The Fire of God

[Cntrysner]

                           

Heb 9:11  But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 
Heb 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 
Heb 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 
Heb 9:16  For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 
Heb 9:17  For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. 

Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 

Before Christ ascended no man could ascend to the Holy of Holies where the Father resides, Christ had to shed His blood for remission of sin and present His body as a burnt offering for purification of sin (Heb 10:5-12) thus paving the way for members of His body. By His sacrifice ..death.. we have His will and testament and will receive the inheritance of eternal life. His testament had no power until after His death and ascension to the Holy of Hollies where prior to entry His flesh body, the body that God required (Heb 10:5), was consumed by fire (Heb 12:29 (Lev 1) to release His Spirit to indwell man (Joh 16:7), upon the indwelling we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise and all of Christ’s sacrificial work is credited to us and we become a son of God and receive His inheritance.

Heb 1:3  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 on the right hand of the Majesty on high;  

Heb 10:10  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

The Spirit of Christ (Holy Spirit) is the power that purifies and transforms us to the image of the ascended Christ (2Th 2:13,14). This is a done deal for God has sealed us in Christ yet we wait in this body of flesh to receive our eternal body in heaven (2 Co 5:1-2).

Christ’s blood was shed at His death and it enabled Him to pass through the veil, that is to say His flesh, into the Father’s presence (Heb 10:19-20). His body of flesh contained our sins (1Pet 2:24) and as we see in 2 Ch 7:1-3 and 1Kings 18:38-39, God totally consumes the sacrificial body and it symbolized complete purification from sin which is in the flesh (Rom 7). Christ presented His body as a burnt offering to the Father at ascension as Abraham presented Isaac. Before the body is burned the blood must be shed (Lev 1) thus Abraham had the knife and the fire at ready to sacrifice Isaac. God provided the substitute and the ram’s body was consumed by fire. 

See Got Questions…what is a burnt offering…The Hebrew word for “burnt offering” actually means to “ascend,“ literally to “go up in smoke”… the “olah offering“. 

Christ’s body of flesh was the burnt offering at His ascension.

Gen 8:20  And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 
Gen 8:21  And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. 

Gen 22:2  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 
Gen 22:6  And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
Gen 22:8  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a "lamb" for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.  
Gen 22:10  And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 

Lev 1:9  But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. 
Lev 1:10  And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish. 
Lev 1:11  And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar. 

Lev 5:7  And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. 

The dove represents the Spirit and twice the Spirit descended on Jesus, once at His water baptism and once at the transfiguration which was a vision of His ascension, God spoke these words…

Mat 3:17  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
 
Mat 17:5  While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

Representation of the two doves is one for a sin offering as seen in the death and shed blood of the sacrifice was for forgiveness of sins but purification is still needed, the literal removal of sin is represented in the second dove as a burnt offering.

The baptism of Jesus set the stage for His rejection and ultimately the cross where He was slain and shed His blood for remission of sins. His ascension was the burnt offering of His flesh body and it made it possible for His Spirit to indwell and purify the spirit of man.

The old testament burnt offering had to be fulfilled in Christ, the shed blood of the cross and the burnt offering of His ascension to the presence of the Father who is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29). Christ had to rise from the dead and as High Priest presented His body as the burnt offering for purification.

The flesh must be reduced to ashes (Lev 6) thus the spirit/soul is purified and ascends to the Father’s kingdom to receive our eternal body (2 Co 5:1-3).

Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. 
Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

The fire of God is two fold it can either purify to make us eternally acceptable which happens in the twinkling of an eye or it can condemn in everlasting fire. 

 

[Cntrysner]

 

More on God's fire, please excuse it's randomness. 

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 
2Co 3:7  But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 
2Co 3:8  How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 
2Co 3:9  For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 
2Co 3:10  For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 
2Co 3:11  For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. 
2Co 3:12  Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: 
2Co 3:13  And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 
2Co 3:14  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 
2Co 3:15  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 
2Co 3:16  Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 
2Co 3:17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 
2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 

The veil of Moses and the temple veil represent the flesh of Jesus, born of a women, under the law given to Moses. The law and the veil separate us from the glory of God, they are a covering when removed enables us to enter the presence of God and see Him face to face. Jesus was made in the likeness of sinful flesh under the law yet the law was not effective because of the flesh (Rom 8:3) (Gal 4:4) (Gal 5:4-5). Jesus had to pay our sin debt in the flesh under the law because we are weak in the flesh. His righteous blood gives us boldness and access to pass through the earthly veil (2Co 5:8) and ascend to the presence of God in His heavenly temple, where the eternal Spirit, purifies and transforms us into His express image (Heb 1:3) (2Co 3:18).

