{"id":4803,"date":"2014-08-31T20:24:54","date_gmt":"2014-08-31T20:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pjhmail.wordpress.com\/?p=4803"},"modified":"2014-08-31T20:24:54","modified_gmt":"2014-08-31T20:24:54","slug":"new-section-of-fs-book-jesus-fellows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/4803\/new-section-of-fs-book-jesus-fellows\/","title":{"rendered":"New section of F&S book, “Jesus’ Fellows”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey John,<\/span><\/p>\n

This\u00a0\u200b(below) is so good! \u00a0One of my favorite thoughts from this section is when you write, “Every time God fills another repentant soul with His kind of life, the Father creates for His son another fellow”.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, that we share the same kind of life as the Creator of this whole universe is hard for me to take in! \u00a0Secondly, I love the thought of being one of Jesus’ fellows. \u00a0That is so special! \u00a0And I love the other fellows he’s put in my life!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We really do “share a certain kind of life and experience with one another” that cannot be explained with words, because it’s in the spirit and it’s beyond words. \u00a0I understand why the apostles “marveled at this grace”. \u00a0To have God’s kind of life and be one of Jesus’ fellows really is a marvelous thing!<\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet thoughts to think about tonight! \u00a0I appreciate the tremendous work you’ve put into this book! \u00a0I’m looking forward to seeing it in print and out there for Jesus’ other fellows to read and be encouraged by.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lee Ann<\/span><\/p>\n

=============<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God\u2019s \u201cFellow\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A \u201cfellow\u201d is one who shares a certain kind of life or experience with another. Before the Spirit was given to men on the day of Pentecost, only the Son shared God\u2019s kind of life. But since the Son had not yet been revealed, no one knew that God had a fellow. For God to be unique, it would seem that such a thing was impossible. How could the Almighty have a fellow, a companion who thought His thoughts and shared His feelings? Nobody in heaven or earth could have answered that question before the Son was revealed. Or, more probably, everyone would have confidently given the wrong answer, namely that there was no fellow with God, that there could never be anyone enough like Him to be considered His fellow \u2013 even though God Himself, through one of the prophets, said there\u00a0wasone!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus was quoting the prophet Zechariah (13:7b) when he told his disciples that they were about to desert him. He made it clear to them that Zechariah\u2019s words were a prophecy of what would take place that very night:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew 26<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Tonight, all of you will be offended because of me, for it is written, \u201cI will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The disciples did not believe what Jesus said, and they all insisted that they would never desert him (Mt. 26:33\u201335), even though within hours, they all did just that. But there is more to Zechariah\u2019s prophecy than Jesus quoted, and it was good that he did not quote all of it. Doing so would have given his disciples more problems than the first part did, for in that other half of Zechariah\u2019s prophecy, God referred to the smitten Shepherd as His fellow:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    Zechariah 13<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7a. \u201cAwake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is my fellow,\u201d says the Lord of hosts.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    If God said He had a fellow, then what are we to believe but that He had one?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    The Son\u2019s Fellows<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    A scripture quoted previously for a different purpose contains an astonishing, little-recognized element.\u00a0 For in that verse, the Father promises His hidden Son that he, too, would have fellows.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    Psalm 45<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [6] Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [7] Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    This is an incredible prophecy, considering the greatness of the Son.\u00a0 Had anyone in the Psalmist\u2019s time known about the Son, it would have seemed to that person as impossible for the Son to have fellows as it seemed for the Father to have one.\u00a0 But since no one knew that the Father had created a Son as His fellow, no one could have understood this mysterious promise of the Father to the Son.\u00a0 Nevertheless, that promise of the Father was kept on the day of Pentecost when God shared His life with about 120 of Jesus\u2019 followers, creating fellows for His Son.\u00a0 Since that wonderful day, God has continued to keep His promise, again and again.\u00a0 Every time God fills another repentant soul with His kind of life, the Father creates for His Son another fellow.\u00a0 The apostles marveled at this grace.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    1John 3<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Oh, what great love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!\u00a0 The reason the world doesn\u2019t knowyou is that it didn\u2019t know him.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Romans 8<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Hebrews 12<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [9] Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the\u00a0 Father of spirits, and live?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

        \u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/em>[10] For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

        This is what biblical \u201cfellowship\u201d is, and it was a matter of the greatest joy to John to be able to say, \u201cour fellowship truly\u00a0is\u00a0with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ!\u201d (1Jn. 1:3).\u00a0 Paul\u2019s joy for the new experience of divine fellowship with others was expressed this way to the Corinthians:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

        1Corinthians 1<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. I thank my God always foryou, for the grace of God which is given toyou in Christ Jesus,<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n
        2. that in every way,you are enriched in him, in all speech and in all knowledge,<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          . . .<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 9b.\u00a0 by whom\u00a0you were called out, into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Hey John, This\u00a0\u200b(below) is so good! \u00a0One of my favorite thoughts from this section is when you write, “Every time God fills another repentant soul with His kind of life, the Father creates for His son another fellow”.\u00a0 First of all, that we share the same kind of life as the Creator of this whole […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-netmail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4803"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}