Our God is a CONSUMING FIRE and what do you think He consumes? Flesh. All that is a stumbling stone to us His fire –He Himself–consumes so that it is gone from us.
When Jesus was offered up as a sacrifice for our sin it was in fulfillment of the sacrifices Israel had made over and over again. Christ was a sweet smelling aroma, a burnt offering for our sin. And we WERE IN HIM on the cross being sacrificed for sin which we had done, but He had not.
He made Him Who knew NO SIN to be sin for us or a sin offering for us. We now lift up Jesus as our sin offering and walk in the full forgiveness of that atoning work. He is the propitiation for our sins and not ours only but for the WHOLE WORLD.
Thus the FIRE OF GOD is the SACRIFICE OF JESUS –consuming all sins and leaving ONLY HOLINESS in their place.
What was burned up on the cross? The old man of sin! He was done away with–rendered inoperable! That was the OLD man that we were in union with. But now we through death in Christ are in union with the Living Man -Jesus Christ. The Man whose eyes are fire. We are in Him who is true. In Him who is the fire of God. The fire that continually purges away sins and burns brighter than the sun in us.
When God contemplated Jerusalem with all her bloodshed and murder and sin he said that she would come through all that by the spirit of judgement and the spirit of burning!!
Isa 4:3 And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.
Isa 4:4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning,
The judgement and burning are RESTORATIVE not destructive to the person. His judgements restore us to His Holiness. His burnings deliver us from those things that have caused us to stumble.
Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
Isa 33:15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, He who despises the gain of oppressions, Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, And shuts his eyes from seeing evil:
Isa 33:16 He will dwell on high; His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; Bread will be given him, His water will be sure.
Isa 33:17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will see the land that is very far off.
Seen through the Gospel the passage above is speaking of the one who has come to God through Jesus Christ.
THE DEVOURING FIRE IS OUR GOD!! THE EVERLASTING BURNINGS IS OUR GOD! And the only way we can dwell with Him is through being IN Jesus the burnt offering and sin offering made for us all. The sweet sacrifice for all sin is Jesus and the FIRE OF GOD has found your sin and mine in Jesus and burned it completely to ash. We are now made the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD in Christ Jesus!!
WE dwell with the devouring fire–the CONSUMING FIRE….we dwell and ABIDE IN THE EVERLASTING BURNINGS!! We ourselves ARE NOT BURNED…only those things of the Old Creation have been destroyed by His Fire of jealous love.
His Fire is in our heart for His heart is ONE with our heart. I in you and You in me Lord Jesus!! Your burnings are always in my heart–so that my words are a fire that consumes the chaff!!
He has JUDGED all our sins and consumed them in His everlasting fire! We are like the 3 young men tossed into the burning firie furnace and the fire did not consume them nor did they smell like smoke–for the 4th Man was with them…the only thing that was consumed was the ropes that bound them tight to sin.
Another example
When Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up on His throne and the train of His robe filled the Temple….FIRE WAS INVOLVED to cleanse the prophet of sin.
Isa 6:5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.”
Isa 6:6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.
Isa 6:7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”
A Live Coal from the altar.
Friend there is ONLY ONE ALTAR.
When Jesus ascended to His Father and our Father He took with Him His own BLOOD…and ENTERED THE HOLY PLACE NOT MADE WITH HANDS…AND THERE HE OFFERED ONCE AND FOR ALL HIS OWN BLOOD UPON THE ALTAR OF GOD….BLOOD THAT WAS LIKE A RAGING FIRE FULL OF LIFE AND LOVE AND MERCY.
Jesus BLOOD LIT UP that ALTAR which shall NEVER EVER GO OUT OR WANE OR GROW DIM….But that FIRE rages and consumes sins forever and ever. That ALTAR IS IN YOUR HEART!!
The ALTAR is the MERCY SEAT upon the Ark of the Covenant upon which were the two Cherubim with their wings outstretched over the mercy seat. There Jesus dripped His blood for your sin and mine and all creation.
That MERCY SEAT is your heart my friend!! That is the place where God sits ENTHRONED ALWAYS SEEING THE BLOOD OF JESUS—LIKE A FIRE BURNING–A RIVER OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE!! CONTINUALLY JUDGING AND BURNING SIN—CONTINUALLY MAKING HOLY AND PURGING INIQUITY IN THE EVER PRESENT NOW OF ALL EXISTENCE, IN EVERY AGE PAST AND PRESENT!!
Your heart is the ALTAR of God and Jesus is the FIRE.
From that ONE ALTAR the seraphim took a LIVE, living coal of fire and touched the prophet’s lips and took away his iniquity and purged completely his sin. Of course that was a vision Isaiah had and not a real happening. He could not have his sin and iniquity purged and taken away because Jesus had not yet died for sin and risen for righteousness.
BUT IT HAS HAPPENED FOR US!!!
That living coal of fire from the altar of sacrifice HAS touched your mouth and HAS taken away your iniquities and purged your sin.
You are already clean–purged—pruned, Jesus said in Jn 15. You have come to the CONSUMING FIRE —to God Himself through the Way–Jesus Christ. And you have been burned and purged and judged by the everlasting burnings and your sins have been forgiven and purged and cleansed away forever.
So think of the Lake of fire that awaits all whose names are not yet written in the book of Life or the Lamb. What do you think that Fire is for? Not to destroy BUT TO SET FREE!!! The Fire shall purge and cleanse away all evil and set the prisoners free!!
The Fire is the very LOVE of God the Father who loves His Creation with a never ending love and He shall consume all that offends and set every man and woman FREE!! That Fire CANNOT BE SEPARATED from the SACRIFICE OF JESUS—That Fire is the very SACRIFICIAL BLOOD of the Son of God which BURNS WITH AN INTENSITY OF PURE LOVE FOR THE SINNER and hatred of all that is sin. His Fire//His Love///His Blood shall PURGE AWAY AND CLEANSE AND SET FREE ALL WHO HAVE NOT YET BEEN SET FREE.
Be glad and rejoice!! God is A GOOD GOD!!
