John says that he and the other apostles heard the Word, saw the Word, touched the Word of life that was manifested by the Father, and that’s what he’s shared with everyone. And this is so that everyone may have fellowship with them and that all together they might have fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus. And the point of all that fellowship is overflowing joy.
Sin is the intruder in relationships. It seeps in and causes distrust, fear, suspicions. But sin causes death, and death is the great divider. Death divides from God, from one another. It is the darkness and silence in which there can be no fellowship, no communion. This is what sin does in families, in communities, even in nations. It tangles, confuses, unravels, divides.
But we are witnesses of the miracle of grace. We are witnesses of a different Word. Not the Word of Judgment. Not the Word of Condemnation. Not the Word of Confusion. Not the Word of Accusation. No, we are witnesses of the Word of Life. And this Life cannot be overcome by Death. In fact, it has already overcome death. Jesus has triumphed over the grave. The gates of Hell are shattered. Sin is defanged. Satan is disarmed. That is the Word of Life, and that is the Word that we see and hear and touch at this table. Here we are family, and we have fellowship with one another, and with the Father and His Son Jesus, and with all the saints throughout the ages. And since all things are being healed, all things are being put back together, we have a joy that is full and overflowing. So look around you. This is the beginning of Life, the beginning of indestructible life. Give thanks and rejoice.
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