For the past 18 months, I have been preaching through the gospel of Luke on Sunday mornings, so when that ended, I wondered, “Where do I go now?” The answer, I decided, was the little letter of “First John”.
First John was written to a group of Christians who knew the gospel well. In fact, John spends very little time reviewing the details of the past. Instead, he focuses on the response of the people. In other words, First John has a lot to say about “How we live because of what we know” and it starts in the first four verses of the book.
After a briefly sketching the coming of Christ, he goes on to say, “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).
Notice the message that John wants to proclaim; he wants them to hear about “fellowship”. Fellowship is not the word I would expect to see there. I would have guessed that he would want to write about “salvation” or “the gospel” or maybe even “the church”. However, John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wants them to hear about the relationship that we can experience with God and with one another.
That message is important, because we need to know that, no matter what, God
has not turned his back on us. We need to know that there is a place like the church where we can find encouragement and friendship. “Fellowship” is a big deal because it is at the heart of the entire Christian message.
John goes on to say that this message, when properly understood and lived, produces “joy”. Joy has to be our mark. Any doctrine or faith that produces grouchy, critical, unfriendly, self-righteous people is not “sound doctrine” (see Galatians 5:19-26). Another version of the Bible makes this verse even more clear with this translation; “Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!” (Verse 4, The Message). Have we found a faith that is so joyful that we cannot help but to share it? John did.
Unfortunately, religious teaching often wanders off the “main trail” and gets lost in the forest of speculation or bogged down in the swamp of religious disputes.
What would happen if we focused on the things that tie us together rather than the things that separate us?
What would happen if we all focused on a message that said, “Because of Jesus, our relationship with God can be restored, we can be part of his family and we can live more joyfully each day”?
I think someone may listen to a message like that.
First John was written to a group of Christians who knew the gospel well. In fact, John spends very little time reviewing the details of the past. Instead, he focuses on the response of the people. In other words, First John has a lot to say about “How we live because of what we know” and it starts in the first four verses of the book.
After a briefly sketching the coming of Christ, he goes on to say, “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).
Notice the message that John wants to proclaim; he wants them to hear about “fellowship”. Fellowship is not the word I would expect to see there. I would have guessed that he would want to write about “salvation” or “the gospel” or maybe even “the church”. However, John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wants them to hear about the relationship that we can experience with God and with one another.
That message is important, because we need to know that, no matter what, God
has not turned his back on us. We need to know that there is a place like the church where we can find encouragement and friendship. “Fellowship” is a big deal because it is at the heart of the entire Christian message.
John goes on to say that this message, when properly understood and lived, produces “joy”. Joy has to be our mark. Any doctrine or faith that produces grouchy, critical, unfriendly, self-righteous people is not “sound doctrine” (see Galatians 5:19-26). Another version of the Bible makes this verse even more clear with this translation; “Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!” (Verse 4, The Message). Have we found a faith that is so joyful that we cannot help but to share it? John did.
Unfortunately, religious teaching often wanders off the “main trail” and gets lost in the forest of speculation or bogged down in the swamp of religious disputes.
What would happen if we focused on the things that tie us together rather than the things that separate us?
What would happen if we all focused on a message that said, “Because of Jesus, our relationship with God can be restored, we can be part of his family and we can live more joyfully each day”?
I think someone may listen to a message like that.
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