In Christ you have been brought to fullness
In the same way [as we die and are set free from sin] you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Jesus Christ.” (Romans 6:11)
This verse is using an implied term of fellowship. It is in our fellowship with Christ that we can obtain freedom from sin. It is not in working hard or perfection by our own efforts, but by reaching out to Jesus for help and depending on Him.
Romans 6:19 says, “At one time you surrendered yourselves entirely as slaves to impurity and wickedness for wicked purposes. In the same way you must now surrender yourselves entirely as slaves of righteousness for holy purposes.”
Notice that the term here is not working at getting it right, but surrendering ourselves to God. It is in walking with Him and looking to Him that we find the freedom to live into holiness. We hold the hand of the one who is holy and become like Him.
The word for fellowship in the Greek is koinonia. It means partnership, participation, sharing in, communion and contributing. 1 Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is to be trusted, the God who called you to have fellowship with His Son.”
It is our fellowship that brings freedom. As we align ourselves with the Lord, love and trust Him and surrender to His will rather than operate out of force, control or want, we find this place of freedom from sin. We partake of His goodness and share it with others.
The word actually implies becoming one with another. In 1 Corinthians 10:16, it speaks of drinking from the cup at the Lord’s Supper as having fellowship or koinonia with His blood. Freedom does not happen outside of relationship and this place of fellowship with God.
Interesting that this term is actually the one used to contribute to the poor as well. Romans 15:26 says that the people of Macedonia and Achaia freely decided to make a contribution [give koinonia] to help the poor among God’s people in Jerusalem.
A book I read many years ago was, “Can you drink from this cup?” It was about actually getting involved with those who are struggling in poverty rather than standing at a distance and throwing money at it. We know that some problems occur from trying to solve systemic problems from a distance. We see this with people giving money to people who stand on the corner and beg. They usually use it to get their drugs and alcohol when you give them money so it enables them.
At the same time, some of the greatest initiatives, like getting water to people in an area who do not have it, come from many people seeing the need and participating. But it is in one-to-one relationships that we often see lives transformed and changed.
I think of my own two youngest boys who were fostered and then adopted. If I would have just given money to a cause to support a place to live for them and food on the table, I would have missed the opportunity to be in their lives. It is in becoming their parents and caring for them that my life has been totally transformed. They cart my heart around everywhere they go and have brought such joy to my life that I would not have known otherwise.
When there is fellowship or koinonia, there is a whole different level in connecting and giving. Organizations like Compassion International organize in a way to have further relationship with people. Rather than just meeting the financial need, there is opportunity to learn and grow from each other, to encourage each other and instill hope in the lives of others.
Not that just giving to meet people’s needs is bad. It has done a huge amount of good for people to join in various causes or to give to someone in their times of need. James tells us if we see someone cold, don’t just go talk to them but meet them with what they need.
But in fellowship, transformation occurs. One of the greatest gifts we can give others is our time, hearts and attention. Fellowship means having a level of contact and intimacy. It means making a difference in their lives by participating in it with them. And in fellowship with Christ, we move away from darkness and into greater and greater light. What in common has light with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14)
It is out of this relationship with Jesus that we are able to have a loving relationship with others. I think about this with LEAP (Leaders Excelling and Advancing Program) that I initiated at my work with the approval and input of our President. I am running a yearlong leadership development program to help high potential employees step into higher levels of leadership. The fellowship with our key leaders and each other has been core to their growth and transformation as part of the program.
All that to say that fellowship is important not only on an upward level, like a higher-level leader and mentor, but also on a peer to peer and in relationships where we are pouring out to people who are underneath and learning from us. With the early church being formed, we see that rich fellowship was occurring during the outpouring as signs, wonders and miracles were happening.
In the book of Esther, we see Mordecai adopting his cousin when her parents died and raising her. He had a huge impact on her life and encouraged her right at the moment she needed it to be brave and petition the king for the lives of the Jews. Esther, impacted the king at the time and changed the fate of the dreadful situation that was upon them.
We know from Malachi 4:5-6 that being in Jesus, there is a fellowship not only with Him but with others. It says, “ See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”
And in Luke 1:14-17 it says that it was the power of the Holy Spirit doing this work in preparation for Jesus coming. It says, “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
We have fellowship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:9 tells us, “But you do not live as your human nature tells you to; instead, you live as the Spirit tells you to—if, in fact, God’s Spirit lives in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.”
