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Thoughts of...Consuming Fire
The Word of God says that God is a consuming fire (, ). Those words sound very ominous to us. But could there be something else to consider when we meditate on them?
Preparation for last Sunday’s message on Revelation 9:1-12 led me to a topical study of hell. Most unbelievers either deny the existence of hell or mock it by characterizing it as a party zone. Most churches ignore the topic of hell because it is offensive, not “warm and fuzzy.” Regardless of what a person believes about it or how a pastor deals with the topic, the reality of hell is clearly established in the Word of God.
Hell is a place of judgment reserved for fallen angels (, , ). Hell is also a place of punishment of unrepentant, unbelieving, Christ-rejecting men (; Matt 25:31-46; ). Finally, hell is temporary, a halfway house between physical life and the greater reality of eternal spiritual death (, ; ; ; ).
Hell, during the age of this heaven and earth, and the Lake of Fire, for all eternity, are real places of never-ending torment and never-consuming fire.
In contrast, God is a consuming fire.
God is holy (, ). God is a jealous God (, ). His consuming fire, like the refiner’s fire, purifies (). God is also ready to pardon, gracious, merciful, slow to anger, full of compassion, and of great kindness (, , , , ). Accordingly, His righteous anger is short-lived (, , ).
The fire of God consumes impurities and then ceases. The fires of hell and the Lake of Fire never consume and never cease. Therefore, in the words “God is a consuming fire,” we see the mercy of a loving God Who is longsuffering (), not willing that any would feel the fire that is never quenched but that all would come to repentance ().
Pastor Doug
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