In 1 John 4:13, John writes that “We know we live in God and God in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” The Spirit, therefore, is the tie that binds us to God, a phrase first coined in an old hymn, “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love; the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.”
That last phrase captures what ‘the tie that binds’ is: it’s us experiencing the same fellowship that the Father and Jesus “above” experience together. Which is exactly what Jesus prayed for in John 17:26, that “the love you (Father) have for me may be in them.”
And how would that come about? By the Father giving us the Holy Spirit, John 14:16-17, because “On that day (when it happens to us personally) you’ll realize I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you” (20). It’s that kind of fellowship the Spirit would provide, “the fellowship of kindred minds like that above” – just like the fellowship the Father and Jesus have always enjoyed together.
And God has provided all kinds of experiences in our physical lives to illustrate that: in our own families, for instance, because something unseen and marvellous all over the world binds males and females to each other for life – and it happens without us even thinking about it. And it’s staggering how different two people can be, but still be happily attached to each other for life.
It’s a taste now of what life will be like forever; an unending happy attachment to God and each other – just like the ending in a child’s book: ”And they all lived happily ever after.” But that’s exactly what Jesus wants for us, and thanks to what he did on our behalf, the Father provided the means to make it possible, through the Holy Spirit “living with and in us” (14:17).
This is God’s great gift to us, because, as Paul points out in Romans 8:16, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” This is how we come to know our Father’s love, the very thing Jesus prayed for. And if ever we’re in doubt about the Father’s love, “the Spirit within us,” verse 26, “is actually praying for us in those agonizing longings which never find words” – making sure the tie that binds us to our Father is never broken. So that no matter what happens to us we reach that wonderful point John spoke of in 1 John 4:18, that “There is no fear in love”….(next blog)
Buck To Basics 