Fire Test

Our God is not a stingy God, He is a lavish God. We see that in the following verses.

1 Timothy 6.16 says, “ but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”

1 John 3:1 says “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

In Luke 15:11-52, in the parable of the ‘Prodigal Son’ also, we see the lavishness of God the father’s love.
The picture that we have of the Father’s love is of a Father who lavishes His love upon His children. 

1 Corinthians 3:10-17
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. 16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

We read about the building with Jesus as a foundation; the chief cornerstone. Paul says that we cannot change the foundation after one is laid; the rest of the building can be changed.  

The six building materials used here will be tested by fire. This passage has been interpreted very wrongly that people will be in purgatory till they are cleansed. But this talks about the Day which is ‘the Judgement Day’. In the earthly realm, we see that to go to the next level of our education, career etc, we must go through a test and pass it. The same is applicable in our spiritual life also.

We read in Hebrews 9:27 “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement,”
The Bible clearly tells us that there will come a “Day” where we will all be judged. We cannot say that we did not know about it. All people will be part of the Day of Judgement. This is reality.

And on this “Day” that the fire will reveal a person’s work. If the building stays, the Builder will be rewarded. If it burns up, the builder will suffer loss but still be saved because their foundation is Christ. 

What is the ‘Fire’ mentioned here?
Revelation 1:14
His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Apostle John who was caught up in the Spirit in the Island of Patmos had a vision of Jesus. This was not the vision John had seen in the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus in the Book of revelation is not the human Jesus we see in the Gospels. He comes as “The Judge”. Through His eyes of fire, He analyses the shortcomings as He did in the case of the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

Jesus will come to judge each person’s work through His eyes of fire. When Jesus returns, He does so as a judge. Nothing will escape His eye, He will know everything we did and why we did it. If our works were true and genuine in front of God, they would stand in the fire and glow even brighter. Everything else that is hollow will burn away. However, if Jesus is your foundation, you will still be saved.

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