1 John 1
When my wife and I found out that we
were going to have a baby our first instinct was to tell someone. We were so excited. O what joy!
How could we keep this good news to ourselves? We wanted others to share in our
happiness!
John speaks in similar terms in regard
to the Gospel – which literally means, “good news.” O what joy!
God has loved us and given His only begotten Son so that our sins are
forgiven and cleansed of all unrighteousness!
Of course we want other to share in our happiness!
In John’s language we want others to
have fellowship with us. The word he
used is koinonia. What a beautiful
word! Our desire is for all people to
have an association, a fellowship, a communion, a close relationship, with us
in faith.
Why do we desire this? So we can put another notch in our belt? So we can brag in our number of converts? Ridiculous!
We desire this koinonia with our
neighbors because we have koinonia with God, and we want them to have koinonia
with God too. Sin separates people from
God; removes them from His fellowship.
We want them in fellowship with us so they can enjoy His love and
blessings through the forgiveness Jesus won for us by His blood.
This experience of others coming into
fellowship with the Father through Jesus makes our joy complete. The King James Version translates says that
our joy may be “full.” Both “complete”
and “full” are good translations, but the image of “full” is helpful here. Similar to a cup that has a maximum volume,
we are filled to the maximum with joy when we see others entering and living in
the fellowship we have with God. It is a
good thing!
What is more, John says, this makes “our”
joy complete. This is no royal “we”! He is not referring to himself in the first
person plural like a monarch. Nor is he referring
only to the family of faith. This “our”
includes all who are part of the koinonia; everyone who has a place in this
communion. So it is not only folks who
are already believers who have this joy, but the new believer also gets this
joy in full. Truly this is a good thing
to desire for ourselves and others! A
good thing God gives!
Lord, make our joy complete. Bring us into fellowship with You. Amen.
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