Your fellowship is no longer to be with this world. You have been redeemed and made part of the household of God. As a believer in Jesus Christ, your fellowship now has a new direction and a new dimension.
NEW DIRECTION (With the body of Christ)
Those who have fellowship with Christ should enjoy fellowship with other believers. This fellowship ought to illustrate the very nature of God Himself.
(John 13:35; Eph 5:1-2; 1 John 1:5-10)
Therefore come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord almighty.
2 Corinthians 6:17, 18
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
Ephesians 2:19
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24, 25
NEW DIMENSION (With our Heavenly Father)
Believers have fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
(John 17:21-26; Phil2:1; 1 John 1:3).
Our Fellowship with God comes from the fact that He has raised our status through the death and resurrection of Christ.
(Eph 2:4-7)
As a believer, we have a relationship with God as well as His own holy character.
(1 Peter 1:5)
That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:20
Your Primary fellowship with God will come through your time in prayer and your time spent in meditating upon and studying God’s Word.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.
Psalm 145:18, 19
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Joshua 1:8
*MARRIAGE – The union of man and a woman as husband and wife, which becomes the foundation for a home and family.
Origin of Marriage – Marriage was instituted by God when He declared, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him” (Gen 2:18). So God fashioned woman and brought her to man. On seeing the woman, Adam exclaimed, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Gen 2:23). This passage also emphasizes the truth that “a man leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen 2:24). This suggests that God’s ideal is for a man to be the husband of one wife and for the marriage to be permanent.
*FAMILY – A group of persons related by marriage and blood ties and generally living together in the same household. In the Western world, the family traditionally consists of a man and his wife and their children.
God’s Design for the Family – The concept of the family as the basic social unit reaches back into the CREATION account found in Genesis 1-2. A man was to be the husband of one wife and was to leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.
After God created Adam, He declared, “It is not good that man should be alone” (Gen 2:18). Then he created woman and united the couple and they became “one flesh” (Gen 2:24). Thus the family was designed by God to provide companionship for the various members of the family. In addition, the institution of marriage was approved and sanctioned by the Lord
(Matt 19:4-6).
God desires that the family be a harmonious unit, where love for God and neighbor are instilled into each member (Deut 6:6-9). If the couple are divided, especially over religious beliefs, they can never have the harmony and sense of common purpose that God desires. Therefore, Old Testament believers were instructed not to marry foreigners who would hinder their faith and bring strife to the marriage (Ex 34:13-16; Deut 7:1-4). Likewise, the apostle Paul commanded the New Testament believers, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Cor 6:14).
The Family of God. Biblical writers used other analogies from the family to describe various aspects of the gospel. To be brought into God’s family, the believer must be “born from above” or “born again” (John 3:3,5). Because a person has God as his Father, he must realize that other believers are his “fathers”, “mothers”, “brothers” and “sisters” (1 Tim 5:1-2). The body of believers known as the church is also referred to as the “household of God”
(Eph 2:19) and the “household of faith” (Gal 6:10). In addition, the concepts of ADOPTION and INHERITANCE are used to describe the position of believers in God’s family (Gal 4:5; 1 Peter 1:4).
