~Heb. 12:28-29~ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
~Deut. 4:23-24~ Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
~Deut. 9:3~ But be assured today that the Lord your God is like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you. (Speaking of God going ahead of the Israelites and destroying their enemies)
~Ex. 24:17~ To the Israelites the GLORY of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. (when Moses was on Mount Sinai with the Lord)
As I mentioned at the beginning of the year, my word of the year is KNOW. My desire is to KNOW God...to really know Him. The past several weeks I have been studying and thinking about...and sometimes struggling with the fact that my "God is a consuming fire". As a child, growing up, I really struggled with this idea. If God is Love and Peace and Goodness and Mercy and Forgiveness HOW can he also be a consuming fire. In my mind fire was a bad thing. After all, the wicked will be spending eternity in an everlasting fire!
I have come to the conclusion, that the reality is that God is so completely, totally and utterly HOLY and GOOD that He is a consuming fire of holiness, burning up anything unholy. The holiness of God is that part of His nature that most separates Him from sinful man. Only the righteous can withstand the consuming fire of God's wrath against sin, because sin is an offense to God's holiness. But, no amount of our OWN righteousness is sufficient. Fortunately, Christ mitigates God's wrath, exchanging His perfect righteousness for our sin.! "God made him who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God:" 2Cor. 5:21
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God (Heb. 10:31), but we need not fear the consuming fire of God if we are covered by the purifying blood of Christ.
God's wrath is against all the godlessness and wickedness of men. (Rom 1:18) Wrath is not upon men themselves, but upon the SINS of men. God's wrath is against the sin to which man clings and will not leave. God is so loving and holy that he can absolutely not tolerate sin. Hell was not prepared for men, but for Satan and his angels. God's total and complete desire is that no man should perish, but that EVERY man will have everlasting life with him. He has gone to GREAT effort to assure that it is possible for us all to be with Him. He sent his one and only son to assure that. A GIFT for all mankind. We must accept it!
Our God is a Consuming Fire of LOVE and HOLINESS!!!!!!!
Love,
Wendy
