You can learn to fellowship with God. He wants to be with and enjoy his people.
Who do you like to hang out with? Although text messages, phone calls, and video calls are a helpful substitute when we can’t get together with someone we enjoy, what we really want is to be together in the same room, at the same table, around the same food or activity.
The biblical word for this is fellowship. One of the surprising things we learn about God is that he loves fellowship. He loves to hang out with you. He enjoys simply being together.
Fellowship with God at the beginning
We see this from the start with Adam and Eve. Genesis 3 says, “They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:8–9 ESV).
Although we’re not told, based on what we learn about God in the rest of Scripture, it seems likely his visit to the garden was not unusual. It appears he came in human form, in a preincarnate manifestation of the Son of God (that is, the Son did not yet live in a human body, but he appeared in the form of a man). He came to walk and talk with Adam and Eve, his creation. He came to fellowship.
Unfortunately, their sin ruined that sweet time together.
Fellowship continues
But even after the Fall, with all its devastating consequences, humans could still fellowship with God. Genesis 5:24 says of Enoch that he “walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” The implication is that God took him because he delighted so thoroughly in him.
When the Lord delivered Israel from Egypt, he instructed Moses to create for him a tabernacle in which he could dwell, so that he could live among his people.
When the Son of God was conceived in the womb of Mary, Scripture explains, “‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)’” (Matthew 1:23).
The future of fellowship with God
And this is the Lord’s plan for eternity.
After a detailed description of the future, eternal city of God, the last verse in the OT book of Ezekiel says, “The name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD Is There” (Ezekiel 48:35).
Revelation, the last book of the Bible, reveals the future that awaits believers:
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”(Revelation 21:1–5)
This describes God as so near to his people he is wiping the tears from their eyes!
But it’s not always that easy
It’s important to understand God’s desire for loving companionship with us because our experiences in this life can sometimes persuade us otherwise. Has God ever seemed far away to you? Have you ever sought him earnestly but felt as though you didn’t sense his presence? Have you ever wanted him to speak to you, but all you heard was your own heartbeat?
Then there is the matter of God’s holiness. The Bible says many things about this wonderful and important quality of his, but the one thing his holiness usually does not suggest is that he just wants to “hang out,” relax, and be together. In the Old Testament, God’s holiness instead provoked sinful humans to fear and required separation from him.
The door is open through Jesus
But as a result of the atoning death of Jesus on the cross and his blood that now covers all our sin, we are in a different situation:
“Indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3, ESV). And lest you think the third member of the Trinity is left out, 2 Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
The Father wants to fellowship with you. The Son wants to fellowship with you. The Holy Spirit wants to fellowship with you. His love is a fellowshipping kind of love, not a distancing love. In his love for you, he enjoys your companionship. He doesn’t want separation. Jesus prayed, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am” (John 17:24).
Notice that 1 John 1:3 emphasized the reality of our fellowship with God with the word indeed: “indeed our fellowship is with….” In other words, the fellowship we can have with God has the potential to be the most intense and satisfying fellowship we can experience.
That is because God is one with us and lives within us through the Holy Spirit. He is as close, connected, and intimate with you as another person can be. A Christian is never alone. The Lord’s fellowship is always with you, and you become consciously aware of it when you turn your attention to him.
How to experience fellowship with God
1. Practice God’s presence
To experience fellowship with God deeply and regularly, we need to learn to practice the presence of God.
2. Walk in the light
On the other hand, the greatest hindrance to experiencing fellowship with God is if we take pleasure in fellowship with the world, if we enjoy the spirit of the world. (1 John 2:15–16; 1 Corinthians 2:12)
2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1 says, “14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial [Belial is a name of Satan]? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.’ 1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”
God is light, and he fellowships with light. When you keep your soul as a place of light and purity, you can fellowship with God readily.
3. Scripture and church
Finally, we normally experience fellowship with the Lord most intensely as we read and meditate on Scripture, as we worship and give thanks to him, and as we worship and fellowship with his people. (I say “normally” because the brokenness of one’s soul, one’s wrong understandings about God, and even the attacks of demons if through evil-doing you give them access into your life, can interfere with the free and open enjoyment of God in these ways. I can’t elaborate on that in this post.)
Our way and God’s way
Our way: Doing what comes naturally, we pay attention to what we see and hear, not the invisible and usually subtle presence of God.
God’s way: The Lord delights in our companionship, but he rarely forces himself upon us.
Life principle: If we are to fellowship with God, we must pursue him intentionally. We must practice his presence.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)