That You May Fully Share Our Joy

We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. 1 John 1:1-4

JOHN AND THE OTHER apostles enjoyed person-to-person fellowship with the Son of God who existed from the beginning and became flesh —Jesus Christ. By being joined to him by faith, they entered into the fellowship Jesus has with his Father. It is this communion John wanted his fellow believers to enter into.

Fellowship is the experience of sharing something significant with others. It’s the pleasure of being in a group in which you see eye to eye on what matters most. It’s having similar values and responding with the same kind of affections to what really counts. So to say we have fellowship with the Father and his Son means that we have come to share their values and enjoy their presence.

The relationship John and the other apostles enjoyed with the Father through the Son had brought unspeakable and unstoppable joy to their lives, even though all of them faced harsh persecution. But there was more joy to be had by John. John longed for those he was writing to, those he called “my children” throughout this epistle, to enter into this fellowship he shared with the Father and the Son. In that way, his joy would be complete.

Joy is enhanced when it is shared. And when Jesus is the joy of our lives, our joy increases when we share it with those we love. This is why we long for our children to fully share the joy of our fellowship with the Father through the Son.

Lord, this is the joy we long for —to share the joy of fellowship with the Father and the Son with ________. Reveal yourself in fresh, new ways to ________. Draw ________ into closer and closer fellowship with you.