In our Fellowship with God we See that Christ will be Brought forth and Sin is Judged

Is anything too marvelous for Jehovah? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. (Gen. 18:14)

In Genesis 18 we see that God came in the form of a man to visit Abraham His friend, and they had a good time together. Abraham fed his guests, brought them into the tent in the shade, and took care of them.

In their conversation we cannot see any trace of Abraham fearing God or being afraid of God; rather, the two of them had a conversation as between friends. In his fellowship with the Lord in such a way, Abraham received the revelation from God regarding the birth of Isaac and the destruction of Sodom.

On the one hand, God came in a human form to visit Abraham to strengthen His promise of giving him a seed, telling him that the next year, according to the time of life, Isaac will be born (Gen. 18:14). On the other hand, God revealed to Abraham that He intends to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, the wicked cities in the plain.

The bringing forth of Isaac signifies the bringing forth of Christ, and the destruction of Sodom signifies the destruction of sin and the work of the devil. In our intimate fellowship with the Lord, as we enjoy His sweet visitation, we receive two basic revelations: sin is exposed and Christ is revealed in us to come forth from us.

What God desires is that Christ would come forth and be produced in us, and that sin and anything evil would be destroyed and eradicated from us. God judges sin and He wants Christ to be lived out in us.

And this is such a wonderful and marvelous thing! With us it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. All we have to do is remain in an intimate fellowship with the Lord, conversing with Him, listening to Him, and being open to Him.

In His time and in His way, He will reveal things to us – He will make it clear to us that, at the time of life, Christ will come forth and be lived out of us, and that sin will be judged and destroyed.

In our Sweet Fellowship with the Lord we Realize that Christ will be Brought Forth and Sin will be Judged

Genesis 18:9-22 shows us that, as Abraham was enjoying a time of sweet fellowship with his friend God, he received a revelation from Him regarding the birth of Isaac and the destruction of Sodom. The birth of Isaac is related to Christ (the coming forth of Christ out of us) and the destruction of Sodom is related to God’s judgement upon sin.

We need to have intimate fellowship with the Lord

As we remain in fellowship with the Lord, being fully open to Him and conversing with Him as with a close friend, allowing Him to speak to us and touch us, He will reveal to us two basic things: Christ must come in and sin must go out!

What God is concerned with is Christ being wrought into us so that Christ may be brought forth through us, and He wants to destroy the “Sodom” in our home life, work life, Christian life, and church life.

On the one hand, God wants to bring forth Christ in us by revealing Him in us (Gal. 1:15-16), having Christ live in us (Gal. 2:20) and being formed in us (Gal. 4:19). On the other hand, God wants to judge any sin, wickedness, lust, and lawlessness in our being, in our living, in our family life and work life, and even in our Christian life and church life.

Whenever we come to the Lord to touch Him and remain in fellowship with Him, something of Christ is wrought into us to be brought forth through us and sin is exposed by the light, we repent and confess, and it is eliminated.

In our fellowship with the Lord, as we converse with Him, He exposes the sin – sometimes in a gentle way and at other times in a strong and convicting way, causing us to repent, confess, and reject sin and anything evil. At the same time, something is happening in our being with the view of bringing forth Christ.

Don’t you have this experience? When we fellowship with the Lord and open up to Him, talking to Him about our problems and situations and listening to His speaking, we many times pray,

Thank You Lord for revealing such a wonderful Christ to me! He is so real, so fresh, and so living. I want Him to be my life and my life supply today. I want to live no longer by and in myself but in Christ, even let Christ live in me! Lord Jesus, I love You! You are the most precious One! I just love You!

Then, on the negative side, as the Lord shines on us and exposes our sins and failures, we may pray,

Lord, forgive me of my sin! I repent and confess before You. I am so selfish, I love the world, and I still have hatred and jealousy in me. Lord, forgive me of my failures and shortcomings. Judge these things and remove them from me. Cleanse me with Your blood and remove any sin from me!

At the Time of Life Christ will be Brought Forth, and this is Wonderful!

In His promise concerning the bringing forth of Isaac, God told Abraham, “Is anything too marvelous for Jehovah? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” (Gen. 18:14)

The expression, “the time of life” has a footnote in the Recovery Version which can help us understand more what it means,

The time of life (v. 10), the appointed time for the birth of Isaac (17:21), was the time of God’s visitation (21:1). The birth of Isaac was the coming of Jehovah, which was the coming of grace (cf. John 1:17). Isaac was born by the strength of God’s grace, not by the strength of man’s natural life. This took place after Abraham had been circumcised and he and his wife, Sarah, had become completely deadened (v. 11; Rom. 4:18-19), signifying that the time of life, the time when Christ will be life to us, will come after our natural strength has been terminated.

When we think we’re over and done with, God can come in to bring forth Christ through us “according to the time of life”. We don’t decide what the time of life is: God decides it, He makes the appointment, and He comes to visit us, appearing to us and working Christ into us so that Christ may be brought forth through us.

We simply need to be open to Him and remain in fellowship with Him, allowing Him to constantly work Himself into us. In His time, at the time of life – a divinely appointed time – Christ will be brought forth through us! And this is wonderful in our eyes!

Sometimes we may think that it’s impossible for Christ to be brought forth through us, but in our intimate fellowship with God we will clearly see that ALL the impossibilities (with us) become possibilities (with Christ) (see Gen. 18:14; Luke 18:27).

Don’t think that it is only in grand and special occasions that God reveals deep revelations and high peaks of the truth to us; the fellowship in which we see God’s economy and His up-to-date move takes place mostly in our intimate time with Him, in our conversations with the Lord.

The more we fellowship with the Lord and remain before Him, the more He can reveal Himself to us and work Himself into us to be brought forth through us. To us it may seem impossible, but with God nothing is impossible.

It was humanly impossible for Sarah (99 years old) and Abraham (100 years old) to have a son, but it was not impossible with God! How wonderful and marvelous it is when Christ is brought forth through us for the fulfillment of God’s purpose!

Lord, keep us in an intimate and close fellowship with You today. Judge the sin in us and remove any unrighteousness and evil thing in our being. Lord, work Yourself into us more. It is Your intention to have Christ brought forth through us: do it in us! Nothing is impossible with You and nothing is too marvelous with the Lord. Keep us open to You, intimately conversing with You and receiving Your speaking in our fellowship with You so that You may reveal Your economy to us, work Christ into us to bring Him forth through us, and judge sin to remove it from us.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Minoru Chan’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-Study of Genesis (msg. 50), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Genesis (2), week 7 / msg 7, Living in Fellowship with God.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # As I love You I set my being— / My spirit, my soul and body. / With my heart, my mind, and my strength, / Absolutely on Thee. / Lord, I let my entire being / Be occupied by Thee / As I enter in Your heart / I sense a fellowship sweet. / Occupied and lost in You; / My Lord, You’re my everything. / Fellowship so intimate; / In spirit Lord I enjoy Thee. (Song on Enjoying the Lord)
  # Lord, we want to live You / In the most intimate / And the closest contact, / Closest contact with You. / Acting according / To the index of Your eyes; / A person one with Christ, / Full of Christ. (Song on Living Christ)
  # Take time to behold Him, / Speak oft with Thy Lord, / Abide in Him always, / And feed on His Word. / Wait thou in His presence, / Submissive and meek, / Forgetting in nothing / His blessing to seek. (Hymns #643)
  # Take time to behold Him, gaze oft on His face, / Receiving His Person, and grace upon grace. / By His pleasant shining, infused we will be; / Our faces will glow with His light, radiantly. (Song on taking time to absorb God)