Full Joy Through Fellowship
One could say that the children of God—and such are addressed here—may already breathe something of the “air of heaven” while still on earth: fellowship with the Father and the Son. This can result in nothing other than full joy.
It is certainly true that eternal life will unfold unhindered only in the glory of the Father’s house. Yet we already possess it now and are therefore already able to have fellowship with the Father and the Son, for John writes: “and indeed our fellowship” (v. 3). Now he writes, by divine inspiration, about eternal life so that we too may have the same fellowship. With what purpose? “That your joy may be full.”
Eternal life is a present possession (cf. 1 John 5:13). Even now, we may have fellowship with divine persons and enjoy the joy that flows from it.
The Nature of This Joy
But what kind of joy is this? The word “full” can also be translated “complete,” “fulfilled,” or “brought to perfection.” All these expressions show that it is a joy that cannot be increased. Nothing is lacking; there can be no greater joy. It is a divine, pure joy.
This world has much to offer—but not for eternal life. Eternal life longs for God. If we truly have fellowship with God, we are in harmony with Him. Then eternal life is, as it were, at home. That can only result in this complete joy.
The Contrast with the World
Do we know something of this joy? Do we long for fellowship with the Father and the Son? “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:16).
We cannot occupy ourselves with the things of this world and at the same time have fellowship with the Father. The world may promise joy and fulfillment, but it does not know the “full joy” that results from fellowship with the Father and the Son. How could it? It rejects the One through whom alone eternal life—necessary for fellowship with divine persons—can be received.
The world may have its “pleasures”; it knows the “temporary pleasure of sin,” but it does not know the real, deep, and lasting joy that comes from fellowship with the Father and the Son. That joy belongs, in principle, only to the children of God.
A Call to Practical Separation
Yet to enjoy it, we must live in practical separation from the world. One cannot expect to indulge in the things of this world and at the same time have fellowship with divine persons and enjoy the joy that flows from it.
A child of God who reaches out for the things of the world does not cease to be a child of God, because eternal life cannot be lost. But such a person lives in a very miserable condition. Because he is a child of God, he cannot truly enjoy the things of the world. Yet because he seeks to enjoy them and they have gained a place in his heart, he also cannot enjoy the things that arise from fellowship with God.
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