Fellowship with God

Cortright Homepage Fellowship with the Father

1 John 1:3
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

The epistle of 1st John is written to born again believers regarding fellowship with the Father, with His son, Jesus Christ, and with other like minded believers in His family.

The Greek word translated "fellowship" is "koinonia." Although almost always translated as "fellowship," "koinonia" is also translated as "communion," "contribution," "distribution," and "communicate or communication." The basic meaning of the word koinonia is to "SHARE one with another."

You cannot have a family (Father and son) sharing relationship with God until you first have "sonship."

Romans 10:9-10
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

A person who confesses Jesus as Lord and believes God raised him from the dead receives holy spirit from God making him or her a child of God. This begins a family relationship and starts a person out in a perfect, full sharing, fellowship with God.

1 John 3:1-2a
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, . . .

As a son of God, a person is made righteous in Christ Jesus. Sonship is eternal. It is God's seed in you. You are His child and He is your Father forever. This wonderful family relationship is made available through the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ who bridged the spiritual gap between God and man.
Just as sonship is available through the work of Christ, continued fellowship with God requires the continuing work of Christ as he intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father.

1 John 1:4
And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Fellowship with God as our Father is the secret to spiritual happiness and power in our day-by-day walk. Fellowship makes the family life a happy one. Sustained fellowship depends upon renewing our minds to the truth of God's Word and walking in light of that Word. God's Word is God's Will. If you are going to have a full sharing relationship with the Father you must walk according to His Word.

When we fail to walk according to God's Word we are no longer in a full sharing relationship with the Father.

1 John 1:6-7
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Failure to walk in fellowship with our Father, God, is sin. It does not break the family relationship any more than if you as a son or daughter are not on good terms with your earthly father. If a son does not obey his father he is still his father's son; but the joy is taken out of the relationship. God's will is that our joy and fellowship with Him be FULL. 1st John is written that we might better sustain our relationship with God and share fully with Him at all times.

1 John 2:1
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
And he is the propitiation [payment] for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

When we fail to walk according to God's Word, Jesus Christ acts as our advocate to bring us back to a full sharing relationship with our Father. He is the payment for the sins of the whole world making sonship available. He is also the payment for our failure to walk in fellowship as sons of God. He pleads our case before the Father and brings us back into that sweet Father and son fellowship that God so desires.

1 John 3:20-22
     For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
     Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
     And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

When a son fails to walk in fellowship with God, he is not able to get prayers answered. God is not unwilling to answer His son's prayer, but the failed relationship on the part of the son leaves his confidence in God shaky and uncertain. When we do those things that are pleasing in our Father's sight with a heart locked in fellowship with God, we receive of him whatsoever we ask because we have confidence that we are walking according to His Word.

1 John 5:14-15
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us:
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

When the Word of God dwells richly in us, we have a full sharing relationship with the Father. As we believe and act according to God's Word, our joy is full and our lives are rich and abundant because our fellowship with the Father is strong. When our fellowship with God is strong we have confidence toward Him and receive whatsoever we ask because we know His will and we are living according to His Word.