Fellowship

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image ...”

God initiated this conversation and the other two members of the Trinity wholeheartedly joined in to complete the task of creating Man in the image of the Trinitarian God. (An important step in building fellowship - there is always the need for an initiator in the fellowship process.)

There was unity, fellowship and togetherness within the Godhead as they created us. This capability of fellowship was transferred to us when They created us in Their image. We therefore have, built into us, the capability for deep and close fellowship with one another.

We were made to come together in unity and in doing so, represent God to the rest of creation. We did not have to learn and internalise this capability of fellowship; it was built in. We see a demonstration of this capacity for fellowship, within humanity, in the construction of the tower of Babel.

Yet, this activity of constructing a tower was disapproved by God and He scattered the people. God's disapproval of the activity in Babel implies that unity and fellowship, by itself, is not what God approves. Fellowship has to be for the right purpose.

This transports us to the high mission for pursuing fellowship. The purpose of fellowship, within humanity, is to represent God, His nature and character. This would then mean that in any arena of fellowship within humanity, whether it is the family, church, organisations or even the nation, the purpose is to represent God.

When we experience conflict in any arena of fellowship, the solution is not about finding the middle ground or making every stakeholder feel happy, but to discover, TOGETHER, what is God’s character and nature and how the Trinitarian God can be represented. When we seek this purpose in our fellowship, we will find that we are able to arrive at this destination, since this capacity has been built into us.

Unfortunately we have been made to believe that this high mission is unattainable. This is a lie that has been forced on us and we live and behave as slaves to this lie. God has built fellowship into us. He not only built the capacity of fellowship into us, He also created us to, TOGETHER, be His representatives to the rest of creation. This is a double blessing that God has bestowed on us.

We can be God’s representatives to the whole of creation only when we came TOGETHER. Contrarily, if we do not come TOGETHER, there is no way that creation can know God. Instead, we can cause huge harm when we allow conflicts to continue in our families, churches, organisations and nations.

Creation is languishing, waiting for men to come together to represent God and we are losing the opportunity to experience the character and nature of God in our fellowship. We desperately need initiators of fellowship today.

Intimacy with God – Fulfilling The Creation Mandate

We received a mandate from God at creation.  This was a fivefold mandate that consisted of being fruitful, multiplying, filling the earth, subduing it and having dominion over all of creation.  We not only had authority, but also responsibility over creation.  We had to steward creation through this fivefold process.

Man therefore had much to accomplish.  Many have an idealised perspective of what Adam and Eve were doing in the Garden of Eden. We assume that “they were sitting under trees, doing nothing.”  Hence, conversely, our concept of work is drudgery and pain. The fault lines in our understanding of work and rest, run deep.  This flawed perception needs urgent rectification.

Man and woman had a large canvas for work and rest. They were to steward creation through the fivefold process. Contained within the larger creation stewardship mandate, man also had the specific task of tending and keeping the garden.  The task of tending and keeping the garden was not a standalone one, but was within the fivefold stewardship mandate over all of creation. 

Here were man and woman tending and keeping the garden; and as they did so they were completing the fivefold creation stewardship mandate. They were aligning themselves to the large canvas for creation by handling the specific task assigned to them. Work therefore was a joy. There was much to accomplish in tending the garden since this specific task lay within the larger fivefold creation stewardship mandate.  

The way this worked was that as they tended the garden, they constantly did their everyday work in terms of the five fold creation mandate.  They were being fruitful in all that they did, they ensured that all their efforts were multiplied, they executed their work in terms of filling the earth, they subdued the resources of creation and had overall dominion.  Each aspect of the creation mandate gave them a large width for active service. 

So, they were exploring all dimensions of creation through the fivefold mandate.  Simultaneously they had a specific responsibility over the garden, which they had to tend and keep.  We can see what a magnificent job profile they had.  There was no room for laziness, boredom or stress.  For the application of every facet of the creation mandate would only bring joy and a worshipful response to the Creator for giving them such a large canvas for their human creativity to be investigated, studied and practised, under God.

They fulfilled this task in an atmosphere of intimacy with God.  This was the ‘rest’ aspect of life. 

Rest is not sitting under trees doing nothing, but rest is intimacy with God through which man and woman leaned on God to fulfil their task.  Work and Rest were therefore never intended to be two separate experiences, but were always intended to be an ongoing continuum.  We were to be rested in God while we worked and as we worked we drew out of our restedness in God. 

Work and rest in God was our worshipful response to our loving Creator. 

Intimacy with God – Administering His Authority (Part II)

In Part I, we took a look at the aspect of administering God’s authority over creation. However, there is a flip side that we must consider.

When Man sinned against God, he became a servant to Satan’s agenda. Man was still the legal, regal heir and steward of God’s creation, but because of sin, Man was in the clutches of Satan. (The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.) Satan was now able to order his plans over creation through his capitulated ally - Man.

Satan’s agenda was straightforward. It was to steal, kill and destroy everything that was God’s, beginning with Man; Man being the crown of God’s creation.

Here was the pitiful scenario. Man was the authorised regal steward of God over His creation. He ought to have been reigning with God, exercising God’s authority over creation. Instead, he found himself unable to function in the manner befitting his position and status, but functioning as a vacillating, dithering, debilitating collaborator of Satan. Satan looked at Man with mockery since Man, who ought to be functioning as the regal heir of God, now found himself a languishing slave to Satan.

Satan could now look at God and say, “Your legal, regal heir is now in my clutches. I can do whatever I want over creation, since I now have a feeble puppet, who will dance when I pull the strings.” Satan even had the audacity to actually tell the Creator, “I can give all this authority over creation to You, if You will bow down and worship me.”

However, God did not let this state of affairs linger and took action. God’s action was strong and decisive. Satan thought he had had the last laugh, but the tables were turned. On the cross, Jesus wiped out the requirements that were against Man. He undid the shackles with which Satan had bound Man by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the principalities and powers that Satan had used as a throttle-hold over Man. Jesus made a public spectacle of Satan's power over Man, by triumphing over them on the cross.

Let us take time to allow this sweet and overwhelming victory of Jesus on the cross, dwell in our thoughts and understanding. The victory that we received through the cross is huge! The victory not only set us free from the control of Satan, but also set us free to take our rightful position again as the authorised regal heirs of God over creation. Thank you Jesus for the cross!

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old, crippled status has gone and the new, gloriously strong position has come. We therefore march forward as God’s regal heirs over His creation. We have now arrived to execute the Kingdom rule of God over His creation. Our intimacy with God, in this new scenario is that of worshipful awe of our Creator.

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Let the earth hear His voice

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Let the people rejoice

O come to the Father through Jesus the Son

And give Him the glory

Great things He has done!