Our Love Relationship with Christ Jesus.
1Jo 1:1 That which
was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was
manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that
eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
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.
We all know the word
fellowship means, fellowship is participation, and it is a partnership. The
Father and the Son take us into a partnership with them. We are partakers of
his divine nature. For us to understand the fullness of the above scriptures we
need to understand a little history. Apostle is writing to the Christians and
in those days, Christians were very poor. To be a Christian is to deny the
world and follow Christ.
Mt 16:24 Then said
Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me.
When you follow Jesus
it is to follow Gods way and not our way, it is to do Gods will and not our
will, it is to be obedient to the word of God. This has to do leaving the
pleasures of sins in this world, not having intimate fellowship with worldly
friends anymore, you can have worldly friends or else we cannot witness, we
should not copy their ways and conform to their lifestyle or have pleasure in
their sins as we have a new life in Christ Jesus.
Ro 12:2 And be not
conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold,
all things are become new.
1Co 2:12 Now we have
received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we
might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Now when you become a
different person than the world, they will notice you and they will mock at
you, make jokes at you, ridicule at you, give a hard time and persecute you.
The world would like you to become like them.
Joh 15:18 If the
world hates you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:19 If ye were
of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
The bottom reason for
the world to hate is that Satan is called the god of this world.
2Co 4:4 In whom the god
of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them.
Mt 4:8 Again, the
devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the
kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him,
All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Joh 18:36 Jesus
answered, my kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world.
Christians were
despised, looked down, persecuted, mocked, ridiculed and were poor. They were
the filth of the world. Here apostle John is encouraging these poor Christians.
The world may have their parties, pleasure of sin and the wealth and their
fellowship, yet you have a greater fellowship as our fellowship is with the God
Almighty, while the world is having a worldly fellowship the true Christians
are having a divine fellowship.
1Jo 1:1 That which
was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was
manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that
eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
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.
Now to go a little
further we see that we have not only the fellowship of Chris but also an
intimate relationship with Christ Jesus. The church is called the Bride and he
is the Bridegroom. This is a marriage relationship. In this mutual relationship
we experience his love for the church.
So 2:16 My beloved is
mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
Yes, he is mine, I
posses him, I belong to him, he owns me.
Isa 54:5 For thy
Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the
Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
On the day of
coronation Christ makes his relationship with his saints to be his glory and
honor.
Isa 28:5 In that day
shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty,
unto the residue of his people,
John the Baptist was
a friend of the bridegroom, he heard his voice and rejoiced greatly.
Joh 3:29 He that hath
the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth
and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: my joy
therefore is fulfilled.
How much more the joy
and the gladness of the bridegroom to you who are believers.
Zep 3:17 The LORD thy
God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with
joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
Yes, beloved, you may
be poor, going through a very difficult time; you do not have all the wealth
and the pleasures of the world, yet Christ takes the believing poor sinners
into a marriage relationship with himself and rejoice in these thoughts.
Pr 8:31 Rejoicing in
the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.
He was willing to
undertake this difficult task, as he had to be a sacrifice first by obedience
to the law of God where he kept all of the law where the sinners have broken
and the ultimate sacrifice of his death to the church. But it was a delight to
give his life for the poor believing sinners.
Ps 40:7 Then said I,
Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
8 I delight to do thy
will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
He loved the church
and gave all he had.
Eph 5:25 Husbands,
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.
There is a day of his
marriage and a great rejoicing.
Re 19:7 Let us be
glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come,
and his wife hath made herself ready.
8 And to her was
granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine
linen is the righteousness of saints.
There is going to be
this awesome wedding and the supper.
Mt 22:3 And sent
forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would
not come.
Just like in any
marriage there is a mutual commitment to each other. Christ as a husband loves
the believing sinner unconditionally. He shows kindness and keeps us from
falling, we may undergo difficult times, the Christians may not have the
pleasures of the world but we have Christ as our pleasure, like a husband to
his wife he takes good care of the wife. In response the church has a mutual
commitment to Christ. As a wife he wants us obedience. The prophet Hosea
describes this in the relationship between himself and his unfaithful wife.
