“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Luke 12:49-53 NIV
Jesus’ statement must have shocked His disciples. What did He mean? His announcement, His explanations and parables of the kingdom were unlocking both a new understanding and a new era for them although the realities of the kingdom would only become clear after Pentecost.
However, now, He was talking about fire and division… and a division so drastic that it would tear families apart. Yes, Jesus spoke about peace, about reconciliation, about the power of unity…about life in God’s kingdom so different from anything they had ever known on earth that they could only enter and experience this life through a spiritual “new birth”, but…
Peace! Fire and division? How did these two opposing realities fit together?
Jesus was talking about a line in the sand. On one side of the line was God’s kingdom and what life under God’s rule would be like. All sin, wickedness, and evil would be eliminated, burned up by the power of Jesus’ word. Hearts and lives would be transformed by His grace to live in harmony with Him and His standards and with each other in a realm governed by Jesus Himself.
The Father appointed and anointed His Son to be the king who rules over this realm forever, a rule that encompasses the whole earth and all people…where righteousness, justice, and peace are the standards.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”
Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV
However, God’s kingdom has not been established on earth without a serious challenge. On the other side of the line in the sand are the earthly kings who have rebelled against His righteous rule. To them, God declares…
“He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.”
Psalms 2:5-8 NIV
With the Son firmly installed on the throne, a position earned by a life of perfect obedience even to death…
“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:8-11 NIV
…Jesus has all authority, as the Word of God, to reset the universe and the earth itself to its original condition of perfection and functionality. Heaven and earth will become one, and this will be the realm where redeemed humans will live forever in the presence of God.
In the final purification of the earth, all who resist Jesus’ rule will come under His judgment. With the same power of His word through which H created the universe…
“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”
Psalms 33:6 NIV
…through which He upholds all of creation…
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word…”
Hebrews 1:3a NIV
…and through which He will cleanse and purify creation…
“Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”
Jeremiah 23:29 NIV
…He will destroy all evil end evil doers…
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!”
Luke 12:49 NIV
“By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.”
2 Peter 3:7 NIV
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.”
2 Peter 3:10 NIV
Peter uses the Greek word, “stoicheia” to tell us what will be burned up…
…the same word Paul uses to explain what the “elements” or principles are that drive the ungodly world system.
“Elements” in this context are not natural or physical but basic principles by which the ungodly world functions, essentially “ superstition”.
“The “elementary principles of the world” (ta stoicheia tou kosmou), as used in Galatians 4:3 and Colossians 2:8, refers to the basic, rudimentry, or “fleshly” principles of human philosophy, religious legalism, and worldly wisdom that existed before Christ. It signifies a state of spiritual bondage to self-justification, pagan traditions, or elemental, worldly forces.” (Source: Google AI)
“The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,”
Galatians 4:2-4 NIV
Unfortunately, the principles that govern the lives of people are the ways people live by what they believe, represented by the two kingdoms…the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
So, people are separated, by what they believe and do into the two sides of the line in the sand. This line cuts through families as well as groups, causing division so serious that some kill for what they believe. This division is inevitable since it is the expression of the enmity between God and His adversary, the devil.
The question we must answer is, “On which side of the line am I?”God’s side means eternal life. The other side means…fire!
To be continued…