We are in Jesus as He is in the Father though the Holy Spirit. Not only do we get to have rich fellowship with the Holy Spirit who is so amazing in Himself, He brings in union with Christ for the purpose of fellowship with Him.
Romans 8:1-2 says, “There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit, which brings us life in union with Christ Jesus, has set me free from the law of sin and death.”
His influence is huge in our lives to help us move outwards towards others. If it goes the opposite direction with people influencing us and then we try to move the hand of God, it is a disaster. It was influence of Eve in the garden who got Adam to eat of the apple. We see him going along with what was not right because of influence. Romans 5:12 says, “Sin came into the world through one man, and his sin brought death with it. As a result, death has spread to the whole human race because everyone has sinned.”
This goes to show that we need to be connected with Jesus and His Spirit and discerning or influence of others could also send us in the wrong direction. We need to not be passive and going along with others in a trusting manner but first connected with Jesus and understanding His will.
Passivity is in opposition to the Spirit and leads to compromise. We go along with the world’s way of seeing things and compromise rather than bring forth what is good and right. The Kingdom of God suffers violence (is being opposed at every turn) and the violent (determined) take it by force. We have to step forward and be determined in taking the ground.
Through our union with the Lord, all our relationships are put in right order. We serve others out of love for Jesus. We encourage others in the ways of the Lord because of the well of love deep inside us. We “Do not desire what belongs to someone else” (Romans 7:7) because we have the overflowing Spirit that is meeting our every need. He gives us an unction for the good of others in place of want.
We serve from a different place, it is not to get ahead but to exalt Christ in all that we do. We can see this with the Israelites in building the temple – all of it was done in excellence. Only their best was given. It says in Nehemiah 12:42 that, “The singers, led by Jezrahiah, sang at the top of their voices” as many sacrifices were offered and the people were filled with joy. It goes on to say in Nehemiah 12:43 that as the celebrated, the noise they made could be heard for miles.
In fellowship with the Holy Spirit and Christ, we know who to be in fellowship with and who not to fellowship with. Paul says in Ephesian 5:10-12 says, “Test and prove what pleases the Lord. Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention.”
And Proverbs 1:10 says, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them.” Proverbs 28:4 says, “Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them. what the disobedient do in secret.”
We see here that discernment is to be used and then influence of others. With Nehemiah, there were those like Sanballat, who were trying to manipulate him to get him to stop building. They wanted to meet with him and he refused. He used discernment and kept doing what God called him to.
He told the people wo were being threatened, “Don’t be afraid of our enemies. Remember how great and terrifying the Lord is, and fight for your relatives, your children, your wives, and your homes.” (Nehemiah 5:14)
As our enemy is not flesh and blood but spiritual forces behind it, are we remembering that the Lord is great and fights with us. Are we fighting for our relatives, children, spouses and homes? We need to be like Nehemiah’s team that held a sword in one hand to fight and build with the other. The enemy goes around like a prowling lion looking for who he might devour.
During the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the enemy came in every direction he could. He used people to discourage them, to threaten them and to trick them. Messengers even came to try to talk them out of keeping moving forward.
When he couldn’t stop them directly, he drew away those he could with sin, selfishness and lust. Many of the leaders married foreign wives or took their brothers as slaves as they were giving their all into building. Discouragement and fear were big in trying to get people off course.
What ways are voices and threats keeping you back from building what God has put in your heart? What distractions are keeping you away from building? How are you being influenced outside of God? You have been called to such a time as this with purpose. What influences keep you back from that work?
Interesting that when they heard the Word of God, they began to close themselves off from the darkness around them. They closed out the Ammonites and Moabites as they were not permitted to join the people of God. And they also closed themselves off from all foreigners.
This seems to be a turning point for them. Right after this, they had tons of compromises in their lives. They let Tobiah stay in the storeroom meant for offerings as a political favor. They stopped paying the musicians and other Levites and they went back to their farms, and they also started dishonoring the Sabbath conducting business.
We know that it is actually a Moabites woman (Ruth) who is in the lineage of Jesus. While we are not to partake in the darkness of the world around us, when we cut ourselves off from those who are the very people who need God, I would like to suggest that it leads us off course. We lose passion and start going through the motions. In this, we lose discernment. As the folks at a leadership meeting at my church noted a few weeks ago, reaching the lost is exactly what is going to keep us filled and on course.
Comments