How many of us truly understand the idea and importance of family? Something about the idea of family should bring security, love, pride, and joy to our hearts. Family is the center of our earthly worlds and the one domain where we actually have the power to build strong bonds. We honestly believe we can count on our own flesh and blood to be there with us when life goes sour and hope they will be able to celebrate momentous occasions in our lives together. We want those we love to be there when our children are born and when we got married. We want others to celebrate our graduation from high school, college, and even graduate studies. Our hearts swell with pride and joy as we see those we love succeed in life. Yet, not everyone has that kind of family. Some of us have family who choose to ignore or even hate us for different reasons. It is a sad day when a mother and father cannot love their own child.
My family is different than many of yours. My parents hate my work and hate my relationship with Christ. As long as I never say anything, they will tolerate it but I can’t keep quiet about Christ. Since I became a Christian back around 2000, I have had to live with the fact that I was no longer connected with my physical, earthly family like I had been. Yes, we still watch out for each other and my siblings are much more apt to communicate with my wife and me. For instance, my parents refused to go to my baccalaureate because it was a religious service. This devastated me and I didn’t really know how to deal with it. I left for Bible College and didn’t receive anything in the way of letters from my parents and yet one of the ladies of the church continues to send me letters and gifts to this day. I realized that I had a new family and had no need for the former. Yes, I am still biologically related to my siblings but now I have hundreds and thousands of people I can call brother and sister and mother and father.
There is a name for that special relationship Christians have with other Christians; it is called fellowship. Fellowship is a gift given by God for His own children to be able to love and care for each other. Fellowship is one of the four priorities of the early Christians. Acts 2:42 records that the earliest Christians performed four different activities when they met to worship; “they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” Fellowship was held in extremely high regard and one of the four most important activities a Christian could do at that time. Let me suggest that we too could use to learn about true fellowship. One book in the New Testament could teach us a great deal about the idea of Christian family and fellowship. Please turn to the book of 1 John 1:1-4. Today we will cover the introduction to the book of 1 John and learn three foundational truths about fellowship. We can have deeper fellowship thru Christ.
Fellowship: what is it?
The word fellowship comes from the Greek word koinonia. This word means a commonality or common bond. The word carries the meaning of sharing life. You might think of this like the way a man and woman share their lives until death do they part. Each day they spend together, they learn and grow. They change their ways to help their spouse and care for each other, especially in the dark times of illness or loss of family. This sharing of life is the life blood of the church and the common bond of all Christians. If a church is missing this sharing of life, the church will die. According to the passage in Acts, the development of these deep relationships is almost as important as learning the scriptures. Learning to give and take, to accept others faults and love them anyway, to enjoy each others company, finding acceptance, finding love, having a family who loves you for who you are and not for how much money you can make, all belong to the Christian family you should have in God’s Church.
TRANS: Fellowship builds families in Christ but there are some requirements that must be met to have fellowship. Just like a sturdy house has a strong foundation, so a strong Christian fellowship has to have a sturdy foundation. The introduction for the book of 1 John outlines three foundational principles we must follow to have fellowship. The foundation for the book is also the foundation of our Christian family.
Foundational Truth #1: Christ came as a real being and brought eternal life (v. 1-2)
“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life – and the life was manifest, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the father and was manifest to us…”
The very first foundational truth is found in the first two verses of the book. John is combating the false doctrine of incipient Gnosticism which says Jesus wasn’t a real human being. Here John rebukes those false ideas by reminding the Christians he was writing to that he had seen Jesus. Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He isn’t the creation. He is the creator. John had heard Christ speak right in front of him. John had seen and even touched Christ. Many of His audience at the time he wrote this book would not have been alive when Christ walked the earth. It had been 60 years since the death of Christ and his resurrection. They had to rely on the testimony of John and the apostle’s letters so that they could believe in Christ. Jesus is part of the Godhead; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Christ was there when the world was built; he came to earth in the form of mankind and was seen and touched. Mary held him in her arms when he was a child. According to the testimony of John, Christ was a real living being that stood and spoke truth right in front of them. Christ not only came as a human being but brought with Him the hope of eternal life. Christ was “with the father” in heaven and then was sent down here to live as a man so that we would have a chance at eternal life.
“She was only a tiny girl, unused to traveling, and it happened that in the course of the day, her train crossed two branches of a river and several wide streams. The water awakened doubts and fears in the child. She did not understand how it could be safe to cross. As they drew near the river, however, she saw a bridge across a body of water. Two or three times the same thing happened: finally, the child leaned back and relaxed. "Somebody has put bridges for us all the way!" she sighed with relief.” - unknown
He bridged an eternal gap we have been scrambling at for the entire existence of mankind. Christ came and died to forgive all the sin in your life and to give you a completely new life. He came to show you that he loves you more than your parents ever could have. He came and died. We have great respect for a soldier who will jump on a grenade to save the men in his foxhole. What about the man who endured hours of torture and agony to die on a cross with everyone who stood beside him gone? He stood abandoned and alone and yet continued when he could have quit. That man is Jesus Christ and he died for your salvation. The first truth we need to keep in mind is that Christ is the center and origin of all fellowship. God the father sent His only son to die so that you and I would have a daddy and a brother forever!