Ho 3:3 And I said
unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot,
and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.
Yes, we were like prostitutes
had many lovers. We loved the Hollywood stars; we had their pictures in our
bedrooms, and their worldly songs we loved so much. We had our sports stars,
which we loved so much. We loved the worldly parties, the pleasures of sin, the
gossip, and the worldly talk. We love this world so much that we knew all the
fashions and the beauty. We spent time and money for the best of things of this
world. We loved ourselves so much that ate the best of foods, gave much comfort
to this deteriorating flesh. We took very good care of this flesh; we loved
ourselves more than anyone else. Like a prostitute we had many lovers. Yet
Christ took us to be his bride! This is amazing! We dont deserve at all, this
is the kind of love he has for the believers. Christ forgave all our sins. When
Christ looks at the true believer he does not see the believer as a prostitute
but sees the believer as a fair and beautiful. Like a husband looks at his
beloved wife.
Eze 16:8 Now when I
passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love;
and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto
thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou
becamest mine.
9 Then washed I thee
with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed
thee with oil.
10 I clothed thee
also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee
about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
11 I decked thee also
with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.
12 And I put a jewel
on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine
head.
13 Thus wast thou
decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and
broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast
exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
14 And thy renown
went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my
comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
So 2:14 O my dove,
that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me
see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy
countenance is comely.
Christ knows the trials,
temptations and difficulties the believer has to go through as he was a man and
was tempted, now he urge us to come even to a closer fellowship with him. He
will not leave us.
Mt 11:28 Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest
unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is
easy, and my burden is light.
Heb 13:5 Let your
conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye
have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
He truly loves the
believer. We realize that when we come closer to Christ.
So 7:10 I am my
beloved's, and his desire is toward me.
We did not deserve
his love, it is all of grace and we realize it is not because of our
righteousness or our power that he love us but because of his righteousness and
he is the wisdom and the power of God.
Jer 23:6 In his days
Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name
whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
1Co 1:30 But of him
are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption.
We understand that he
first loved us, he purchased us, died for the believing sinner and his love is
unconditional, he alone is sufficient for all our needs. On our part obedience
is required. Submission to Christ as the Lord and Savior. Then to embrace him,
love him as we see Christs beauty that outshines all other beauty, we realize
he is above all.
So 5:9 What is thy
beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy
beloved more than another beloved that thou dost so charge us?
10 My beloved is white
and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
11 His head is as the
most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are as
the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.
13 His cheeks are as
a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet
smelling myrrh.
14 His hands are as
gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with
sapphires.
15 His legs are as
pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as
Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most
sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
Comparison to the
beauty of the world, we see that all the worldly beauty is passing away, the
beautiful movie stars are getting old and they will die, the beautiful car,
house, clothes and all other material things are getting old and they will turn
into dust. Our own loved ones with in the family are getting old and we all will
die. Only Christs beauty remains and his word remains and all what we do to him
remains.
1Jo 2:16 For all that
is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world
passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth
for ever.
When we compare all
the other lovers to Christ there is no comparison, the beauty of Christ is
internal, as he is holy, blameless, upright, righteous, compassionate,
longsuffering and true love. Now we can count all the others as rubbish or dung
compared to Christ.
Php 3:8 Yea
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and
do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.
Fellowship with God
through Christ Jesus is truly a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory! The
eternal life is manifested to us. There are many in the world that cannot
understand this, they may be intelligent and powerful but Christ has given this
grace only to his beloved ones whom he loves.
Lu 10:21 In that hour
Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.
When a sinner realize
that he is lost and there is damnation, hell and the lake of fire waiting for
him as he has sinned against God, when the sinner realize how greatly he has
sinned against the holy God, then truly repents of his sins and turn to Christ,
Christ will forgive all of your sins and will not remember any more. He will
come to you and will have fellowship with you and truly love you for the rest
of your life. There will be rejoicing in heaven when one sinner repents.
Rejoice with me; for
I have found my sheep, which was lost.