Christ in the Fire

We aren’t supposed to seek the fire though. We are to seek Christ.

Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash

During lunch with a friend last week, we talked about the misconception some Christians have that goes something like this – a Christian attempts to live a life that is consistent with what the scriptures teach, and by doing so, he or she won’t have to endure hardship. Or not much hardship, anyway. They believe God will protect them from it.

The three young Hebrews came to mind as my buddy and I talked. They either had to bow to King Nebuchadnezzar or face the fiery furnace that had been heated to seven times its normal temperature. 

They made a statement of faith in the face of adversity: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18 ESV). 

You know the story. They were cast into the furnace but were protected by a Christ figure (a theophany or Christophany). But the figure didn’t prevent them from being thrown into the fire. He did, however, meet them in the flames. 

Christ is in the fire. That’s often where we meet him.

He can’t be our deliverer if we aren’t in need of being delivered. He can’t be our refuge if we aren’t in a dangerous or painful situation. He can’t be our healer unless we are wounded or sick. 

If we aren’t in the fire, we are prone to believe and act like we don’t need him because everything is going well. But as the flames threaten us, we cry out to him; and being in the flames gives us the opportunity to share in Christ’s sufferings. That’s what Peter wrote.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13 ESV).

I love how Matthew Henry talks about this verse.

“Though they [trials] be sharp and fiery, yet they are designed only to try, not to ruin them, to try their sincerity, strength, patience, and trust in God,” Henry wrote. “On the contrary, they ought rather to rejoice under their sufferings, because theirs may properly be called Christ's sufferings. They are of the same kind, and for the same cause, that Christ suffered; they make us conformable to him; he suffers in them, and feels in our infirmities.”

In recent months, I’ve had a few health scares/concerns. On bad days, I was anxious. On good days, I sought Christ in the fire.

We aren’t supposed to seek the fire though. We are to seek Christ.