Koinonia II: Jesus Preached Life

Sunday 09/17/17

Series: Doers of the Word

Message – Koinonia II Jesus Preached Life

Koinonia

Koinonia was ALWAYS God’s plan for mankind! This is NOT your idea, it is NOT your plan – it is His dream to be realized in us once and for all FOREVER! Eternal union with God! The week preceding Jesus’ crucifixion is called the Passion for a reason! God is in hot pursuit of His lover – the bride and willingly spent the cost He could for you – the life and eternal condition of the Living Word in order to redeem you – buy you back! Such a passion should never evoke a passive response! This is why the Lukewarm are repulsive to Him!

Union – intimacy – forever knowing and being known is why righteousness has always been such a big deal!

You notice, God can have conversations with the unrighteous…but conversation is NOT what God wanted He wanted ONENESS – UNION – ETERNAL INTIMACY.

In scripture we see God having conversation with Cain, Esau, Pharaoh…evil spirits and even satan himself.

But to you God says,

“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”

‘If I do not remember you, let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.’

“For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: “This is My resting place FOREVER; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.”

This is why righteousness was always an issue, because without it there can be no union – no intimacy – no LIFE!

“This is Life eternal, that they might truly know You in intimate union the Only true God and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent.”

“If there had been a law which could have brought LIFE – then surely righteousness would have been through the law.”

So as we continue looking at Koinonia today – reviewing and pressing deeper into this subject know that we are being very deliberate in taking steps ever closer and closer to His very heart – His chief desire and longing!

Did you know that God LONGS for you?

The Spirit is Jealous for you! He craves you and dotes upon you as His precious ones.

John began his amazing letter announcing Koinonia with the words…

Now remember… the idea of the Logos was huge in that day.

For the Jew, the Logos WAS God.
For the Greek, they had spoken for centuries about the Logos as the basis for organization and intelligence in the universe. To them the Logos was the Ultimate Reason which controls everything.

John is making the announcement “This Logos you have been talking about, reading about and writing about for centuries – well, He became a man and we have heard Him, seen Him, touched Him and walked with Him! And in this letter I’m going to show you how you can have koinonia with Him.”

WHY?

Perichoresis.
- John 17:24 : “for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
  - This eternal relationship is clearly described in the Scriptures, as an eternal harmony of knowing, trusting and sharing all things in common.
- John introduces this inter-relationship of the Father and Son from eternity past as something we’ve been invited into with them.
- This Jesus came to reveal LIFE.
  - “IN HIM WAS LIFE and that life was the light of men.” – John 1
  - “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.” – John 12:49-50

This word ‘fellowship’ reveals that what God has accomplished in Christ and has invited humanity into is a joint sharing together in everything is, knows, has… EVERYTHING!
All resources HAVE BEEN MADE equally at the disposal of all as they have need…and not only that… these are not live gifts from heaven in dependant of immediate involvement… This is a shared experience and shared life beginning now and continuing forever!
These facts make the rest of the chapter immediately obvious…

If we each enter into this shared life with God then all those who belong to God we also enter into a shared life with.

“If one suffers all suffer with them….” – 1Cor. 12:26

“…the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death…” – Phil. 3:10

“…Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” – Acts 26:14

- As we have said many times happiness relies upon circumstances upon happenstance but Joey is only found in relationship or in a shared life.
- Verse 4 tells us that the joy God designed to be in full measure within the human heart this impossible outside of this shared life. But within this shared life our joy is made complete.

The rest of this chapter simply outlines the inevitable results of a shared life with God.

We are going to spent some time with this last time next week. It is imperative because the deception of this world that is influencing the way the Church thinks is so pervasive, so overwhelming, so unyielding and comes at us from absolutely every angle that is impossible to be a person who is untouched by its influence!

We will pick up here next week…Blessings!

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Neither money nor attendance at our church will be mentioned.

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Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!