Thursday, February 03, 2005
Standing on the Promises
“But if we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other. Then the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from every sin.” (1 John 1:7)
The promise hinges on “if we live in the light”! What’s the light? Here, God is not the light…He’s in the light. First verse to come to mind is “Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet, a Light unto my path.” So now the promise goes, “If we live in the [Word], as God is in the [Word], we can share fellowship with each other.” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” But God is not just in the book of John! The Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – are in Genesis, and Ephesians and 1Timothy. What the heck! I’ll go out on a limb…God is in Titus.
The key word in 1John 1:7 is we. We, all parties, would conditionally need to be in the Word so that we…everyone can share fellowship with each other. This isn’t spaghetti dinner. It’s the fellowship of Christ! It’s the family we’re all told about when we join the church, but few, if any, experience. Sure we have friendships and close encounters but the family of believers should in no way be dysfunctional…it has potential, if we take this promise, to tear down all walls…break down communication barriers…so that when human failings intrude, the deeper fellowship of faith will keep the lines open and we would be drawn closer.
What do we, the members of Christ’s church, hold in common? And what does that faith stand on? Faith does not stand on fellowship. It’s the opposite. Although my immediate family has been away from Christian fellowship…God plugged us into His Church with good books, Christian music and radio, magazines, and a heart for Him. The Christian faith stands on Truth. You might say, “Yes, that’s Jesus.” And Jesus is the Word. Edith Schaeffer approaches the subject from Temptation’s point of view or Satan. “Every human being who has ever heard or read the words in the Bible hears [the question] at one time or another: ‘Hath God said this? Is this really the Word of God? Can you trust this as being truth? Or___?’” Just as Adam and Eve were tempted to doubt God’s words, the same Satan plants the original doubt in our ears.
The promise hinges on “if we live in the light”! What’s the light? Here, God is not the light…He’s in the light. First verse to come to mind is “Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet, a Light unto my path.” So now the promise goes, “If we live in the [Word], as God is in the [Word], we can share fellowship with each other.” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” But God is not just in the book of John! The Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – are in Genesis, and Ephesians and 1Timothy. What the heck! I’ll go out on a limb…God is in Titus.
The key word in 1John 1:7 is we. We, all parties, would conditionally need to be in the Word so that we…everyone can share fellowship with each other. This isn’t spaghetti dinner. It’s the fellowship of Christ! It’s the family we’re all told about when we join the church, but few, if any, experience. Sure we have friendships and close encounters but the family of believers should in no way be dysfunctional…it has potential, if we take this promise, to tear down all walls…break down communication barriers…so that when human failings intrude, the deeper fellowship of faith will keep the lines open and we would be drawn closer.
What do we, the members of Christ’s church, hold in common? And what does that faith stand on? Faith does not stand on fellowship. It’s the opposite. Although my immediate family has been away from Christian fellowship…God plugged us into His Church with good books, Christian music and radio, magazines, and a heart for Him. The Christian faith stands on Truth. You might say, “Yes, that’s Jesus.” And Jesus is the Word. Edith Schaeffer approaches the subject from Temptation’s point of view or Satan. “Every human being who has ever heard or read the words in the Bible hears [the question] at one time or another: ‘Hath God said this? Is this really the Word of God? Can you trust this as being truth? Or___?’” Just as Adam and Eve were tempted to doubt God’s words, the same Satan plants the original doubt in our ears.