Foundational Truth #2: Christ must be proclaimed to have fellowship (v. 3)
“… What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
Everything John had seen and heard, he told these Christian men and women. Why? So that they could also see and find God and become part of His family, so that everyone could have a loving and caring father and brothers and sisters, so that you could become part of the family of God. John continues by making the point that his fellowship is first with the Father and the Son of God. Every where you look in the Bible, God must come first and then mankind. Yet, although God is first, the second half of the equation must be there or we have failed being a Christian family. Paul emphasizes the importance of proclaiming the truth of Christ in Romans 10. “… if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have no believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” How will any one know about the family of Christ unless they are told…?
Just as knowing Christ holds the most important place in becoming a Christian, we must also have heard ourselves about the love and joy of Christ. Since we have heard and accepted Christ, so others must hear and accept Christ so that they too can become a part of the fellowship of God. A major part of having fellowship with Christ and connecting to a Christian family is our willingness to tell others and bring them home to family too. I was pretty lost back then when I first became a baby Christian. Most people didn’t want to come near me because I was actually quite volatile as I was changing from living the way I had to the way I needed to be. Yet, one girl had the courage to talk to me and tell me about Jesus. She had the courage to invite me to church knowing full well that I hated the church at that point and time. If she hadn’t told me about Christ I would still be lost and would still have no family. I would have never gone to church and would have never met Sandy Basham and Kenneth Taylor. I wouldn’t have a spiritual mom who loves me like her own child and a spiritual father who guided me even into the ministry. I want you to understand how important sharing your faith is because if Janice hadn’t, I wouldn’t be your minister today. Now, I must pass the message on so that someone else might have a chance at becoming a member of the family; so that I can love them as a brother or sister in Christ and not just as a person and so that I can share my life and love of Christ with them. Don’t keep Christ to yourself because if you don’t proclaim Him, you will have no family or fellowship with Christ. If you don’t have fellowship with Christ, you don’t have a Christian family.
Foundational Truth #3: True joy can only be found in the Family of God (v. 4)
“These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.”
John finishes the introduction to his letter by letting them know that he will find great joy in seeing them come and follow Christ. He will feel great joy knowing that he will have more brothers and sisters to share the love of Christ with. He finds great joy in knowing that he is not alone in His love for the Savior. John would find no greater joy than seeing others come and join Him in fellowship. His entire purpose for writing was to help people find the truth and live by it. He wants nothing more because even the angels rejoice when even one person accepts Christ. When someone becomes a Christian, they also become a member of God’s family. Now that they have become a member of God’s family, they are entitled to all the benefits and responsibilities of living in that family.
If your life has been lacking luster or if you have been feeling droll, bored, or otherwise unhappy with your church experience, try checking out your relationship with Christ. John himself says that he finds great happiness and unending pleasure in seeing someone come to Christ. We will have a baptism today. Check your heart and see how you feel about seeing it happen. Does seeing someone get their life right make your heart jump with joy? Then your heart is probably in the right place. However, if you feel anything else including indifference, apathy, jealousy, anger, etc. then you had better check your own relationship and get right with Jesus Christ.
The Truth of the Matter: Let me say it bluntly!
If you are feeling left out of your church family, maybe you have been neglecting the truths of fellowship that John has laid down. Look at the first word of every truth; what are the first six letters they all started with? Christ is the correct answer. John’s entire point of writing this introduction to his letter is to re-emphasize the incredible importance of our relationship with Christ. Maybe you feel as though you have been left out because you haven’t been asked to do a task. Maybe you feel as though not enough people at church are showing you enough concern. Maybe you feel as though if you leave and come back, everyone should shower you with attention. Maybe you plan on leaving because no one notices you. Maybe you need to get your act in gear and work on your spiritual life. Christianity is about “CHRIST” not you. The church is not a social club; it is a place of worship.
Real fellowship isn’t getting together, eating a crumpet, and talking. Fellowship goes so much deeper and richer than that. Our relationship with God determines our relationships with others. Yes, you can have a shallow, semi-verbal relationship with every single person in this room. It’s like running a four cylinder off of only three cylinders when you ignore your spiritual life. You have mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual compartments in your lives. If you ditch one part of those, you are running on only the other three and that just doesn’t work. We have this absent minded tendency to drop our spiritual life and ignore our relationship with God and then wonder why we are at odds with others in the congregation. No wonder! Fellowship is about sharing our lives with each other. There is more to life if only we will cling to Christ! I guarantee that if you put Christ first in your life you will find new levels of connection, trust, and friendship that you never knew before. You cannot share your life if your spiritual life is non-existent. Real fellowship must start with our relationship with Christ. Once we have a relationship with Christ, we can fellowship with His family.
You cannot even start unless you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. If you are looking to find the missing piece in your life, here it is. Jesus Christ died for your sins and failures so that he could give you the choice of having eternal life in heaven. God wants to wipe your slate clean and let you start over as His child. He wants to clean up your life and bring you into a church family that will love and care for you. For those of you who do know Christ, and yet seem to not feel like you fit, I suggest that you check your relationship with Jesus first. For those who are strong in Christ and the church, let me tell you something; you are responsible for every single life in this church. Just as John wrote to proclaim the word so that others would be able to fellowship, you too must help others fellowship. You are here to help others find Christ and find their home in this church. Just as a parent is responsible for all lives in their house you are responsible for the lives of the people of this church. Real fellowship can only be found in Christ.
