'Elemental' Gospel: Fire

I am starting a 5-part series on the 'elements,' that is, taking a look at the common elements (earth, fire, air, water) as well as a 5th element I've always believed should be included with those (time). I think these elements were included in the mandate from God to 'subdue the earth' in Genesis. Mankind has in some form or fashion subdued four of these five, but there is a man who has conquered all five. These posts will be longer than my usual posts, but hopefully they will be an easy, thought-provoking read.

Fire

Lightning flashes across the sky as he lumbers through the forest to his dwelling. Just as he enters the shelter of the cave, he throws up his hands and cowers as he is startled by a thunderous BOOM immediately to his left. Turning to see what the cause was, he sees a tree covered in dancing orange light. Fear grabs at him, but curiosity grabs harder, and he makes his way closer. A branch from above falls to his feet, the end of it also covered with this dancing light. He tries to touch the light only to pull back from the heat. Grabbing the other end of the branch, he carries it back to his cave to show the others.....

Many people believe that this is how 'man' discovered fire. But many people also believe that the 'man' in the story is a descendant of some primordial goo. In the Biblical account of man's history, the first mention of fire is the flaming sword wielded by the cherubim to keep man away from the tree of life. Fire is a chemical reaction in which the fuel is transformed into heat, light, and smoke.

In nature, fire can be both incredibly harmful and incredibly beneficial. Consider a forest fire started by a lightning strike. It destroys acres of trees and many animals lose their homes. But it also 'resets' the area and new life quickly springs up. In fact, there are certain pine trees whose cones will only release their seeds in the presence of the intense heat of a fire.

While mankind struggles to contain out-of-control fires, largely we have subdued this element. In fact, it is highly likely you have used fire in some form today! We use it for heat, protection (in the wilderness), cooking, comfort, generating electricity, powering the car you drive, and for a multitude of other things.

BUT fire is still a source of fear for many, and for good reason. Fire is very hot, and it is very easy to get burned. Healing from a bad burn is an incredibly painful process, leaving many scars. So while we may have subdued fire, we certainly have not conquered it.

This is a true story:
There once was a very proud king who had his servants build a gigantic golden statue and proclaimed it god. He had servants play music to call everyone who heard it to bow down and worship the statue. The penalty for not bowing down and worshiping was death....death by fire. They would be thrown into a furnace whose fires were kept alive as a reminder of what waited for them. But there were three men who knew that this statue was not worthy of worship. They knew that it was just a statue, that it was NOT a god, so they did not bow down and worship. Servants of the king reported what those men failed to do, and the king was furious. He called the men to him and ordered them to bow when the music was played. Again, they did not bow, despite having heard the king order that the furnace be heated seven times hotter. They told the king that they only bowed to and worshiped the True God, and that He had the power to save them from the fire. They told him, "Even if he doesn't save us, we still won't bow and worship." The king, in a furious rage, told the soldiers to throw the men into the furnace. The heat was so intense that the soldiers who carried out the orders were killed as they got too close to the flames. The king thought that was the end of it, but something in the fire caught his eye....it was the three men walking around amongst the flames! But as he stared into the furnace, he realized it was FOUR men, and the fourth looked like a son of the gods! He called for the men to come out, and as the three men came out, he was astonished to see that they were completely unharmed, and they didn't even smell like smoke! The king knew then that the God the men worshiped really was the True God, and he recanted his order to worship the statue.


I believe the fourth man in the fire was Jesus Christ. He is the God whom those three men worshiped, and he not only rescued them from the flames, he was with them the whole time. Jesus is the only man who not only subdued fire, but who has truly has conquered fire.

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(if you'd like to read the rest of the story, it can be found in chapter 3 of the book of Daniel)