God provisioned us with love and grace. Out of His agape context flows our life. We are born into His family growing our union into Him, communing on a personal level within His Son Jesus. Ours is much more than relationship with His created beings, it is koinonia, an intimacy and participation in mundane earthly concerns. In fact, you might call it His parousia because it is not only His coming into our life, its His enduring presence of righteousness and truth breathing into our life, His.
GraceNotes is drilling down into this amazing "koinonia-parousia" for 2018. In our last discussion we looked at two Church metaphors describing this scriptural relationship. We put emphasis on the eternal side because our temporal bias veils His truth. This is perhaps our greatest challenge. We have been created to be spiritual but our earthly carnal vessel does not submit without constant attention. We are called to use Jesus' resurrection power putting to death the distractions of self, living rather, and walking in Him. This is our fleshly calling, our brokenness producing His abundance!
This "koinonia-parousia" insertion is about God's love so that we can participate in Christ's mind, exploring the treasures of divine provisioning to us, meager paupers depending on His mercy and grace.
This is worthy of a book, perhaps it is already written. We would have to sum up all that is God, contrasted to the small ant who busily tasks itself unaware of how exposed and obnoxious it interferes in human priorities and concerns. That God would love us, the meager ant, is perhaps the greatest of mysteries!
"Koinonia-parousia" is one way of snatching a glimpse of God's agape love targeting each one of us individually. Koinonia is the Greek word traditionally translated "fellowship." Our meaning of "fellowship" is lite compared to the word use in Christ's day. Koinonia in the first century implied a sharing deep enough to enter into suffering, or the selling of personal property to provide benefit to a neighbor in need. Paul used this word to speak about the offering needed for the suffering Jews in Jerusalem. It was used as a partnership word for entering into missionary work and it was used for taking of communion together. It had the meaning of entering into the burden of intimacy with another rather than just coming along side to help. Koinonia speaks to the intimacy of Jesus entering into our life, ministering deep within us Spiritually.
Parousia is a similar story in the meaning of our translation. This Greek word in our Christian community is associated with the rapture or His coming for us. The word is translated "coming" most of the time but it too has other meanings.
When an important person comes to town, his presence can be felt by the community. He has the authority to spend funds helping the community or maybe taking funds away so everybody becomes sensitive to his presence. This is parousia! Even though he is not visible, still his presence and authority is felt and is a reality. This is the intended meaning in Greek usage of the word.
"Koinonia-parousia" operates on two levels in our temporal clay vessels. On the one hand, God reveals the humanness of our soul and becomes our light to see the natural unrighteousness in our soulish flesh so that we can be washed by the word we process into our heart. On the other hand, He also reveals our new identity in Christ by means of regeneration, being born again Spiritually from above so that we can walk in God's righteousness and truth. Christ's own blood, on a cross, made it possible for the redeemed to participate in God's work. We are responsible for our own level of participation in His work and will be tested!
Another aspect of "koinonia-parousia" is our emphasis on "fellowship." In our finite minds, it describes a dynamic of relationship, i.e., the attitude we bring into a relationship with another. Similarly, we think of Christ "coming" as an event and/or the effects of His coming. But "Koinonia-parousia" also speaks of living participation, us in Him and Him in us. Spiritual life is unseen but what we are describing is the living presence of the divine person of God ministering in us as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Our nature is now "in Christ," purchased by His payment for our righteousness so we may now participate in His work in us and through us to others. This is the New Covenant.
It is not a question of having two natures, God forgive us for believing this lie. It is, rather, our opportunity to learn who we are and who we were. It is our opportunity to be who Christ created us to be. It is our privilege to suffer with Jesus, bringing to our alter a sacrifice of self which is already forgiven and worship in the righteousness provided in Christ. Our process for understanding the reality of who we are in Christ, is to experience in these vessels a brokenness of self in order to see with Spiritual understanding, God's marvelous grace and love. Only as we enter into our own contrition, are we able to enter into Jesus Christ our Lord's fullness, already intended for us as a possession.
It is our prayer this insert will help us enter into the discussion of the "upper room" understanding our branches from John 15 and the fruit we bare. The amount of fruit we produce "in Christ," is nurtured by the vine, being rooted and grounded. The root produces righteousness and brokenness, and together these produces much fruit. To participate with and in Him means when our work is tested by fire, it will not be consumed as wood, hay and stubble but rather, refined as gold and precious stones. The Body needs to understand their calling and leverage God's grace given to each of us to be consumed with our faith. Consumption of His grace with our faith increases our capacity for much fruit.
An Old Testament example of this Spiritual principle is in the story of Joshua. God gave Israel and Joshua all of Israel but it was necessary for Joshua to go into the land and possess it in the name of our Lord. He didn't do that. Now the Church is given the same opportunity. Lets rise up to the occasion! Lets rise up and possess the glorious blessings already provided because we have already been made righteous by being born from above by God Himself, John 1:13.
"Koinonia-parousia" is just our prologue to John 15 and the Upper Room talk of Jesus to His disciples. We need to prepare ourselves for the divine work we are called to do because we have been placed in the extraordinary condition of accessing the riches in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are going to be judged by fire on how well we did! "By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you." - 2Timothy 1:14. Possess the Land, the deposit entrusted to us!