Our God is a consuming fire...

Fire is an interesting process.  I call it a process because it is not a ‘thing’, per se. It is a chemical reaction – oxidation to be precise.  The flames that we see are the glowing of the hot gases that are being released during the rapid oxidation of the fuel in the chemical process of combustion.

Fire is useful in that is can produce energy, heat, can cook food, illuminate a dark night, and scare away hungry animals!  But fire also has a destructive side – it consumes the material that is its fuel. That might be the wick of a candle, a pile of logs, or a huge forest.  Houses, even entire cities can be consumed by it. When dealing with a fire, our opinions of how fire should react are moot; fire must be dealt with based on the reality of the natural laws of combustion.

Fire also plays a prominent role in the bible.  In Genesis it was a tool of God’s judgment against the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Exodus it was the medium though which God spoke to Moses in the burning bush. Fire was a guiding light as a column of fire guided the Israelites in the desert. Fire was a part of the sacrificial ritual, consuming the burnt offering as it was placed on the altar. 

In the New Testament, Paul noted that each person’s work will be tested by fire, and what passes through will be what we are rewarded on. Peter tells us that at the end of this age the heavens and the earth will be dissolved with fire, making way for a new heaven and a new earth. Finally in Revelation, we are told that there exists a lake of fire, and it is reserved for Satan and those who follow Him in rebellion against the Lord, followed by the sober statement “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”

And in Hebrews 12, we find this statement: “For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:29). On initial reading, that statement might have the affect of us keeping our distance. Who wants to be burned and consumed by fire? Yet the statement is made in the context of a letter that encourages to “draw near to God” (Heb 7:19 & 10:22). It is made in the context of a section of scripture that is encouraging us “come to Mt Zion, to the city of the living God” (Heb 12:22). We are encouraged to hear His voice, the voice of the one who shakes the earth when He speaks. I believe the point is this:  Since God is in fact a consuming fire, we must come to Him on His terms.  We cannot approach Him on our terms. God is God, we are not, and He sets the terms, and the only terms by which we can approach God is the unmerited approval that we have in Jesus.  Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6).  All who come to the Father through Jesus Christ are free to approach the throne boldly.  All who are outside of that sphere will be consumed.

Perhaps some fear facing God, but we are promised:

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel – Heb 12:22-24

Join us Sunday, as we finish up Hebrews 12 - "Our God is a Consuming Fire."

Pastor Clay

A Fun Week

As most of you know this past week I had another surgery on my leg to straighten out the prior surgery, which had ended with my right foot pointed 25 degree’s  due east.   A fun week indeed! I now have this Iron-man looking gizmo attached to my lower leg that will slowly turn my foot back to the correct orientation. The wonders of modern technology!

But even as wonderful as our medical technology is, one thing is true; my leg will never be the same as it was.  Unfortunately we all have the same problem, as the effects of time and entropy is causing all of our bodies to slowly degrade, until one day our body will stop working altogether and they will box us up and put us in the ground.

And that point brings me to our celebration of Easter (strange, I know). Think about it, what do we celebrate at Easter?  We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ!  In the year 32 AD Jesus experienced something that millions before Him, and millions after Him experienced:  Death.  But what makes Easter unique, what made Jesus unique, is the fact that death was not the end for Jesus.  Jesus experienced death, but then Jesus rose from the grave! We could say Easter was pretty special for Jesus.  But Easter is special for us too, because Jesus resurrection was a PROMISE to mankind that what He experienced, we can also experience!  Jesus went to the cross willingly because He knew what was on the other side of it, and we can take comfort in that. We can celebrate Easter because we know that we too will be raised from the dead, just as Jesus was:

And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. – Rom 8:23

Join us tomorrow at Calvary Chapel for our Easter Celebration, at 9 & 11 am, followed buy a cookout and family fun day!

…till the whole world hears.

Pastor Clay

Rising above the Fray

Last week we talked about how when the trials and tribulations of life come, the one place we can look is to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith!

But did you ever stop to consider that the difficulties of life actually serve a purpose? Most of us instinctively avoid trials. I mean, who wants problems? But in reality, it is the difficulties that come into our life that shape and mold us.   It is the trials in life that strengthen us. And make no mistake, God is aware that a life of ease and tranquility will never develop the life of faith that we will need to walk where God has called us to walk.  When Jeremiah complained that the life of ministry was too tough, the Lord encouraged him:

 “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? – Jer 12:5

Trials can also be a powerful tool in the hands of a loving God to put us back on course when we stray. They are a form a discipline.

Trials also are a testimony to the world.  No one is impressed if the person that has a perfect life loves God.  “Of course they love God” they say, “look how God has blessed them.”  But if we can sing words of praise while we are walking through a tough situation, that says something. (I think of Job when said “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” Job 13:15).

Guys, every situation that comes into our lives has been sifted through the hands of our loving Heavenly Father.

Join us Sunday as we dive into Hebrews 12, as we continue the race to faith.

Pastor Clay

We can be Heroes

I remember as a kid I used to imagine being a super-hero. The thought of being able to fly, lift heavy objects, having bullets bounce off my chest… how cool would that be!  But once I got older, reality set in, and I came to terms with the fact that I was, well, just normal.

But as we have been walking through Hebrews 11, my crazy kid imagination has been reborn! My passion for greatness has need reignited!  For if what we are reading is in fact true, as bearers of the faith of Christ, we have the ability to be transformed into the supernatural! Indeed, we can be heroes. Heroes of faith!

You see in Hebrews chapter 11 the writer goes through a list of the hero’s of the faith in such a way as to encourage us that they same faith that empowered them also empowers us! The same God that led them also leads us!   God has not changed.  Faith has not changed.

So the bigger question is – what is holding us back? What is weighing us down?  I think the writer is presenting us with a challenge.  Look at your race, identify your weakness, throw it off, and get in the race.  The crowd is waiting, the other runners are lined up, the official has the gun in the air, ready to fire.  Are you ready?

Join us Sunday for Heroes of the Faith.

…till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay