together, each joint working properly, and the body growing
in a healthy manner.
·
We are the “branches” and He is the “vine” (John
15:1-8). Jesus is the source of every
nutrient we need, not just to exist, but to bear fruit. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and
appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should
remain (Jn. 15:16). Perhaps you
think those words only apply to the Twelve to whom He was speaking at the
time. It certainly applies to them. The term “chosen” is applied to the apostles
often in Acts. But it is also used of “us”
in Eph. 1:4: Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world
to be holy and blameless before Him in love. Again, Jesus specifically appointed the
Twelve, by name, to a special task. But
the same term is used of “us” in the great body life passage, 1 Cor.
12. In 12:18 Paul says, But now God
has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. Again, in 12:28, And God has appointed
these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after
that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of
tongues. The underlined words are
the same as in John 15. “Fruitfulness”
is Christ’s plan for all of us. It is
not something we can do on our own, apart from a living union with Christ. Both in John 15 and in 1 John there is an
emphasis on “abiding” or “remaining” in Christ.
This is a fellowship concept. If
we are not as fruitful as He desires the Father, who is the vinedresser (Jn.
15:1), will do some pruning in our lives.
Vines are useless for any other purpose (firewood, 2x4s, etc.).
·
We are the bride of Christ, who is the
bridegroom (Eph. 5:22-33; 2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7-9; John 3:29). Do you see the depth of fellowship? There is no other human relationship that
illustrates this like marriage. Paul, in
1 Cor. 6:15-17 made the point when he was talking about sexual purity. He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit
with Him (v17). As you work on your
relationship in marriage, so we must work on our relationship with Christ.
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