Fellowship With God

Introduction

Last time we met we started our Journey through 1 John. and in just the first four verses we learned that John's aim in this epistle is to declare the "Word of life", the "eternal life" that was with the Father and has been manifested in Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:1–2 TLV

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life— the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.

We discussed that John points out that we can have fellowship with God in much the same way that the disciples had with Jesus.

1 John 1:3 TLV

What we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so you may have fellowship with us. Indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Yeshua the Messiah.

And finally, we learned that while scripture tells us that that we can have fullness of joy, the way to achieve that is through fellowship with God.

So today we start by examining what John says is the basis for that fellowship with God, as well as by considering with him, the place of sin and how it affects that fellowship.

The Premise for the Fellowship

1 John 1:5 TLV

Now this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you—that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

God is Light

The Bible speaks of the Light to describe that which is good righteous and true.

Ephesians 5:8–10 TLV

For once you were darkness, but now in union with the Lord you are light. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

So then, by extension, John is saying that we must think of God in this way. God is Goodness, God is Righteousness and God is Truth, and the embodiment of those very traits, meaning God is good, God is righteous and He is true!

In Him is No Darkness

It stands to reason then, if He is light, then there is no darkness. It would seem that this needs to go unsaid. The problem is, that while men can good and men can be righteous and men can be true, we can be all of those things and still be evil, and unrighteous and false.

Romans 3:10–18 TLV

As it is written, “There is no one righteous—no, not one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks after God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless. There is no one who does good—no, not even one! Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they keep deceiving. The poison of vipers is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of shalom they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

With God there is no equivocation.

Therefore we can never think of God as countenancing sin, excusing it in any way.

“But Pastor”, you might say, “this all goes without saying! It’s very basic stuff, why would John have to reiterate that?” Well I’m glad you asked. The faith was still very fresh and new. There were many who didn’t walk daily and learn from Yeshua the way John did. There were many “teachers of the law” that decided that simply because they were somebody in the faith before, they fancied themselves experts in how things should be now and so many false teachings came about. So John had to contend with these.

False Claims Concerning Fellowship with God

We Have Fellowship With God, Yet We Walk in Darkness.

Why is this false?

Because fellowship means to have something in common and we have seen that God is “light” (goodness, righteousness, truth). “Walking in darkness”, therefore, would be going against everything God stands for!

Ephesians 4:17–24 TLV

So I tell you this, indeed I insist on it in the Lord—walk no longer as the pagans do, stumbling around in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance in them due to the hardness of their heart. Since they are past feeling, they have turned themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of immorality, with greed for more. However, you did not learn Messiah in this way— if indeed you have heard Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Yeshua. With respect to your former lifestyle, you are to lay aside the old self corrupted by its deceitful desires, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self—created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Why is this claim dangerous?

Because when we buy in to this lie, and live our lives in accordance with it, we are false in our WORDS (“we lie”), and we are also false in our DEEDS (“we do not practice the truth”).

What is the truth?

Instead, we should “walk in the light as He is in the light”. Instead of living a life characterized by “evil, unrighteousness, and error” all the while claiming to have fellowship with God. We should live a life in harmony with God's “goodness, righteousness, and truth”

This Leads to...

Experiencing fellowship with one another. That is, we will have fellowship with God, meaning we can the common experience with our brothers and sisters of sharing in that life which is eternal, and provides fullness of joy because we are in fellowship with God as we are fellowship with each other.

It also leads to us experiencing “The blood of Yeshua Meshiach which cleanses us from all sin”. Let me be clear, “walking in the light” does not mean we become sinless any more than “walking in darkness” implies total absence of good. Rather, “walking in the light” suggests a life making progress under the positive influence of God's “light” A life enjoying the cleansing power of Jesus' blood as one meets the conditions of forgiveness.

We Have Not Sinned

The second false claim that John is addressing is the false claim that we have not sinned.

Why is this claim dangerous?

The consequences of this claim are grievous. First of all by claiming this, we make God a liar!

Romans 3:23 TLV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Secondly, it demonstrates that His word is not in us! So tell me, how can we claim to have fellowship with God, if His word is not in us and we are calling him a liar? It just doesn’t go. And if that doesn’t go, how then, do we experience the fullness of joy and the kind of life that comes to those who have fellowship with Him? Fellowship with God does not occur by making claims that turn God into a liar!

But even though John is saying that we do — in fact sin, he is not advocating it. He is simply stating the fact to discourage it.

1 John 2:1 TLV

My children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Intercessor with the Father—the righteous Messiah Yeshua.

To have true fellowship with God then, we must take sin seriously because sin breaks that fellowship with God. How serious is it? Well consider the extreme to which God went to deal with it.

Fellowship With God Requires an Advocate

We have an advocate with the Father through Messiah Yeshua, the Righteous One.

The word “advocate” literally means “to call to one's side, to one's aid”. It suggests the capability for giving aid. It is used in a court of justice to denote a legal assistant, a counsel for the defense. Generally, it is one who pleads another's case, an intercessor Jesus is the perfect "advocate", for He is righteous.

As sinners, we are alienated from God.

Isaiah 59:1–2 TLV

Behold, Adonai’s hand is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. Rather, your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.

But since Jesus is without sin, He is a fit representative to come before God on our behalf! The author of Hebrews also makes the point that though righteous, He understands our situation perfectly.

Hebrews 2:17–18 TLV

Therefore He had to be made like His brothers in all things, so He might become a merciful and faithful Kohen Gadol in matters relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered when put to the test, He is able to help those being tested.

Hebrews 4:14–16 TLV

Therefore, since we have a great Kohen Gadol who has passed through the heavens, Yeshua Ben-Elohim, let us hold firmly to our confessed allegiance. For we do not have a kohen gadol who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all the same ways—yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near to the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need.

Jesus is the Propitiation for Our Sin

The word “propitiation” means “an appeasing". There is a striking contrast here because prior to the coming of Jesus the pagans would offer sacrifices to appease their gods and indeed the Jews offered sacrifices to appease God. In the New Testament, it is God, not man, who offers the appeasing sacrifice.

1 John 4:10 TLV

This is love—not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atonement for our sins.

Through His death on the cross, Jesus is the means by which God can show mercy to the sinner. This shows how God can be “just” and still forgive sin.

1 John 1:9 TLV

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

This wonderful “propitiation” was given to the whole world, but is accessed only by those who believe in Jesus.

1 John 2:2 TLV

He is the atonement for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.

Romans 3:21–26 TLV

But now God’s righteousness apart from the Torah has been revealed, to which the Torah and the Prophets bear witness— namely, the righteousness of God through putting trust in Messiah Yeshua, to all who keep on trusting. For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are set right as a gift of His grace, through the redemption that is in Messiah Yeshua. God set forth Yeshua as an atonement, through faith in His blood, to show His righteousness in passing over sins already committed. Through God’s forbearance, He demonstrates His righteousness at the present time—that He Himself is just and also the justifier of the one who puts his trust in Yeshua.

Putting it All Together

In this first chapter, and even into the second, John makes it clear upon what basis we can have fellowship with God, and enjoy the life that provides fullness of joy.

To have fellowship with God, we who are Christians must not walk in darkness, but walk in the light of God's goodness, righteous, and truth. We must be willing to admit that we have sinned, and do sin. But all hope is not lost because we have an “advocate”, whom God provides as the “propitiation” for our sins

In 1Jn 1:9, John explained how those who are already children of God can appropriate the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus (through confession and prayer).