1 Corinthians 1:9 NKJV God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
You are called into the fellowship of God’s Son.
We have briefly looked at the people of the call. We have received the Call of God to fellowship Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now we want to look at the purpose of the call. There is a specific reason God calls you. God, the supreme master and creator wants to bring you into the fellowship of the Son. The heavenly Father wants Jesus to have a place of influence and power in your life and heart. He wants to include you in the fellowship of His Son and have a positive personal response from you.
You have been called into the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even before you knew it, the Father was reaching out to you. Since He is interested in your life, He has made provision and room for you. We need to decide how we are going to respond to His call.
Philippians 3:14 KJV I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Did you know there is a prize to be attained? When God calls us, He sets before us the riches of glory that are in Christ. God is looking for specific response from us. His intent is to bring us into the fellowship of His Son and everything that includes. Consider what wonderful things God has included in this fellowship with Jesus Christ, His Son.
1 Corinthians 6, reminds us of the things the Lord has called us out of. It is an act of aggressive amazing grace that rescued us from our troubles, wickedness, and sins. Our faults and failures have not prohibited God from calling us into fellowship with His Son. When He called us, He did something awesome in our lives.
1 Corinthians 6:11 NKJV But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
Here is the beauty of what God is doing. The God of eternity is reaching out to you and as soon as you respond to His call, He is prepared to bring you into the full blessing of the fellowship of His Son. He saw you in your distresses and claimed you as His own. This is the love of God.
The eternal and almighty God is taking us in His stride. He came to you and by grace and mercy pulled you out of your destructions and brought you into fellowship with Christ.
God wants you to enjoy the bounty and blessing of the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. God is looking for an active response from you. He wants a personal involvement and commitment in your life.
Everyone God encounters must personally decide what he or she would do. God is calling you out to have fellowship. He wants to change your position in life. He anticipates a specific response. When He calls you, He gives you the power to live in newness of life.
Think about this. The God of eternity wants to have personal contact and fellowship with you. What does that mean?
Pay attention to the personal contact God has had with many others before He called you into the fellowship of His Son.
- Abraham was told to “Get out of his home country,” Genesis 12:1. God called him to change his position and focus of life. It was a total change for his life and future.
- Jacob was weary from his journey when heaven opened and the angels of God ascended and descended, and the Lord God spoke to him at Bethel. His position and character was changed at Bethel.
- Moses was alone on the backside of the desert when he heard the call of God at the burning bush. Moses was lifted to a new level with God and man.
- Elijah was alone with God when he heard the still small voice on Mount Horeb. He personally met with the Living God. God showed Elijah that He was greater than the wind, earthquake, or fire.
- Uzziah passed away from Isaiah’s view when he “saw the Lord, high and lifted up. His focus changed from an earthly to a heavenly kingdom. He was brought into the fellowship and revelation of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
- Ezekiel was among the captives by the River Chebar, when the heavens opened and he saw visions of God and the “likeness of the glory of the Lord,” (Ezekiel 1:1-14)
Ezekiel 1:28-2:2 “When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking. And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me.”
Ezekiel was given a new assignment and purpose in life when he came into the fellowship with the Son of God.
- While Daniel was asleep in his bed, the “Ancient of Days” came to him in the visions of his night.
Daniel 7:9 NKJV “I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;
Daniel 7:13-14 NKJV I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
You have been called into the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
- John was on the Island called Patmos Island when he heard the voice behind him of the risen Christ.
Revelation 1:11 NKJV saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last…”
Revelation 1:17-18 NKJV And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
Everything changes in the presence of the Lord God Almighty. You have been called into the fellowship of the risen and exalted Son of God. If you will listen and respond to His call, you will have an encounter with God. When you have that encounter with God, your whole life will be changed. You cannot remain the way you were found when you came to God.
This fellowship with God’s Son does not begin and end where it finds you.
- It progresses and deepens.
- It purifies and sanctifies.
- It purges and builds.
- It grows and expands.
The fellowship with Jesus Christ the Son of God extends throughout your life and throughout eternity.
Every encounter with the Son of God implements a change of the position of your life. He will bring you out of your bondage and captivity. He will bring you into His blessing and favor.
You are called into the fellowship of the Son.