The veil of Moses covered the glory of God that the people feared and Moses removed the veil which was symbolic of the law (Joh 1:17) when he entered God’s presence (Ex 34:29-35),  it was a type to the temple veil which represented the body of Jesus (Heb 10:20), when the veil is removed we see the glory of the Father in Christ the glorified Spirit (1Tim 3:16). The veil must be completely removed not just torn (2 Co 3:16). God was not in Herod’s temple thus the torn veil did not give access to His presence nor did it represent Christ at that time, it signified that God rejected temple worship and sacrifices and pointed to Christ, the temple would be destroyed (Mat 24:2) leaving Jesus the only way to God (Joh 14:6). When Jesus drove out the money changers it could have been a protest against animal sacrifices but Jesus did not cleanse Herod’s temple, according to God‘s law it required the application of sacrificial blood (Heb 9:21-24). 

In the temple God’s glory was on the Ark of the covenant, the ark represented Christ and His glory to come and God removed the Ark during the Babylonian exile thus God’s glory and presence has not been in the temple since 587 years before Christ. The temple and it’s rituals became worthless symbols and would be replaced with the heavenly (Heb 8:5).  God’s presence can only be accessed through Christ (Joh 14:6) who is the Spirit (2Co 3: 16-17) and the spirit members of His body whom Christ indwells (1Co 12:13) (Joh 14:2-3).

  

Ezekiel described God’s glory (shekinah) leaving Solomon’s temple and resting on the Mount of Olives and then ascending. His glory represented His presence which was not in Herod’s temple. Christ’s transfiguration (Mat 17, Mar 9, Luk 9:28) was a vision of His ascension and glorification (His face became bright as the sun and His clothing white as light) on the Mount of Olives which is the location where He will return in glorified Spirit (Act 1:11). The deity and glory Christ had with the Father before the world began was veiled by His flesh and now the veil was being removed as he was transfiguring and returning to the Father in glory. Christ ascended in a cloud as He was transfiguring (Act 1:9) as did the ascending cloud of the burning incense covered God’s glory (Lev 16:13). Transfigure or metamorphoo means a change of the outward form into a completely new form by supernatural means. This new form was Christ receiving the express image of God (Heb 1:3) not a reflection or likeness but a emanation from within which burned bright as the sun (Mat 17:2), not veiled by the flesh but the unveiled Spirit (2Co 3:17), we will also experience this metamorphosis (2Co3:18). 

The perpetual burning of the incense represented the sweet aroma of the burnt offering (Lev 1:13) ( Exo 30:7) that ascended to the Father, they were instructed to never let the fire of the burnt offering go out which represented the consuming fire of the eternal Spirit (Deu 4:24) (Lev 9:24). The incense  and burnt offering where symbolic of the flesh body of  Christ who is our sacrifice. The smoke from the burning incense was a sweet savor as it ascended and represented the ascension of Christ (2 Co 2:15). The temple, sacrifices, and furnishings prefigured Christ, His divinity, life, ministry and sacrifice.  
   
Spices were used on the altar of incense, they were also a gift at the birth of Jesus signifying His coming kingship and divinity, they were also used to anoint His body at death, though they may have been different, they signified His divine essence.  Eternal fire from the burnt offering ignited the spices creating the aromatic smoke. Fire like the Spirit transforms and purifies resulting in the ascending smoke that not only filled the tabernacle but ascended to the heavens as Christ did. 

The golden altar of incense (Ex 30) represented the perfection and holiness of Christ, His shed blood consecrating the heavenly altar, the offering of His body and ascension to glory. Sacrifice and offerings by man were never eternally accepted and not holy or pure, they were but mere shadows of God’s sacrifice in His heavenly sanctuary.

And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering." (Genesis 22:7-8)

 Exo 30:6  And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. 
Exo 30:7  And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. 
Exo 30:8  And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. 

Lev 1:9  But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. 

Lev 6:12  And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. 
Lev 6:13  The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out. 

Burning of the body for purification after the sacrificial blood for remission is applied was required under God’s law and Christ fulfilled the law to it’s fullest so that we can by Christ’s faith and power be literally transformed into His express image when we leave this world.

Luk 3:16  John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: