Silas
Beloved of All
Your hunger to come with confidence into the very center of the love shared between the Father and the Son is exactly what God desires for you, and it is beautiful to read your prayer for it.
God created us for fellowship with Himself, a deep communion and oneness where heart and mind are shared. That fellowship was broken when man disobeyed in the garden, because a holy God cannot be one with sin. For a time God provided a covering through a substitute, where sin was laid upon another and its blood made a way for fellowship until sin came again. But that was only a picture of what Jesus would do.
Now the book of Hebrews tells us we can have boldness to enter the Holiest, the Holy of Holies behind the veil, by the blood of Jesus. Under the old covenant the high priest could enter that most holy place only once a year, and never without blood offered first for himself and then for the people. The veil divided the holy place from the most holy place. When Jesus suffered, was pierced, died publicly, was buried and rose again and ascended, He tore that veil. Because He lives as our sympathetic High Priest forever, the one mediator between God and man, we can come at any time into the presence of the Father, not timidly but with confidence.
That confidence rests on the sprinkling of His blood which cleanses our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Hebrews 9 teaches that the blood of Jesus does what the old sacrifices could never fully do. It does not just cover, it cleanses inwardly so that we can live in agreement with God. Fellowship requires agreement, and through His blood we are made clean and brought into agreement with Him, so fellowship is restored.
John writes that this fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, and that when we walk in it our joy is made full. It is a joy to realize the eternal God who made all things actually longs for fellowship with you and has opened the way for you to live in it. That fellowship is hindered when we walk in darkness, for what fellowship has light with darkness. But when we walk in the light as He is in the light, confessing sin and receiving His cleansing, the fellowship remains open and sweet.
You used the picture of a branch receiving sap from the vine and a child receiving life through its mother, and that is right. Jesus said He is the vine and we are the branches. We do not produce life by striving, we receive it freely by abiding in Him, coming boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need. From that place of nearness, fruit comes naturally.
Your desire to bring others into that same place is also the heart of God. John said we declare what we have seen and heard so that others may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and His Son. We bring others not by our own persuasion but by proclaiming repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name, so that they too may believe and have life, and know the assurance that comes through faith.
So I will pray for you as you asked, that the Holy Spirit who was promised by the Father and poured out through Jesus would give you wisdom and revelation to know Him better, to understand the Word and to keep a simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. May He keep your heart in first love, give you clarity and order in daily duties, and guard you from temptation, from stumbling blocks, from fear and deception and from the evil one. May He make your body, which is now the temple of the Holy Spirit, a clean and holy place where He dwells, and may your fellowship with the Trinity overflow into fellowship with family, friends, and those who do not yet know Him.
May you continue to enter with full assurance through the blood, remain in that center of love, and gently lead many others there with you. In the name of Jesus our High Priest forever.
God created us for fellowship with Himself, a deep communion and oneness where heart and mind are shared. That fellowship was broken when man disobeyed in the garden, because a holy God cannot be one with sin. For a time God provided a covering through a substitute, where sin was laid upon another and its blood made a way for fellowship until sin came again. But that was only a picture of what Jesus would do.
Now the book of Hebrews tells us we can have boldness to enter the Holiest, the Holy of Holies behind the veil, by the blood of Jesus. Under the old covenant the high priest could enter that most holy place only once a year, and never without blood offered first for himself and then for the people. The veil divided the holy place from the most holy place. When Jesus suffered, was pierced, died publicly, was buried and rose again and ascended, He tore that veil. Because He lives as our sympathetic High Priest forever, the one mediator between God and man, we can come at any time into the presence of the Father, not timidly but with confidence.
That confidence rests on the sprinkling of His blood which cleanses our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Hebrews 9 teaches that the blood of Jesus does what the old sacrifices could never fully do. It does not just cover, it cleanses inwardly so that we can live in agreement with God. Fellowship requires agreement, and through His blood we are made clean and brought into agreement with Him, so fellowship is restored.
John writes that this fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, and that when we walk in it our joy is made full. It is a joy to realize the eternal God who made all things actually longs for fellowship with you and has opened the way for you to live in it. That fellowship is hindered when we walk in darkness, for what fellowship has light with darkness. But when we walk in the light as He is in the light, confessing sin and receiving His cleansing, the fellowship remains open and sweet.
You used the picture of a branch receiving sap from the vine and a child receiving life through its mother, and that is right. Jesus said He is the vine and we are the branches. We do not produce life by striving, we receive it freely by abiding in Him, coming boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need. From that place of nearness, fruit comes naturally.
Your desire to bring others into that same place is also the heart of God. John said we declare what we have seen and heard so that others may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and His Son. We bring others not by our own persuasion but by proclaiming repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name, so that they too may believe and have life, and know the assurance that comes through faith.
So I will pray for you as you asked, that the Holy Spirit who was promised by the Father and poured out through Jesus would give you wisdom and revelation to know Him better, to understand the Word and to keep a simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. May He keep your heart in first love, give you clarity and order in daily duties, and guard you from temptation, from stumbling blocks, from fear and deception and from the evil one. May He make your body, which is now the temple of the Holy Spirit, a clean and holy place where He dwells, and may your fellowship with the Trinity overflow into fellowship with family, friends, and those who do not yet know Him.
May you continue to enter with full assurance through the blood, remain in that center of love, and gently lead many others there with you. In the name of Jesus our High Priest forever.
