The Fellowship Of The Trinity

This morning I felt like I should divert from the Gospel of John to his first letter. His introduction is similar to his Gospel, yet he focuses a bit more on his own relationship.

1 John 1:1-4 NIV
[1] "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched---this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

John is proclaiming a credible witness, as he personally met and lived with Jesus. He heard Him speak, saw Him do miracles, was touched by Him, and we so intimately in relationship with Jesus that he laid his head back into Jesus' chest at the last supper, as they reclined around the table. He is talking about someone that he knew, and knew well. In the midst of this personal experience is also the mystery of Jesus' eternal life, and role in the Godhead. John calls him the Word of Life, and so He is today.

[2] The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

John expounds on Jesus as the eternal life, which just continues to make it more complex and difficult to understand. He is the Word of Life. He is the Eternal Life. He is the Creator. His life is in us all. He was with the Father and appeared as a baby, and became man, and was revealed to John, his brother and all the people in that region at that time. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6), and John heard him say those words, and then demonstrate the reality of those words.

[3] 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. [4] We write this to make our joy complete."

It is John's goal to draw us into the fellowship, the relationship he shared with Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Greek word here translated fellowship is Koinonia and it is defined as:

1. fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse (not physical but social)
a. the share which one has in anything, participation
b. intercourse, fellowship, intimacy

As such, we should read the word fellowship in this instance as speaking of intimacy and belonging. This is much deeper than just a group or club to which we can belong. John lived in the place of constant relationship with the Lord. He experienced the reality of the filling of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the
Spirit, and the constant interaction and guidance of that relationship. He is inviting us all into this same relationship, this same fellowship. John recognized his own significance to the Lord (he referred to himself as the one the Lord loved) and invites us into that same experience. As a member of the Body of Christ, he knows that it is in the fulfillment of God's plans and purposes that his joy will be complete, and part of those plans and purposes are for us, and include us.

We are all invited to join the fellowship, to enter into relationship with God. This isn't the 'fellowship of the ring' but the fellowship of the Trinity. We are called to enter into and experience relationship with our creator. Why would we settle for anything less then intimacy and relationship with the one who is Life? Religion would constrain us to distant and impersonal experience of God, but He wants intimate, significant relationship. We are invited to step into this fellowship and get to know the members of the Trinity, as John and the disciples all experienced. Wow!