“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” (1 John 1:3)

Fellowship is not just about union with Christ; but also communion with God. According to Jerry Bridges, “When union with Christ is properly understood and embraced, it leads to communion with Him. And communion with Him in turn leads to a greater understanding and appropriation of the blessings of that union.”

What is communion with God? John Owen gives us this definition [in his book Communion with God]: Our communion . . . with God consisteth in his communication of himself unto us, with our returnal [response] unto him of that which he requireth and accepteth, flowing from that union which in Jesus Christ we have with him.” The ESV Study Bible says that “Communion refers to God’s communication and presentation of himself to us, together with our proper response to him with joy.”

From the divine side, God communicates Himself sovereignly so that we get to know Him more as well as His attributes. But we have our responsibility as well to commune with Him by putting ourselves in the way of His grace through meditations and prayer. Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4). We must remain united to Jesus by a living faith. We must live a life of love and dependence on Him.

The challenge to us then is to seek a closer communion with God. We can do this by being faithful in our morning quiet time or personal devotions. Jesus gave us the example—“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. (Mark 1:35). In addition, we must strive to commune with God throughout the day. David gave this testimony-- “You are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” (Psalm 25: 5). Spurgeon was said never to have prayed more than five minutes at a time, but he never went more than five minutes without praying.

The closer we are to God, the closer we are to each other. This is the geometry of the Christian life. The more we prioritize our vertical fellowship with God, the closer our horizontal fellowship with the brethren becomes. Conversely, if we are not grounded on fellowship with God, we will be disappointed with fellowship with people.