{"id":830,"date":"2009-07-24T04:01:39","date_gmt":"2009-07-24T04:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2009\/07\/intimate-fellowship-with-god-and-gods-people-cont.html"},"modified":"2009-07-24T04:01:39","modified_gmt":"2009-07-24T04:01:39","slug":"intimate-fellowship-with-god-and-gods-people-cont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/07\/intimate-fellowship-with-god-and-gods-people-cont.html","title":{"rendered":"Intimate Fellowship with God and God\u2019s People (cont)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 7 of series: What is the Christian Life?
\n<\/em>Permalink for this post<\/a> \/ Permalink for this series<\/a>
\nIn my last post, I showed how 1 John connects fellowship with God and fellowship with people in such a way that they are virtually inseparable. Although this notion might be surprising to some of us who have drunk deeply from the well of American individualism, in fact what we read in 1 John isn\u2019t particularly new.
\nConsider the vast sweep of biblical revelation. When God created a solitary man, someone able to have a personal relationship with God, God said that it was not good for the man to be alone. So God formed a partner for the man, namely a wo-man (Gen 2). Later, God promised to bless Abraham not all by his lonesome, but by making him the father of a nation and by blessing all the families of the earth through him (Gen 12). God set his people free from Egypt, not so that each Israelite might please God individually, but so that the congregation of the Israelites would be a “holy nation” together (Exod 19:6). God views personal obedience as an aspect of corporate holiness.
\nTurning to the New Testament, we see that Jesus, in the moments before his death, prayed for those who would one day believe in him, that we might be “perfected into one,” even as he was one with his heavenly Father (John 17:22-23). Our Savior died on the cross for our personal salvation, to be sure, and also so that he might create one new humanity between formerly divided peoples (Eph 2). God’s ultimate plan is to “bring everything together under the authority of Christ \u2013 everything in heaven and on earth” (Eph 1:10). Someday we will be united with all of God’s people, indeed, with all of creation. In New Testament visions of heaven, you will not end up sitting on your on private cloud playing a harp (as if this picture has any appeal). Rather, these visions show<\/p>\n

a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. . . . And they were shouting with a mighty shout, \u201cSalvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb!\u201d (Rev 7:9-10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Someday we will join a vast heavenly choir, worshipping God in a way that is intensely personal and inescapably corporate. That’s not all we will do in heaven, I expect. But whatever we do, it won’t involve an eternity of playing spiritual solitaire. In fact, C. S. Lewis sees isolation from other people as an essential characteristic of hell, not heaven. (C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce<\/em> (New York: Touchstone, 1996<\/a>).
\nThus, when John, in his first letter, links fellowship with God to fellowship among God’s people, he stands squarely within the long line of biblical revelation. When we are adopted by our Heavenly Father, we also join a great extended family.
\nOne of the highlights of my life occurred when I was three and a half years old. The spring afternoon was bright and warm as my parents drove across town to finish a process that had taken many long months. It had taken forever, from my childish perspective. When we finally arrived at our destination, I hugged a special teddy bear in one hand, while nervously grabbing my mother’s fingers in the other. After walking down a long corridor, we stopped at a room. It was sparsely furnished, with a plain wooden crib in the corner. In that crib was a three-month old baby, my parents\u2019 newly adopted son, Gary. My heart raced as I peered at him for the very first time. Dangling the teddy bear before his giant blue eyes, I swelled with pride when Gary smiled at me. This was not just my parents\u2019 son. He was my brother!
\nOnce we shared common parents, Gary and I became part of the same family. He couldn’t be their son without also being my brother. This remained true throughout our lives, in the good times and the bad times, whether we liked it or not. I was still Gary’s brother four years after his adoption when I ditched him in the hills above our home and he was lost for hours. Gary was still my brother when he clobbered me on the head with the sharp claw of a hammer, not in retaliation for his being ditched or anything like that, but just because he was curious to see what would happen to my head. (It bled profusely, and Gary ran into the house crying because he hadn\u2019t intended to hurt me.) Gary and I were joyfully brothers when we stood together in each other’s weddings, or shared the wonder of holding each other’s babies only moments after they were born. I suppose that we could live without relationship together, but our lives would be impoverished and incomplete as a result.
\nThrough the best of times and the worst of times, fellowship with our Heavenly Father initiates fellowship with his other children. Eternal life is personal life and shared life. Therefore, John seeks to have intimate fellowship with his spiritual children as they share intimate fellowship together with the living God.
\nIn my next post in this series I\u2019ll begin to consider how intimate fellowship impacts our whole life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 7 of series: What is the Christian Life? Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series In my last post, I showed how 1 John connects fellowship with God and fellowship with people in such a way that they are virtually inseparable. Although this notion might be surprising to some of us who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-life"],"yoast_head":"\nIntimate Fellowship with God and God\u2019s People (cont) - Mark D. 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Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}