Hebrews 12:25-29

“Our God is a Consuming Fire”

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”  This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

There is this simple, sobering truth. When God speaks, everybody ought to listen. When God spoke to Moses on the Mountain, he trembled. When God spoke to the prophets, like Isaiah, he said, “Woe is me, for I am lost.” When God spoke to Abraham, he listened and obeyed. When God speaks, everybody ought to listen.

Now, when you open the Bible and read, think of that as God speaking to you. You’ve got mail from God? Will you read it? Will you take it seriously? Will you follow His directions?

In this passage, the writer is clear. If, under the Old Covenant, refusing to listen to God was serious – how much more serious, to refuse to listen to God, who sent His Son to die for us!

God has established a kingdom that cannot be shaken. John 3 teaches, we are born into that kingdom. In that kingdom, we are to be faithful citizens, living under the rule of the King, Jesus Christ.

It is this serious – Our God is a consuming fire! Therefore, let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.