14.2 A Most Intimate Fellowship
(Audio coming soon)
Consider Jesus’ words. – That all might be one, as You, Father, are inside of Me, and I inside of You, that they also might be inside of Us… And the glory which You have given Me, I have given them, that they might be one as We are one; I inside of them, and You inside of Me, that they might be perfected, brought to full completion inside of one… (John 17:20-23). And then John’s words. – That you also might have fellowship [koinonia] with us, and truly our fellowship is with and among the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3).
We can infer from these words that Jesus is inviting us into the very fellowship taking place between the Father and the Son. And this fellowship can take place only on the inside of us, where Jesus dwells – inside of our hearts.
A Blood Covenant. The glory which You have given Me, I have given them. Jesus gives to me the same glory that God gave to Jesus. – What on earth can this mean?
Fellowship is the intimate side of reciprocity. Fellowship is something that happens only between and among equals. A servant does not fellowship with his master; a king does not fellowship with a slave. It is the nature of a Blood Covenant to make both parties to that Covenant equal in standing and heart. The Blood of Jesus makes me an equal with God-All Carrying in Fellowship.
This lesson is about that personal and intimate relationship of communication between God the Father and me taking place on the inside of me, inside my heart.
Four Concepts. And so we have four concepts – belonging, glory, identity, and reciprocity. I want to place this dynamic and continuous fellowship going on inside of me between Father and me into the meaning of each one of these terms. In the process, I hope that we can see a clearer understanding of just what fellowship is.
As part of our attempts to define the human, we must reach for and find that one central thing that makes us human even when everything else might be stripped away. Rene Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.” Descartes was close, but not close enough.
– I am; therefore I fellowship with Father. –
Being and Acting. There are two states of being, always together, yes, but almost opposite in their composition. The first state is static or stasis and the second is dynamic or dynamism. This is also the difference between linking verbs and action verbs – I am and I do.
I AM – stasis, rest, absolute. I fellowship – dynamic, active, ongoing. The I AM always comes first; the I do comes out from the I Am. Belonging is I am – the glory of fellowship is I do. Identity, coming out from glory, is I am – the reciprocity of fellowship is I do. Here is the absolute statement of belonging, the I AM part of my eternal existence – Father at Home in my heart.
Glory as Dynamic Action. Jesus said that glory is “given.” Glory, then, is action, dynamic action.
Consider the implications of Jesus’ words. Everything God is and does towards Jesus (in this case, glory), Jesus then turns and is and does that same thing towards us. This is His in-between role forever. Nonetheless, it is His delight and purpose to perform that role in the background, one might say. Jesus wants us to relate directly with Father. Thus we can say, “God gives His glory to me.”
And so, “Father at home in my heart” is my state of existence, my “I am.” And glory is the dynamic action taking place inside of me and coming out from that BELONGING.
Defining Glory. What is glory? Glory is the celebration of a job well done, the honor and renown given to one who is worthy of praise.
In Roman times, the greatest demonstration of celebrated glory was called the triumphus. Thus triumph and glory are basically the same thing. This is why 2 Corinthians 2:14 must stand as one of the ruling verses of the Bible. God always leads us in the celebration of a job well done. God always gives to us the glory belonging to Jesus. Yet we understand that this is all taking place on the inside of us and coming out from “Father at home in my heart.”
What I Am. If my life is “victory over death” life, if I am made from the life that has vanquished all death, then the celebration of what I am is the first part of my fellowship with this Mighty Being who belongs inside of my heart sharing my life with me. I fellowship with God as one who is already raised from the dead and alive forevermore, even while I rejoice in my present outward appearance. The actual moment of life swallowing up death must come out only from this very fellowship.
There are aspects of life in which I continue in service to God, but not fellowship. In fellowship I am the Father’s equal, and I relate with Him as a favored companion. In me, God belongs.
Given Becomes Mine. The implications of 2 Corinthians 2:14 are staggering, and it is of great importance that we link being led always in triumph with the rock solid confidence upon which we stand. The glory of absolute achievement out from which I fellowship with Father is neither earned nor borrowed. It is given. And as given, it is mine. Yet as I receive glory as my own, so I give glory in return.
Most Christian worship is a subservient worship, and as such, it is, as David said, an entrance into the presence of God. Yet this fellowship God would enjoy with us is not subservient, but rather a reciprocal honor and regard. I honor God out from and because God first honors me.
An Identity out from Death. If the Victory of Jesus is the essence and fabric of my humanity, and if, by that Victory, I am honored by the Father with the same honor given to Jesus, how, then does such a state of existence and such dynamic honor affect my identity? – And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead, and He placed His right hand upon me, saying, “Do not fear; I am the first and the last; and the living One, and I was dead, behold I am living into the seasons of the ages, and I possess the keys of death and of hades” (Revelation 1:17-18).
This is not an honor placed upon arrogant humanity, clambering for achievement and conniving for place and power. This is a life OUT FROM DEATH and is thus PURE.
