Fellowship is an Invitation
During my commissioning process for my pastoral role at a retreat, alongside a few pastors being commissioned, we had multiple discussions. One of the pastors being commissioned, who is now serving in British Columbia but originally from Wales, England, was very passionate about the importance of fellowship. Knowing that we both shared a passion for expounding Scripture verse by verse, he suggested that I consider starting a series in the church on Fellowship from the First Epistle of John. He also mentioned that he had once preached at Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ church in Wales. I listened attentively but did not give him a definite response about whether I would preach from the First Epistle of John.
(I also want to highlight that reading the expository work on Ephesians by Martyn Lloyd-Jones is an incredible theological tool. It equips one with a rich understanding of Ephesians and is a book that every preacher should study carefully and communicate faithfully from the pulpits).
After some weeks, while praying at the church on one of our Friday nights, I was struggling in my spirit, seeking God for guidance on how to lead the church. I spent an hour in prayer, much of it asking the Lord to fill the church with a large number of people. We all desire that, don’t we? Absolutely, there is nothing wrong in seeing masses being saved, convicted of their sins, and becoming committed followers of Christ. Yet, I was not sensing direction from God.
After a while, I paused and gently pursued the Lord with a sincere desire to hear His voice, regardless of what I was thinking. Suddenly, a gentle, inaudible voice came to me with simple words: “It’s Love.” This immediately reminded me of my conversation with the other pastor, who had repeatedly highlighted the need for fellowship with one another. I felt deeply convicted about love and realized that I needed to study the First Epistle of John.
When I read First Epistles of John 1: 1–10 NKJV, I was filled with joy. The way the Apostle John beautifully presents the glorious truth of God’s invitation to have fellowship with the living Triune God, and with one another, was deeply moving and deeply convicting about love.
Now the purpose of this blog is to look into the text 1 John 1:3 ESV to build our understanding of fellowship. So, let us expound on the important things first about where does the idea comes from about the fellowship and then we will look if this is a command (something to implement anywhere) or more of an invite.
“that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”
The Nature of God: The fellowship begins not with us humans but from eternity. Theologically, it is right to confess in our Christian faith that the essence of God is love precisely because of His Triune reality. He is inherently relational. We see this evidence from the bible, “let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26, ESV). Now, this text is not something new to discuss, as many have attempted and provided their interpretations of it. Not all share the same perspective, but I lean towards those who see this text in the light of God reflecting on His Triune nature, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The plural pronoun is used to discuss the imago Dei with the main concern of highlighting the importance and invitation to fellowship.
The text in Genesis 1:26 ESV implies a Trinitarian truth, pointing towards the reality of a relational God who communicated within the Godhead (the Father, the Son, and the Spirit). When I read this verse, it led me to other Scriptures highlighted by the Apostles in the New Testament. One of them is the proclamation of Jesus’ supremacy and His involvement in creation: “In Him all things consist, and all things were created by Him” (Col 1:16 ESV). This is a profound biblical truth that God the Son was involved in the creation plan, and this helps us see that in Genesis 1:26, the referent of “let us” is the Godhead, not an angelic council. Would God ever need an angelic council? The communication is between the three, pointing toward the importance of the fellowship that has existed from eternity.
Fellowship is Invite: Now, let’s deal with the question if the text is leading us to seeing fellowship as a command or an invite.
