As we come to the close of another year, many of us sense how different its ending feels from its beginning. Circumstances have changed: some unexpectedly, some painfully. Plans we once made confidently may have been altered, and people we relied upon may no longer walk beside us as they once did. Yet amid all these changes, one truth remains a deep and steady consolation for the Christian’s heart: God is faithful.
1 Corinthians 1:9 states, “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” God is unchanging, ever dependable, and true. Time does not weaken His purposes, nor do shifting seasons diminish His care. The God who called us “unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord”, remains the same at the year’s end as He has been at its beginning.
He has not withdrawn His hand, or forgotten His promises, or altered His commitment to His people. While much around us may have shifted, He abides as our unfailing help and enduring strength. Therefore, as we reflect on the year that will soon pass, and look ahead with uncertainty to the one before us, may we do so, resting not in our circumstances but in the steadfast faithfulness of our God.
God will also remain faithful to all His promises. He will not fail to perform what He has promised. We can trust Him to keep every word He has promised. He will not deceive us. He will not commence anything which He will not perfect and finish. Our confidence in the blessed hope that Christianity gives to us, is wholly built upon the faithfulness of God!
The apostle Paul’s purpose in presenting the truth about God’s faithfulness here, is to provide the proof for his earlier statement that the believers will be kept blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, their ultimate bliss in heaven is guaranteed by the fidelity of God. As Paul said in Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”.
Paul also reminds the believers that God has called them. He said to them, “ye were called”. It is God who called them. The word “called” here does not refer merely to an invitation, but what the theologians refer to as “the effectual calling”. When the Gospel call is given to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, some hearers will reject it. But some others would experience a deep-felt, inward call to repent and believe on Christ. Those who are effectually called do not just receive the external call of the Gospel, but also the inner call of the Gospel by the working of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. Westminster Shorter Catechism explains effectual calling as “the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel” (Q & A: 31).
When God calls us, He leads us into a close fellowship or communion with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. To be called into this fellowship is to be brought into a living, personal and abiding communion with Christ Himself. Through every changing season of the year, whether marked by joy or sorrow, clarity or confusion, Christ has not withdrawn His presence from His people. Fellowship with the Son means more than belonging to a Christian community; it means walking daily with the risen Lord, drawing strength from His grace, comfort from His promises, and direction from His Word.
As the year comes to a close, we are reminded that our greatest blessing has not been favourable circumstances, but uninterrupted communion with Christ. Therefore, as we enter a new year, let us seek to live more conscientiously and faithfully in this fellowship – abiding in Him, trusting His leading, and finding our true joy in a close and reverent walk with the Son whom the faithful God has given to us.
