This morning we continue our series entitled, “Power of Fellowship.” I spent the first 8 weeks of this series teaching on our upward relationship with the Father. I am excited to now transition to our outward relationship with others. Today I will lay the foundation. In order to do so we will go back to the beginning and look at three passages from the creation account in Genesis.
(Genesis 1:3-5)
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
(Genesis 1:31)
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
(Genesis 2:18)
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. God created the world and everything in it (outside of mankind) in five days. On the sixth day God created man and put him in charge of everything He created. In the creation account, at the end of every day the Lord saw what He made and called it “good”. When He was done creating everything, including man, God looked at everything He had made and called it all “very good”. But later God saw something and said it was “not good”. The first time something was called “not good” in the Bible was in reference to Adam being all alone (alone = all one). Being alone is NOT GOOD. God did not create us to be isolated beings. We were created to have fellowship with other people.
2. Before God created Eve from Adam, Adam was already thriving. God had given him POWER over the entire planet and everything in it. He was given PURPOSE, because He was in charge of running the Garden of Eden. Adam had PROVISION, because he had access to more than enough of everything. Adam had PARAMETERS, because God told him that he could eat from every tree except one. This made Adam a free moral agent, with the ability to make his own decisions. This is also good because power without parameters is dangerous. You need Godly parameters in order to live a life that is pleasing in God’s sight. So Adam had power, purpose, provision, and parameters, but the one thing he lacked was PARTNERSHIP. Adam had a great upward relationship with God, but he had no outward relationship with another human. So God gave him Eve. The point here is that your life will never be complete without strong relationships with other people. If you have a strong relationship with God, that is good, but it is not enough. True fulfillment comes when your love for a God you cannot see is manifested in your love for people that you see everyday.
3. God called being alone “not good”. So it does not matter how amazing your relationship is with God, and it does not matter how much stuff you have accumulated in this world, you will never be truly fulfilled until you have relationships with other humans. You were created to fellowship with BOTH God and man.
4. In the New Testament Jesus summed up the entire Old Testament into two things: loving God and loving man. Notice that He did not just require us to have a love for God. No. If we are going to live a life that is pleasing in God’s sight, we must have love for Him and love for others. The Apostle John told us that if we claim to love a God we cannot see, but we fail to love those we can see, we are lying (1 John 4:20). The proof that you love God is in your love for others. Jesus said that this is how people were going to know that we are His disciples (John 13:35). Your love for others is the proof.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, You have made it clear to me, in Your Word, that it is NOT GOOD for man to be alone. It is NOT GOOD for me to be ALL ONE. So I thank You for loving me enough to allow me to have a direct relationship with You. My relationship with You is amazing. But my relationship with You, a God I cannot see, is not enough. You made me to fellowship with others. So my relationship with You spills over into my relationships with other people. My love for You is proven in my love for others. I enter this day determined to enjoy my relationships with God and man. I need others and You have placed some amazing people in my life. I will honor and celebrate them today! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
