The flowing of the divine life within us first is vertical between the Father, the Son, and us (1 John 1:6, 3).
The flowing of the divine life, the fellowship of life, is also horizontally between us, with one another (1 John 1:7). The horizontal aspect depends upon the vertical aspect. First John 1 says that we first have fellowship with the Father and the Son; then we have this fellowship with one another. If our fellowship is wrong vertically with the Father and the Son, we cannot have the fellowship horizontally with one another. The fellowship between us horizontally depends upon our fellowship with the Father and the Son vertically.
This vertical and horizontal fellowship is like the weaving of a textile. In this vertical and horizontal fellowship, there is the mingling of the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—with all the saints. Actually, the proper fellowship is the mingling of the Triune God with all the redeemed saints. In other words, the fellowship eventually consummates in the oneness of the Triune God with the Body of Christ. This fellowship is the flow of the life of the Triune God within us.
The source of the fellowship of life is the eternal life of God. First John 1:2-3 says that the eternal life has been reported to us that we may have fellowship. This word proves that the fellowship comes out of the eternal life. The eternal life is the source of this fellowship. Just as the electrical current comes out of the power plant, the fellowship comes out of the eternal life.
Many in Christianity think that fellowship is a kind of social contact in a social association with social activities. But fellowship is not a kind of social contact. We have to reject that. We do not want that. The real and genuine fellowship among us originates in the eternal, divine life. If the source is wrong, that is not the genuine fellowship.
The means by which the fellowship of life is carried out is the Holy Spirit, so it is called the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in 2 Corinthians 13:14. The Holy Spirit is the instrument, the means, that carries out this fellowship. Actually, it is really hard for us in our experience to differentiate these three things: the fellowship, the life, and the Spirit. These three things are one. The life is the source, the fellowship is the flow, and the Spirit is the carrier, the means. In our experience we cannot differentiate them, but in our explanation of the truth we can.