Holy Fire In The Fireplace
“And because lawlessness will abound, the
love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be
saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world
as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Matt
24:12-14
“And the Lord
went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a
pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.” Ex 13:21
The One Spiritual
Church Mount Horeb
“And they said to one another, "Did not
our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He
opened the Scriptures to us?" Luke
24:32
1. God
must be in some sense like man if the two are to relate.
In biblical language, man is made in the image of God.
“For He has not put the world to come, of
which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place,
saying: "What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that
You take care of him? You have made him
a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And
set him over the works of Your hands.”
Hebrews 2:5-7
a) Of course, that image has been distorted
by sin, but we should be able to understand something of God from our knowledge
of man. The characteristics of man necessary for relationship include abilities
to love and hate, moral consciousness, emotion and language, and all of these
are seen as reflections of corresponding characteristics of God. The
Christian God is a personal God.
2. The
essence of God includes relationship. How can this be, if God is one, and
yet existed before He had created anyone to relate to? Solomon said the ways of
God are past finding out. Campbell Col.
The Bible
speaks of Jesus Christ as one with God, as existing from eternity, and as
active in creation; and it speaks of the Holy Spirit as existing with and being
of one nature with the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. To say that the three
are one
accurately summarizes the biblical material, but brings problems in
itself. Other writers have discussed
these: here, we note only the insight it gives to the eternal love,
communication and relationship in God.
Note 2 Cor. 13:14. “The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the
Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen.”
3. God
is the One who is revealed in history. Thus we can see what God is like
from what He has done. He is more often described as the God of Israel or the
Father of Jesus Christ than in terms of His characteristics, so we can expect
to understand Him best through accounts of His actions and through personal
experience of His actions towards us. Thus it will often be more appropriate to
describe God as One who DOES something rather than One who IS something.
Supremely, God is a God who Creates, who Loves, and who Saves. He is also a God
who judges and destroys wickedness.
a) The supreme revelation of God in history is
in Jesus Christ. ‘No man has ever seen God; the Only Son, who is in the
bosom of the Father, He has made Him known’ (Jn. 1: 18).
“And of His fullness we have all received,
and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:16-17
b) The
question, ‘What is God like?’ is ultimately to be answered through a study of
the person
of Jesus Christ in the New Testament records.
We have the Four Gospels.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in
heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and
for Him.” Col
“...who being the brightness of His glory
and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of
His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty on high,” Heb 1:3
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face,
beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into
the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor 3:17-18
“The victory
is ours, and the battle is the Lord’s. He packs
a stronger punch then you ever could.
One of my favorite expressions is, "The victory is ours, and the
battle is the Lord’s." There have been many trials in my life, as there
are in all of our lives. Jesus said that in the world we would have
tribulation, but His exhortation was to be of good cheer, for He has overcome
the world. James tells us to count it all joy when we have trials because these
trials will form patience and other character traits of God in us.” Linda Sommer
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