a fellowship of joy

...that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

1 John 1:3-4

John’s reasons for writing this encouraging little letter were wrapped in the wondrous expressions of fellowship and joy. The mutual fellowship of believers, in this case, as teacher with student, disciple maker and disciple, apostle to the church, and Christian to Christian was a source of great encouragement. And this fellowship came first from a relationship with Jesus. Fellowship with God and man gave the Apostle John great joy.

A second motivation for John flowed into this letter: it gave him joy to help others live in Jesus. It “completed” his joy. Of course some of this was part of his apostolic calling, but also I think John is expressing what many Christians can attest to: it is a lot of fun to follow Jesus together! When we get it right, it’s joyous! Nothing compares to a great relationship among believers as they follow Jesus.

I’m over three decades into ordained ministry, having build Christian gospel community in three different church locations over that time. I hope to never stop. I know relationship in Christ that extends from my childhood experiences. The fellowship is deep and wide now and inexpressibly joyful... even with some rough patches along the way! Walking with Jesus in Christian community is a SWEET kind of completing joy.

longing for heaven... living for now

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

2 Peter 3:14

The “these” that Christians are waiting for here are the “new heavens and a new earth in which righteous dwells” described in 2 Peter 3:13. The hope of God’s great reboot of the universe keeps Christians diligent. It is a motivation for holiness. It is a reason we seek to be a people of peace. God will make all things new. And it begins with us. The future will be great. Our hope for that starts now with serious gospel living on our part right now. We long for heaven. We live and experience that hope right now.

So many people conceive of this kind of future hope as a vague optimism. But it is a firm prophetic reality repeated over and over in scripture. The old order of things will be burned away in judgment. And a new universal beauty will be brought into being by our Creator to take its place. What God melts away will be completely redeemed and remade. And it for this future that we find hope in Christ.

Lord,

All things shall be made new, just as You are right now renewing me in Jesus. Help me to long for this new heavens and earth where only Your righteousness dwells. Keep me seriously at work on being the man You are making of me, living my life in this day, well aware of that day which will come.

Amen

Judgment is no joke.

But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

2 Peter 3:7

People are naturally resistant to accountability to God in judgment. Peter warns that sinfully motivated scoffers will mock the very concept of judgment. They will claim that a look at the world order will show that nothing much has changed in the universe for ages. They basically use a smoothly spoken uniformitarian argument to try to dissuade people from believing in the truth that God will judge this world. But in reality they ignore that 1) God formed all that there is from nothing in the first place just by His spoken word, and 2) He has already enacted one global catastrophe in the Flood recorded in Genesis chapter six.

Peter’s point is that the God whose Word created the universe, and by His own prediction later flooded the globe, would also keep His Word as prophets have foretold to bring judgment on the world by fire. The mockers can scoff all they want, but God’s Word has always been true and will be again. Judgment is no joke.

Theologically speaking, the past is a predictor of the future. The Word of God will stand true. God’s justice will prevail because He has said it. And Christians should always trust and obey the Word of the Lord knowing we answer to the Judge of all souls.

a perfect Savior

And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.

John 8:29

Only Jesus can say this. There are three things Jesus makes clear in this short verse.

1) God the Father sent Jesus, His Son, into the world.

2) God the Father is with Jesus in the world.

3) God the Father is always pleased with what Jesus does.

These things mean that Jesus is God, with the Father from eternity past. They mean that Jesus’ work and words are the things that God says and does. They mean that Jesus does not sin, for the Father is always pleased with Him.

This is the Jesus I trust as my Savior and Lord. He is sent to be the Savior of all who will believe, for all time, in all the world. He is perfect, holy, and powerful. His holiness covers my sin and I am covered in His righteousness by faith in His death and resurrection. That’s how God sees me. The Father is always with the Son. When I believe, I am adopted into this family so that God never leaves me nor forsakes me. Jesus is with me always.

Lord Jesus,

I praise You for coming into this world, for showing us the Father, and for being perfect and holy. I trust in You alone for my life and salvation. I am an unworthy sinner, now covered by Your righteousness, who can rejoice in the love of God!

Amen

vigilantly guarding the truth

My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.

Ezekiel 13:9

God will guard the truth. The harsh words that the Lord has in this tirade against false prophets has carried forward in all of scripture. This is not exceptional, it is the standard. God will not allow human lies to continue in the guise of His Word. False prophets will all be judged harshly.

In my morning reading, I’ve also been looking at 2 Peter. And there the apostle Peter is equally harsh on heresy, echoing in his words the way that God will treat false prophets (see 2 Peter 2:1-22). Peter lumps the fate of those who lie in the name of Jesus with those who perished in Noah’s flood (evidently there was false prophecy even then), the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (cultural false prophecy) that were reduced to ash, and angels who sinned and were locked in chains in hell (they rebelled under the lies of Lucifer in the first original disbelief of God’s Word). God takes the truth very seriously. So should we.

Lord,

Your high concern for the truth of scripture calls me to love and guard the truth. As a church elder I am called to guard the truth, to treasure and defend it. I’m not a “heresy-hunting” zealot.... but I am serious about correcting doctrine when it undermines the precious truth of the gospel. Keep me vigilant in worship of You, Lord!

Amen

Certainty

Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God.

Ezekiel 12:28

Certainly

what God has decreed

will come to be

it’s guaranteed

No doubt

all will come about

that God has said without

interruptions en route

Truly

God’s own word

will always be heard

and cannot be ignored

With no delay

what God will say

will happen just the way

He wants today

deceived by desires

Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among the nations some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols. And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations.

Ezekiel 6:8-9

The “PG-13” kind of language that God used to describe the idolatry of His people is not just meant to get attention. It truthfully describes the way in which idolatry turns our hearts from God. Idolatry begins with a strong appeal to our deepest urges. It will play to our desires and lusts. It will seem pretty sexy. Israel and Judah fell away because they wanted personal and even illicit sexual fulfillment from sinful pursuits rather than from God’s revealed will.

God promises them that in the aftermath of the judgmental consequences of their sinful idolatry, they would painfully become aware of how this sensual idolatry of their own whoring hearts had hurt God. Their choices led to their judgment. They had been unfaithful. Idolatry leads to only temporary pleasure and a life of regretful, frustrating pain. Their hearts and eyes had been deceived and they would be suffering in the awareness of the depths of that deception.

O Lord,

Give me eyes that see the gospel at work in me and around me. My heart can be drawn away by idolatrous desires. I want to be faithful to You, Lord Jesus, for You are always faithful and true to me.

Amen