What does Jesus mean by: I came to send fire on the earth?

In this exhortation, Guy Lamune discusses what Jesus meant when He said, "I came to send fire on the earth." Jesus' mission was to seek and save the lost, not to judge the world. The fire He speaks of is the life of God, brought through the Holy Spirit. To have this abundant life, we must identify ourselves with Christ in His death and resurrection. Baptism symbolizes this union. Jesus died to give us His life, and we must die to the world, sin, and the flesh to experience the fire of the Lord in our souls. Welcome to our weekly exhortation. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for your patience. My name is Guy Lamune, Servant of God, Servant of Jesus Christ. Today, we want to understand what our Lord Jesus means by saying, I came to send fire on the earth. In different places in the Bible, the scriptures clearly tell of the mission that the Lord Jesus came to accomplish on earth. Indeed, the purpose of His coming, we are told, was to seek and save what was lost so that the sheep might have life in abundance. Luke and John talk about it. Matthew chapter 9 even added that the Lord Jesus did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Hard to understand that the Lord Jesus could have said the opposite of what the Gospel of John, the Gospel of Luke, and Matthew reported. The Lord Jesus said, I came to send fire on the earth. What does He mean by this declaration? Praise the Lord. Jesus was speaking in the context of His mission, which would lead Him to suffering and ultimately to death. It is His desire to carry out this mission at all costs to the end, which is expressed in this message with great emotion. He says, I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled. Luke chapter 12 verse 49. 3. We are wondering, of which fire is the Lord Jesus talking about? In fact, we know from the Bible that God can use His fire either to bring judgment upon the work of sinners. In Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 24, it is written, For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. We saw how the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah great stone and fire as a result of their cruel sin. Genesis chapter 19 verse 24. Or, God can use His fire to purify the believer as well. We remember very well the case of Isaiah. Isaiah saw it a vision, the majesty of God, where the angel worshipped Him. After responding to God's call to serve Him, Isaiah was satisfied. One of the seraphim flew unto him, having a live coal in his hand, and he laid it upon his mouth and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thy iniquity is taken away, and thine sin purged. As a result, Isaiah received the grace of God, the life of God. Hallelujah! That live coal is the fire and represents the life of God. Where there is life, the darkness of sin disappears. Isaiah was then filled with the life of God. It is this miraculous event that happened in our life when we come to Christ. In this context, who would be wrong to say that the fire that Jesus came to cast upon the earth is a fire of judgment? The word fire, found in Luke chapter 12 verse 49, as in certain other places of the scripture, is not used to designate judgment. In John chapter 3 verse 17, it is written, For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Praise the Lord! God did not send Jesus to judge the world. The world certainly deserves to be judged and condemned, but that was not the purpose of Jesus' mission to earth during His first coming. Jesus adds, And how I wish it were already candled! To say that Jesus came to judge the world is to insinuate that Jesus, the God who created man, is so mean that He is eager to see this fire fall on all men, which is not true. Third, this is what we need to understand. Jesus was sent to save the world by giving us life from God. By declaring, I came to set fire on the earth, Jesus was speaking of the life of God taking place in our lives through the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to give us the Holy Spirit, isn't it? And it is the Holy Spirit who brings the life of God into our soul. That is what Jesus is eager to see happen in the lives of those whose spirit is dead unto God and eternally separated from God. Praise the Lord! This fire is a divine fire. This fire is left in God in all its abundance and fullness. The fire of God was kindled of Calvary by the sacrifice of His Son Jesus for our sins. Since that time, it has never gone out and will never go out. Praise the Lord! This fire is the life of God. Now, we understand that Jesus' mission was to emit a fire on the earth. That is to say, He came to bring us life in abundance. And that fire is lit at the moment of His death. But how does all of this apply to you and me today? Can I have this freedom? This abundant life? If yes, how to get it? And how should I seek to have it? The Apostle Paul put it this way in 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 11. He says, It is a faithful saying. For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him. Praise the Lord! In fact, Paul wants to tell us that we identify ourselves with Christ in His death and resurrection. He did not say, If you believe that Jesus died for you, you will live with Him. It is not enough to believe. You must be with Him in death. You have to die with Him. It is the only way we can live with Jesus. This is how we will have the flame of God burning within us. Conversely, this verse suggests that if we do not die with Jesus, it will not be possible to live with Him. We will not be able to have the flame of God. That fire we could not have it. If the flame of God is to burn in us, it will be necessary that the death of Jesus becomes our death. This is the very meaning of baptism. You remember? Baptism symbolizes our union with Christ by a death similar to His. Praise the Lord! We want to conclude by saying that Jesus came to earth for the first time to seek those who are lost, those who are spiritually dead. He came to call sinners to repentance. But for this purpose, He had to die. He would give them His life as a ransom so that He can come back to life. Life in God in all its abundance. Hallelujah! I came to set fire on the earth. How I wish it were already kindled, He declares. Do you see why Jesus was so intense in His word? When Jesus declared that He has come to cast fire on the earth, He is not saying that He has come to set man at variance against His Father, and daughter against her mother, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, like we read it in Matthew chapter 10 verse 25. Nor does His statement mean that He came to judge the world. Not at all. But the fire of which Jesus speaks is the defiant fire, the life of God which He offered to us on the cross. But there is a condition to obtain this fire. We must accept to drink the cup that Jesus drank and to be baptized with His baptism. We must share in His suffering until we die with Him. Consequently, we die to the world. We die to sin. And we die to the flesh. It is by dying to these three elements, the world, the flesh, and the realm of sin, that we will truly know the experience of life brought by the flame of the Lord burning in our soul. Friend, we have come to the end of this message. I do hope you enjoyed it. If God wills it, we will be together next week. God bless you.