The Holy Spirit is drawing you closer and closer to the Son of God. He will conform and transform you into Christ’s image and likeness.
Every individual that has been called into the fellowship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is brought into constant growth, victory and life.
Philippians 3:12-14 Paul said: “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
The Apostle Paul is saying, “God is still working in us.” Many things had changed in his life, but he knew there was much that needed to change. The upward call of God in Christ Jesus continued to transform him. This is good news for each of us.
When you are called into fellowship with Christ very big changes are going to take place in your life.
Your position has been changed. You are being made more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. The further you go with God, the more you will realize that He is changing your position. He is bringing you up and giving you His victory. We cannot walk into the Holy Place with Him without changes happening in our lives.
The call to fellowship Christ always brings changes in us. The chains of your old bondage must fall off and you must walk in the glorious liberty of sons of God.
Until we get to the end of the road, the change will continue if we go on with Christ. Romans 8:23 tells us that we groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting this change. Have you noticed the urge of the Holy Spirit that keeps saying, “Give me more of Jesus.” “I need more of His power, life, and victory.”
With the call comes a new position. Your direction in life will change if you will fellowship with Christ.
When Elijah dropped his mantle on the shoulder of Elisha, he knew it was the call of God. Everything was going to change if he was to go on with God. Elisha was willing to leave behind his old life to run after the man of God. There was nothing that he possessed that was more important than fellowship with God.
Elisha’s servant, Gehazi should have been next in line for a position with God. In 2 Kings 5, Gehazi found the gold and gifts of Naaman the leper to be more attractive. Everyone that is called is not willing to enter into the joys of the Lord.
Elisha refused to accept any of Naaman’s gifts, but Gehazi thought those things were too important to lose. The scripture tells us that when he made that choice, he lost everything. He lost what he could have had in fellowship with God.
Any encounter with the Lord will involve a change of position. That encounter will challenge our character and destiny. The encounter and call made a change in Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, the Apostles, and Paul. It will be like that until the end. Your present position is not final. The Lord is coming by and things are going to change.
If you are hearing the call of God, there is going to be a change in your life. The heavenly Father is calling you into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
- He is calling you to come aside from the activity of your past.
- He is calling you to the cleft of the rock where His glory will be revealed.
- He is calling you to the mount of His fire.
- He will call you aside to send you out.
- God is ready to show you His glory.
- He will show you that He is high and lifted up and the train of His robe fills the temple
- He is calling you to fellowship with the Christ of the Mount of Transfiguration.
- His face will shine as the sun, and His garments will become white as the light.
He is calling you into the fellowship with His Son.
That process is going to change everything in your life. The old burdens and chains of your past must fall off. They cannot hold you any more. He may take a coal from off the altar of heaven and place it on your lips and take your iniquities from you. He may reveal more of the glory of the eternal resurrected Christ to you.
As you enjoy the fellowship of His Son, things will change in your life. They must change, because you have been called to the fellowship of the Lord and Master.
Look in the Gospels and you will see that every time the King of glory passed by, situations changed.
- The widow of Nain’s dead son came back to life.
- Lazarus came out of the grave.
- The blind received sight and the lame began to walk.
- The lepers were cleansed and the bound were set free.
- The crooked were made straight and the oppressed were released.
When Jesus came by, things could not remain the same. The righteous were empowered and sent out. The church was filled and given power from on high.
God is not interested in just changing things, He wants to change you.
God is calling you to fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ.
He wants to fellowship with His church, the redeemed of the Lord. He wants to show you His glory and Himself.
He has not called you out of the world just to make life easier for you. He has called you into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. He has called you to be a place for the presence of God.
The New Testament church is in existence for fellowship with Christ. He wants to come down and dwell in the midst of His people. He wants to abide in you.
What made the Tabernacle and the Temple of the Old Testament powerful, holy, and glorious? The building was splendid, but that was not what made it holy and glorious. It was not the ceremony, sacrifices, or the ritual. The gold, silver, and precious things were beautiful to behold. The Priestly duties, songs and trumpets engaged the people’s attention.
The only thing that made the Tabernacle and the Temple powerful, holy, and glorious was the presence of God. This is the purpose for their being. This is the reason for the call.
God has called you into fellowship with His Son.
This is a place for fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is holy ground.
