Brief note about the book: Owen split this book into three parts: Part 1 is on communion with God the Father, Part 2 is communion with God the Son, and Part 3 is communion with God the Spirit. The original title Owen gave the book is Communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Each Person Distinctly; in Love, Grace, and Consolation.
Part 1, Chapter 1:
In this first chapter, Owen lays the groundwork for the idea of communion. Of interest to me was his discussion of our lack of communion apart from Christ. Adam had perfect communion with God, but as soon as sin entered the picture, it was gone. Owen contrasts God’s nature with our nature to show how true communion is impossible. He says, “[God] is light, we darkness; and what communion has light with darkness (2 Cor 6:14)?” He continues, “He is life, we are dead – He is love, we are enmity.”
Even Old Testament believers didn’t have the closeness that we have through Christ. He sights Abraham (Isa 41:8), David (1 Sam 13:14), and Enoch (Gen 5:22) as having close relationships with God, but they did not have “boldness and confidence in that communion” or “freedom and liberty in their access to God” (Heb 9:8-9). These things were made available through Christ, “in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him” (Eph 3:12).
Finally, Owen closes with his definition of communion:
Our communion, then, with God consists in His communication of Himself unto us, with our return unto Him of that which He requires and accepts, flowing from that union which in Jesus Christ we have with Him.
