1 Cor. 1:9 says
God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Our God is a faithful God – He called us into the fellowship of His Son – He called us and placed us in the vine, Christ as the embodiment of God!
Here in the vine we have the enjoyment of the riches of Christ, the expression of God, the rich fellowship of the co-branches (the other saints), and here we have the purpose of God. These are all related to us abiding in Christ as the vine!
We were called into this fellowship – an intimate fellowship with Christ. We were called into an organic union with Christ, into a participation into Him, into enjoying Christ as our God-given portion (see note). This fellowship that we have is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3) – a union and communion with the Triune God, in our mingled spirit!
Also, this enjoyment and fellowship of Christ is not just personal / individual – it is corporate/collective, it is a co-enjoyment, a co-participation, a mutual fellowship of this flow of life among all the branches in Christ. This is the church life – the fellowship, the communion, the co-participation of Christ, the branches loving one another and fellowshipping with one another in oneness!
We are one in His life – in the same divine life. We have the same life – Christ’s life – flowing in our being. This flow is the Triune God, who flowed from eternity unto eternity, and now is in us! This flow is also the “circulation of blood” in the Body of Christ, flowing in all the members of the Body/the branches and in the vine – if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another… (1 John 1:7).
We just need to allow this flow of life to circulate continually in our whole being, and flow into us(by us enjoying the Lord) and flow out of us (by us “reporting” to others of what we have seen and heard – 1 John 1:3). This is our vertical fellowship (with the Triune God) and our horizontal fellowship (with the other believers, the saints in Christ) – the same one unique fellowship into which we were called by God!
Our God is faithful to remove anything that damages or hinders this fellowship! He wants us to be in this continual flow of His divine life – bringing God into man and bringing man into God. Let us all seek the experience and the enjoyment of the fellowship of God’s Son.
The more we enjoy the co-participation of this fellowship, the better the church life will be! Lord, thank You for calling us into the fellowship of Christ – the Head and the Body! Keep us in this flow of the divine life!