Sharing Christ with God. I possess the keys of death and of hades. I have the authority to unlock and open death and to draw those caught in death all the way out into life. I have the authority to unlock and open hades and to draw those caught in hades all the way out into glory.
Yet I possess this authority in complete and familiar companionship with the Father inside of me; He and I share Christ together. And Father and I together rely entirely upon our Devoted Spirit to accomplish all we intend. This is a companionship, a familiarity, a togetherness, that is unmatched, and never before known.
God Belongs. One who says, “I don’t deserve God’s love,” is one who does not believe in Jesus just as much as the one who tries to “earn” love. This is where stasis comes in – it just is, and there is no other possibility or thought. God BELONGS inside of me, and I BELONG inside of God.
The dynamic glory, then, of this fellowship with Father changes my identity, the way I think about myself, my story of self. Because God made us weak and foolish, this change comes slowly, which is a good thing. Rapid change is always suspect. I find the grace of God so good towards me as I see Him build every aspect of my knowledge of Him bit by bit on sure and certain foundations. And I participate with Him in that knowing.
Practicing Identity. As James said, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” [Be present with God and He will be present with you.] (James 4:8).
I deliberately practice the identity, the thinking about myself, that says, “Father with me, sharing my life with me – for the sake of others.” As I do that, Father Himself comes closer into my knowing, and I see His grace, both in favor and in jealousy, one might say, that is, the specific actions of God in my life that separate me from any other devotion. The human “need” to control comes from other devotions. As I am devoted to Father alone, all I see is favor and abundance surrounding me in every step forward. This also is my identity.
Adding Devotion. My life is all that is Jesus given fully and irrevocably to me. My place is inside of Father and Father inside of me. Devotion is my response to place. My thinking, then, is “Father with me for the sake of others.” My seeing is favor and abundance surrounding my every step.
I do believe that the five aspects of human identity have just showed themselves in the words flowing onto the page. Life – place – devotion – thinking – seeing.
Identity begins with what I am and finishes with how I see. And the center of identity is devotion, or, as Jesus said, “What do you want?” And as the Father says, “Be devoted to Me, for I am devoted to you.”
From Rest to Action to Rest to Action. God as “I Am” becomes God as dynamic devotion towards me. God as dynamic devotion becomes my place of belonging, my “I am.” My place of belonging becomes the dynamic action of glory given to me. – I am part of Christ because I am confident that I am part of Christ (Hebrews 3:6 & 14). Then, the dynamic action of glory found in confidence becomes my human identity. And my human identity, utterly at rest inside of God, becomes the dynamic action of a continuous and most intimate fellowship.
In Symmorphy V: Life, I asked the question, “What is my fellowship with Father?” Two statements of faith came out from that question, but slowly over time. – Father at Home in my heart – and – My heart is the entrance of God.
Engage with God. Yet I am no more ready to hammer out an explanation of “What is my fellowship with Father?” now than I was when I first wrote it. You see, this is a most intimate fellowship, something that can be known only in the pathway I just laid out.
And from the beginning of these Symmorphy texts, I have contended with all who read – YOU engage directly with God.
The action of fellowship is found entirely inside of the action of devotion. As I ponder these things, it is devotion that holds my present attention. What is devotion? What is a God so devoted to me that He will have my full devotion to Him in return?
A Still Small Voice. Much of the fellowship I enjoy with Father through Jesus takes place inside the ongoing meditation of my own heart. Nonetheless, from age 19 on, a still small voice has come to me, not often, but regularly through the years, beginning in December of 1975 with the simple words, “My son.” This voice has come completely separate from my thinking in that moment.
I have never thought about it before this moment, but never once from then until now has it ever entered my mind that that voice could be anything other than God speaking directly to me. In teaching “After My Own Heart,” I realized that it has been the same voice that came to Abraham.
The Fierceness of Devotion. Hearing such a voice over the years, from “What are you doing to My word” to “Give my people hope,” from “Will you surrender all that you are to Me right now” to “Because you have honored My word, I will honor you,” does not make me special, but it does make me devoted.
Yet the fierce grip of the determination of God upon my life, blocking my way with thorns, stripping away from me all other devotions, has also been a necessary help. Don’t get me wrong. Through all these years I have cried against and fought with God incessantly. Yet the thing is, it is God with whom I have struggled; struggling with “doubt” is a strange and unfamiliar thing to me. Devotion is more fierce than anything in created realms.
The Place of Fellowship. My determination towards God comes only out from years of experiencing His incredibly fierce determination towards me. And God’s fierce determination towards me, though often painful, is the most comforting thing I have ever known. It is the cause of my confidence towards every Word God speaks.
It is inside of this place of active devotion, then, that I fellowship with Father in that same confidence.
Fellowship with Father in intimate closeness does not remain isolated, however. Inside of that fellowship the passion of God and His determined purpose rules. That purpose is that all would know Him. We share Hheart with God – for the sake of others.