Fully Known & Loved {1John 1-3}
12:00 AM
This quote from Tim Keller grabbed my attention:
“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything..." Don't you think? I think this was why John felt compelled to write this letter of First John.
I believe God purposely created us to desire to be fully know and fully loved by both God and man because...
John explains right at the beginning of his letter that
his purpose in writing is to tell us how to enjoy fellowship with one another
and with God,
“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. We write this to
make our joy complete.” (1 John 1:3-4)
He wants us to know that the path to a joyous life is found in fellowship!
Fellowship actually means sharing in common, or sharing together. We were never meant to travel through this life alone, but think about this a moment... we, who were so defiled by sin, can have fellowship—can share together—with a holy God, not just in this life, but for eternity! That one thought should overwhelm us!
Fellowship actually means sharing in common, or sharing together. We were never meant to travel through this life alone, but think about this a moment... we, who were so defiled by sin, can have fellowship—can share together—with a holy God, not just in this life, but for eternity! That one thought should overwhelm us!
John Calvin explained it this way in Calvin’s
Commentaries p.
162:
True is that saying, “Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.” (Matt. 6:21) Whosoever, then, really perceives what fellowship with God is, will be satisfied with it alone, and will no more burn with desires for other things. “The Lord is my cup,” says David, “and my heritage; the lines have fallen for me on an excellent lot.” (Ps. 16:5, 6) In the same manner does Paul declare that all things were deemed by him as dung, in comparison with Christ alone. (Phil. 3:8) He, therefore, has at length made a proficiency in the Gospel, who esteems himself happy in having communion with God, and acquiesces in that alone; and thus he prefers it to the whole world, so that he is ready for its sake to relinquish all other things.
This fellowship with God and one another that John is writing
about here is really just the fulfillment of the two Great Commandments; to
love God with all your being, and to love one another (Matt. 22:37-40). The
goal of the Bible is to help us glorify God as we experience the deep
joy of a close relationship with Him and one another.
So, allow me to ask you, how is your fellowship with the
Savior and others? And did you know that there is a difference between “sonship”
and “fellowship”?
This
is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him
there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have
fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out
the truth. But
if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1John 1:5-7)
Each child of God knows Him in two ways:
·
Sonship,
when we were born into His family and He becomes our heavenly Father
·
But we also grow to know Him more deeply and
intimately through fellowship.
When we were born into His family our standing as His child was
settled forever and nothing can change that, but our fellowship with God from
that moment is forever evolving. Theologians call this our state, or current
condition before God. And it is truly up to us to seek to grow our fellowship
with Him.
Trust me when I say, I believe some of His children have
chosen to settle for less than God’s very best for themselves, and God will allow
them that choice.
·
If all a body wants is to spend time in worship
on Sunday mornings, that’s all they’ll get.
·
If others choose to fellowship a bit with other
believers at times, that’s all they’ll get.
BUT if you refuse to settle like Paul, who counted all else
refuse and dung in the hopes of knowing all there was to know about our Savior,
God will make your joy complete, by coming to fellowship (share this life
together) with you. And John is here to explain how that is possible, which begins by getting honest with God and others (walk in the light).
Our fellowship with God begins when we admit to God that we’re
not satisfied with our relationship; that we, like Paul, David and others want
more of God, and refuse to settle for less than the abundant life Jesus came to
give each of us!
I want to encourage you ...don’t settle for an occasional, distant relationship. Make time to spend with Him each day in His Word and in conversation (a.k.a prayer). And both the Apostle John and I can assure you, you will be so very glad you
did, for the One who know you fully and loves you best desires that too!
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