Fellowship - The Father's Heart There is a profound difference between knowing about someone and truly having fellowship with them. Countless people admire celebrities, athletes, business leaders, and other public figures from a distance, impressed by what they see or hear. Yet very few ever move beyond that outward perception to genuinely know the person behind the public image. Fellowship is far more than admiration or association. It is a shared participation in life through which people are joined together in purpose, partake of the same reality, and are transformed into a oneness of identity and function. It is through fellowship that individuals become something greater than themselves. Differences that might otherwise divide them are overcome by a shared mission, and independent lives are formed into a unified body. Just as a group of recruits is transformed into a disciplined brotherhood through shared purpose and life together, fellowship replaces individual limitations with the strength and unity that comes from hearts joined as one. This is the very purpose for which Jesus came. From the beginning, the Father’s passion in creating humanity was to have fellowship with His people—a living union with Him that would overcome every deficiency. When a person is drawn to Christ, turns from every lesser bond, and partakes of His life, they are no longer confined to their own strength. Through His shed blood, the barrier of sin is removed, and they are welcomed with confidence into the Father’s presence. There, His heart’s passion is fulfilled as we come to know Him, partake of His life, and are transformed into oneness with the Holy One. In His presence, the fullness of salvation is found. Notes Fellowship Approach Partake Become Fellowship - God’s heart for humanity Leviticus 26:11-13 (TLB) 11 And I will live among you and not despise you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 For I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you would be slaves no longer; I have broken your chains so that you can walk with dignity. Fellowship with sin disables salvation Isaiah 59:1-2 (TLB) 1 Listen now! The Lord isn’t too weak to save you. And he isn’t getting deaf! He can hear you when you call! 2 But the trouble is that your sins have cut you off from God. Because of sin he has turned his face away from you and will not listen anymore. God initiated fellowship - loving/partaking/becoming first Romans 5:8-10 (TLB) 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since by his blood he did all this for us as sinners, how much more will he do for us now that he has declared us not guilty? Now he will save us from all of God’s wrath to come. 10 And since, when we were his enemies, we were brought back to God by the death of his Son, what blessings he must have for us now that we are his friends and he is living within us! Fellowship with Christ disables fellowship with sin 2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP) 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. Fellowship trumps everything else Luke 10:40-42 (TLB) 40 But Martha was the jittery type and was worrying over the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Sir, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” 41 But the Lord said to her, “Martha, dear friend, you are so upset over all these details! 42 There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it—and I won’t take it away from her!” Life is in the beholding of Him in fellowship 1 John 1:1-4 (TPT) 1 We saw him with our very own eyes. We gazed upon him and heard him speak. Our hands actually touched him, the one who was from the beginning, the Living Expression of God. 2 This Life-Giver was made visible and we have seen him. We testify to this truth: the eternal Life-Giver lived face-to-face with the Father and has now dawned upon us. 3 So we proclaim to you what we have seen and heard about this Life-Giver so that we may share and enjoy this life together. For truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus, the Anointed One. 4 We are writing these things to you because we want to release to you our fullness of joy. Fellowship how to: Choosing His presence over the world Ingesting His Word Releasing His Spirit Becoming one with Him in heart, mind, spirit, and purpose Jesus’ passion in His fulfilled mission - fellowship John 17:14-26 (NLT) 14 I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do. 17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19 And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth. 20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. 22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! 25 “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26 I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.” One Thing Psalms 27:4 (TPT) 4 Here’s the one thing I crave from God, the one thing I seek above all else: I want the privilege of living with him every moment in his house, finding the sweet loveliness of his face, filled with awe, delighting in his glory and grace. I want to live my life so close to him that he takes pleasure in my every prayer. Overview: Fellowship occurs in an attraction and approach, participation, and becoming. God’s passion for us is to fellowship. The barrier to His passion is fellowship with sin. God initiated fellowship with us by coming to us in love, participating with our humanity, and becoming our sin. Fellowship with Christ disables fellowship with sin. Every blessing and fulfilled flow from fellowship with Him. It’s in the beholding of Him in fellowship that life in Him is known. Fellowship with Christ: Choosing Him over the world; Ingesting His Word; Releasing His Spirit; Becoming one with Him Jesus’ passionate prayer for us - completed fellowship. David and Paul’s clear discovery - only one thing matters - Fellowship. Prayer: Father, that You would desire to receive me and allow me to come close to You is more than I can comprehend. Amazed by this great love for me, I draw near to You in awe to partake of Your goodness, delight in Your presence, and become one with You in fellowship. I am so grateful for the complete removal of any sin barriers in my approach to You, and the confidence found in every advance to Your throne. Fill me now with the identity in Christ that disables every other association that would divert from You and cause me to emanate the reality of who You are in my transformation. With all that is in me, I return now Your passion for the fellowship that changes everything. In Jesus’ name, Amen Declarations: The God of creation, who is my Father, passionately desires for me to draw near to Him in fellowship. In my choice to draw near to Him in fellowship, there is the removal of fellowship with anything in the world and its sin diversions. In Christ, my Father has already initiated fellowship by coming to me in love, participating in my humanity, and becoming one with my sin and its consequences. Every good and perfect blessing in my new life in Him is found in the wonder of fellowship by beholding Him in His presence. As I choose Him over the world, ingest His Word, release His Spirit through my mouth, and become with Him in answer to Jesus’ passionate prayer, I experience fellowship with my Father. In making dwelling with my Lord my single pursuit, I enter in to all He’s prepared for me there with Him.