God’s Love
In the beginning, there was God. He has always existed in the persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is all love – the very definition of love.
1 John 4:7-8 (NASB)
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Because of God’s love that He had for us, even before we existed, He created us. From the very beginning, God knew that it was not good for us to be alone.
Genesis 2:18 (NASB)
18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
God created all of the animals and brought them to Adam. I’m sure they were all very friendly, but they still didn’t meet a need that Adam had for true fellowship, so God created Eve.
Genesis 2:20-24 (NASB)
20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
We now had the beginning of the first family, and the first community. It seems that God used to walk and commune with Adam and Eve on a regular basis (Gen.3:8-9). This was the perfect world that God had created — Adam and Eve enjoying each other’s company and the world that God had given them, while God fellowshipped with and enjoyed their company.
Fellowship
The word “fellowship” means two or more people talking and sharing with each other. It’s not where one person talks and the other always listens. In a good friendship, both people feel comfortable with the other person, and they both take turns talking, listening, sympathizing, and loving.
God created Adam and Eve in His own image. Because God has always existed in three Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and we were created in His image, we have the same desire and even need to be with other people.
Genesis 1:26-28 (NASB)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
More than just being created in His image, we even have His Spirit.
Genesis 2:7 (NASB)
7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Family
The family is the beginning and foundation of every godly community. It is what God established and what He commanded from the very beginning.
Genesis 1:28 (NASB)
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Today, we see many people attacking the traditional family (husband, wife, children). They might say that the Bible’s definition of a family is old-fashioned and outdated. These arguments are nothing new. We have seen throughout history where people have tried creating other “societies” where they refuse to follow the traditional pattern of marriage. Every culture that has tried this has failed. God created us to live as families. We can even see in every study that has looked at the subject, people in jail are overwhelmingly from a home where the father is not there. We also see increased poverty, teenage pregnancy, and emotional issues.
Keeping a family together takes work. It starts by putting God in the center of it, and teaching/leading your family in His ways.
Tribes, Villages, Towns, Cities
We see throughout history that people have formed communities. This way, they can be there to help each other and enjoy the company of each other. Some people prefer smaller towns, and others prefer large cities. We all have a need to be with others in some capacity.
Emotional Hurt
Whenever you have two or more people together, eventually someone will say or do something that will hurt the other person. It might be intentional or unintentional. That’s what usually breaks up marriages. A marriage usually starts with two people deeply in love, willing to commit themselves to each other for the rest of their lives. Over time, things will happen. People, by our nature, are selfish. We want our own way. When we don’t get it, we get upset. This can cause distrust, jealousy, anger, and pain. This is not just with marriages. Every relationship between two people (friendship, work, etc.) will have these pressures. How can we avoid them? If the relationship is already damaged, how can we fix it?
Forgiveness
Jesus loved us so much, He died on the cross, taking our sins on Himself, so that our sins could be forgiven. This made the way for our relationship with Him to be restored. At the same time, He expects us to be willing to forgive each other.
Matthew 18:23-35 (NASB)
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
24 “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
25 “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
26 “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.
27 “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.
28 “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, Pay back what you owe.
29 “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, Have patience with me and I will repay you.
30 “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.
31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.
32 “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
33 Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?
34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.
35 “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
What the first slave owed was more than he could have possibly earned in over 10,000 years! By comparison, his fellow slave owed him about five months wages. That is a lot of money, but compared to what he was just forgiven, it was nothing. Jesus was saying that it is the same way with us. God has forgiven us more than we can ever imagine. If we are unwilling to forgive someone else, even if it was an intentional, horrible offense, we are not worthy of Christ’s forgiveness.
As Jesus taught us to pray:
Luke 11:4 (NASB)
4 And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. “
Just in case we had any doubts, Jesus laid it out clearly.
Matthew 6:14-15 (NASB)
14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
The forgiveness of our own sins is contingent on our forgiveness of others. I have had people try to justify their own unforgiveness — what the other person did was “unforgivable”; what they did hurt me too much; why should I forgive them if they aren’t even sorry?
Romans 5:8 (NASB)
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus did not wait for us to make the first move. He died for us first, showing us what true love truly was.
Communities
Think about the communities we form:
- Clubs (Rotary Club, golf club, sports club)
- Bars
- Social media (Facebook, Instagram, X, etc.)
- Churches
Communities can be good or bad. They can either help reinforce good, godly ideals in us, or they can help us justify sinful, evil thoughts and intentions. Remember the definition of fellowship. Both people are sharing and receiving ideas. The people with whom we associate will definitely have an effect on us, and will probably dictate who we become. If you want to be a better person, hang out with better people, read better things, discuss better ideas.
Community of God
In the Old Testament, God chose a family of people — the Israelites — and made a nation out of them. Other people could join them, but they had to become part of that nation, agreeing to abide by the laws that God had established for them.
When Jesus came, He died for everyone, not just the Jewish people. He gave His life for many, not the few. Everyone who comes to Him can find forgiveness of their sins (for more information, click here). You can then become part of the family and body of Christ — the church.
Church
The church actually refers to the people of God, not a particular building or religion. After Jesus was raised from the dead and people started believing in Him and following Him, look what the early believers were doing.
Acts 2:46-47 (NASB)
46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
This was the natural outpouring of the incredible experience they all just had. When something good happens to you, you want to share it with others. That’s what they were doing. As time went on, the people who did not want to repent of their sins started to persecute them. Since they had already been meeting together and sharing with each other, they could now lean on each other and strengthen each other. People who try to stand alone have a much harder time.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NASB)
12 And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
Meeting Together
The early church people went through a lot of persecution, including being thrown in prison, having all of their possessions taken, and even being killed. Non-Christians might not hire them. They might not even sell them food or buy things from them. By meeting with other Christians, people in their community knew that they were Christians. To avoid persecution, some people stopped meeting together. The writer of Hebrews warned of the danger of that practice.
Hebrews 10:23-25 (NASB)
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
God intended for the church to be a place where people could encourage each other to live godly lives, even while being persecuted by others. This is also what marriages and families are supposed to be — places of encouragement.
We see the same thing happening today. Many people have been hurt by what someone else said or did. They will let this experience leave them thinking that’s just the way that churches are. Unfortunately, that’s just the way that people are, not just people in church. As we saw above, this is why we need to freely and openly forgive each other, constantly. What else can we do?
Serving
Why do we have problems with other people? Because we all want our own way (even Christians).
James 4:1 (NASB)
1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
How do we overcome this? By humbling ourselves like Jesus did and putting the interests of others before our own interests.
Philippians 2:3-4 (NASB)
3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
If everyone did this, we would have no conflict in our churches. We would have no conflict at work. We would have no wars.
The place to start, as always, is with ourselves. It’s been said that if you want a friend, be a friend.
Luke 6:31 (NASB)
31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.
This is what we call the golden rule. If we want to be treated nicely, treat others nicely, even if they don’t treat you the same.
Notice, also, that Jesus here is assuming that we will be in a community, not shutting ourselves off from the rest of the world.
God has called us to be a godly community, encouraging each other, putting our own interests last, and being an example to the rest of the world. Don’t let anything steal your joy and fellowship. The church, like a good marriage, is not perfect, but it is worth fighting for.
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