1 João 1

1 João 1:3

Guzik writes "Most people understand that the important things in life are not things at all - they are the relationships we have. God has put a desire for relationship in every one of us, a desire He intended to be met with relationships with other people, but most of all, to be met by a relationship with Him. In this remarkable letter, John tells us the truth about relationships - and shows us how to have relationships that are real, for both now and eternity. The purpose of the letter: to bring you into relationship with God. You too may have (present tense - continually possess) fellowship (koinonia) with us - John desired that his readers might have fellowship with himself and the other apostles who had seen and conversed and had fellowship with Jesus and through Him with the Father. How could others have fellowship with the apostle John? After all they might never see or meet him personally. Clearly, what John is describing is only possible supernaturally. Only as we believe in Jesus Christ Who John historically verifies can we have fellowship with the aged apostle. Christ is the common bond. When we believe we are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to light (Col 1:13+), from the dominion of Satan to God (Acts 26:18+) and from our former position in Adam, to our new, eternal position in Christ (cf 1Co 15:22+). In covenant oneness with Christ, all believers share His life, because He is now our life (Col 3:4+) and in so doing we are united with each other in Him. Does that make sense? Anyone who does not believe in Jesus Christ cannot possibly have in common this new life in Him. Jerry Bridges (see his full note below) differentiates between objective fellowship which is eternal and unchanging and subjective fellowship which is temporal and changeable. He explains it this way -- This fellowship is both objective and subjective in nature. Objectively, it’s an unbreakable union with Christ. In this sense, every believer has fellowship with Him at all times. This objective aspect is undoubtedly what Paul was referring to in 1 Corinthians 1:9+. In addition, God intends for us to experience and enjoy this fellowship with Him as we consciously spend time in His presence. This subjective aspect of fellowship is likely what John had in mind in 1 John 1:3. And this is the type of fellowship we refer to as communion. (ED: Communion in secular dictionary = the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level.) Communion is the experience of our union (ED: "With the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ"). One illustration of this is the marriage relationship. When we marry someone, there’s an objective aspect to it—a legal union is formed the moment we say “I do.” That’s our status, even when we’re apart or feel emotionally distant. But subjectively, we can experience a close and warm relationship as we spend time enjoying one another. THOUGHT - Sadly we can experience a distant and cold relationship with our spouse! And sadly this can describe our communion with the Father and the Son! But as the old saying goes "If we don't feel close to God, guess who moved?" That's rhetorical of course! Our objective fellowship is unchanged and can never be broken, but our subjective fellowship can be changed and impaired as illustrated by the church at Ephesus to whom Jesus declared "But I have this against you, that you have left your first love." (Rev 2:4+) Are you as convicted as I am as I write these words? Hiebert comments on "you too" writing that "John’s proclamation to his readers has a clear intended result horizontally, “that you also may have fellowship with us”. The words “you also (too)” suggest that though the readers did not have the same personal experience with the incarnate Christ that the apostles had, yet they could experience the same spiritual fellowship with them." (Online An Exposition of 1 John 1:1-4 - excellent) Albert