Obstacles to Communion with Christ - And how communion can be restored
Ernst-August Bremicker
Having fellowship with divine persons and with one another is a great thing! ‘That which we have seen and heard we report to you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is indeed with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ’ (1 John 1:3). But the enjoyment of this fellowship (or communion) is not unbreakable. There are moments and influences in our lives as children of God when the enjoyment of it is clouded or even interrupted.
We experienced a similar thing in childhood. Our relations with our parents were disturbed when we had done something wrong, and while the matter was unresolved. Then our conscience was pricked, and we felt uncomfortable around our father and mother.
Of course, a child always remains a child — even if he or she has done something wrong. But the joy of the relationship can be lost. This is not different when it comes to our relationship with God. Each one who is born of God remains a child of God, but that is only one side of the coin. The other side has to do with the joy of that relationship, and there may be things in our lives that rob us of the joy of being a child of God and having fellowship with Him.
We have probably all experienced this at times. Suddenly there is no motivation for personal Bible devotions. Our prayer life is no longer vibrant, or we (almost) don’t pray at all. And the joy of gathering with fellow believers is also lost. What has happened, and how can we correct it?
The great obstacle to practical communion is sin that we allow in our lives. Sin defiles, and, when that happens, fellowship is tarnished. Sin robs us of our spiritual strength and impairs our spiritual discernment. This even applies in the case of sins that we ourselves have not (yet) recognised as sins. An unconscious sin is certainly not as far-reaching in its effects (insofar as communion with God is concerned) as a sin in which we consciously disregard the will of God, but it will still have a negative impact.
The way back is confession of what we have done wrong. This is the only way to be cleansed and have our practical fellowship with God restored. ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9).
The book of Leviticus gives help in this matter. We learn firstly what clouds practical communion and secondly how this communion can be revived. Anyone who reads Leviticus carefully will notice how often the words ‘unclean’ and ‘uncleanness’ occur in it — more often than in any other book of the Bible. This is especially so in chapters 11–15. Chapter 11 is about food regulations for Israel (clean and unclean animals). Chapter 12 concerns the defilement of a woman after childbirth. Chapters 13–15 deal with ‘the law of the leper’, i.e. they describe the defilement of an Israelite by what was then an incurable disease. It will not surprise us that there are important lessons in this for us.
Leviticus 11 — Eating clean and unclean animals
The New Testament teaches us clearly that the food regulations of Leviticus 11 do not apply literally to us as Christians (Col. 2:21; 1 Tim. 4:3). However, they have a spiritual meaning and an important lesson to teach us.
The well-known phrase ‘You are what you eat’ illustrates the vital importance of nourishing our inner man — our hearts and minds — with the right ‘food’. This will shape our spiritual lives in a good way. The world offers us plenty of ‘food’ but much of it will take away our taste for God’s Word. Media, literature, movies, games and other things can pollute our thoughts with wrong ideas. This will disturb our practical fellowship with the Lord. We will move away from Him inwardly — and perhaps this will affect our behaviour too.
Leviticus 12 — Defilement of a woman after childbirth
This chapter is the shortest chapter in Leviticus. At first sight, it seems to have no meaning for us today. It discusses the defilement of a woman after she has given birth to a child. Depending on whether she had a boy or a girl, she was not allowed to come to the sanctuary for a certain time. This was only possible after she had brought a suitable offering.
The teaching in this for us is that we need to realise we have been born in sin. In Psalm 51, David writes: ‘Behold, in iniquity was I brought forth, and in sin did my mother conceive me’ (v. 5). He wrote this psalm after he was convicted of his guilt in committing adultery with Bathsheba and arranging the death of her husband. He yearned for his fellowship with God to be restored and desired the joy of salvation again (v. 12), but this was only possible if he judged and confessed his sin. This is the only way for us too when we sin. We must return to God in the same way, remembering that the Lord Jesus had to suffer and die for every sin.
Leviticus 13–15 — Different forms of leprosy
After the short chapter 12, three long chapters follow that show in detail the way to deal with leprosy. This was an incurable disease at that time. It manifested itself in various forms but in all cases a leper had to be separated from other people (the risk of infection was very high). He could no longer enter the sanctuary, i.e. he could not offer sacrifices to God. Again and again, we read that he was ‘unclean’.
There was only one way of purification. If the whole body was covered with leprosy, the leper was declared clean (Lev 13:12–13). We may wonder at this provision. Why should someone who was completely afflicted with leprosy be declared clean? This is precisely the important spiritual teaching for us. Leprosy is a picture of sin, which also manifests itself in very different forms. Sin always separates from God. It defiles and makes communion with Him impossible. It is only when a person recognises there is nothing good in him at all and he is bankrupt before God that he can be cleansed.
The detailed instructions for the cleansing of the leper illustrate how God accepts a person who recognises himself a sinner on the basis of the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. It is the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7).
What is true for the sinner who takes refuge in Jesus Christ for the first time and is washed clean in His blood is also true for believers. Sin in our lives interrupts the enjoyment of fellowship with God, and with other believers. The way back is through Calvary. It is not that we must be converted a second time (we can only be converted once) but that in confessing our guilt, we acknowledge that every sin we commit as believers has made our Saviour’s burden more difficult and His suffering greater. To consider this is a painful — but salutary — matter.
Conclusion
The bad news is that believers, unfortunately, can still sin. When this occurs, we defile ourselves, and this defilement hinders our practical enjoyment of communion with the Lord.
The good news is that defilement need not, and should not, be a permanent condition. Purification is possible. Self-judgment and confession of our wrongdoing lead us back into happy fellowship with our Lord.
From: Truth and Testimony, 2024