“Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Cor. 13:11-14, ESV)

I put my Bible down, with the commission that comes from the end of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians lingering in my heart. Even in the trenches of suffering, Paul faithfully took resilient steps of faith in hope, and he urged the church to do the same. I pressed in to find out what the Lord was trying to reveal to me in the final words of Paul’s letter, and by God’s grace I was brought into deeper study of a gift eternal—the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s final words demand our attention as he offers a triune blessing emphasizing the Father, Son and Spirit. The partnership painted here empowers us to walk forward in faith and participate in this holy harmony. The Father embraced grief for the sake of compassion as He released His Son into the earth. The Son embraced suffering for the sake of salvation and poured out His Spirit to invite us into divine fellowship. The Spirit embraces fellowship for the sake of sanctification as He convicts, guides and reminds us of God and His truth with us forever. Having been left with the gift of the Spirit from Jesus, we are invited to participate in the holy partnership and fellowship of God. Through the Spirit, God has invited us to continue the work of revealing Him who is redeeming and restoring all things out of love. Paul understands the importance of the worshipful partnership and the eternal gift of the Holy Spirit in us. I believe Paul hopes for us not to merely read this blessing, but to respond. A true understanding of the grace of Jesus, love of God and fellowship of the Spirit should cause a stirring within us.  

In John’s gospel account, Jesus tells the disciples that He must go to the Father, but he also promises to send the Spirit. In this great exchange, Jesus left us with something, namely someone, eternal. The Spirit’s dwelling within us is the personal promise of Jesus that God is with us. New covenant Christianity celebrates the gift that is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. We can experience the gift of the Holy Spirit as the sealed promise of the Lord’s desire to draw close and dwell in us so that more of Him may be revealed in and through us. 

God desires that we orient our hearts towards Him, cooperating with the Spirit in us such as to walk as His image bearers. The Spirit works to sanctify us, redeeming us to be transformed more into the image of God which is displayed in Christ. If we truly believe in the work of the Spirit, we can boldly approach each other in eager anticipation of the ways that Christ will reveal Himself more to us through each other. Not only has God gifted us with the company of a friend, He has placed His presence inside of that friend and in doing so reveals more of Himself to us. What a fellowship, what a joy divine. The Lord is making Himself known, and He invites us to bear this witness to each other. 

If we were to take more seriously the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, how much more would we pray that others may experience this fellowship in God through us? How often are we willing to be a conduit of this fellowship so as to offer God’s presence in us to others? To share stories, experiences and life with one another is to offer more of who God is to each other, which elevates and proclaims the way that the Spirit is at work in all of us.

Circling back to Jesus, I wonder how the example of Christ’s departure can inform the way we more seriously approach fellowship. I wonder what it would be like if, in the face of suffering, grief or absence, we could commit to offering each other something eternal, someone eternal. By embracing the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, we will become more aware of the ways we offer the Spirit’s fruit to others as a witness to Christ in us. 

I encourage you to practice what Paul preached. Leave each other with the grand commission of living in and from the great love we are caught up in between the Father and Son through the Spirit. May we be quick to bless each other with that same presence and purpose, in aiming for restoration, comfort, and peace in our journey; may we draw together in unity through the fellowship we have with the Spirit who links us all together in truth and love. I pray you reveal the fellowship of the Holy Spirit to others as the eternal presence and love of God that is being fleshed out through the Son by the Spirit in you.