Gold Refined by Fire

Gold as a metal has always, throughout all ages, attracted people's eyes and captivated their consciousness with its beauty and value. It is a rather rare fossil resource that has historically been elevated to the rank of a precious metal. Gold in many cases has become a unit of measurement for the value of state currency or other monetary assets. Even in our time, the word "gold" is associated with something expensive and beautiful.

Gold jewelry and architectural fragments covered in gold always cause aesthetic pleasure due to the special appearance and luster of this metal.

Gold is also considered the most malleable material, easy to process and melt. It possesses anti-corrosive properties.

When we hear expressions like "golden hands", "golden head", "golden person", "golden heart", we understand that the talk is no longer about the metal, but about valuable human qualities and abilities, about a person's special attractiveness in the eyes of society or individual people.

And now Jesus offers us another type of gold that has special value in the eyes of Heaven and makes everyone who acquires it truly rich and precious.

"Refined by fire" means that it has special purity. It is free from all possible impurities, has undergone processing at high temperatures, and contains nothing but gold. During remelting, gold expels all foreign impurities, which are easily recognized and differ greatly from the precious metal.

Fire symbolizes the trials that every child of God goes through to cleanse themselves of various harmful habits and shortcomings, to see their true essence and hidden properties of the soul that can manifest under certain circumstances and conditions. Fiery trials help reveal the essence of a person's soul, showing the sinful that still contains their heart and strengthening what is correct, which they have been taught by God. No son or daughter of God will escape the fiery trials provided by God.

"Gold refined by fire" means that it has already passed through the purification and remelting process in fiery trials and is now offered to me in such a form as to become my own property, making me a rich person in Jesus' eyes.

What does this gold mean in the Lord's eyes?

Heavenly gold is that which has eternal value. It is what was precious in Heaven's eyes always, is precious now, and will be in demand throughout Eternity. Nothing material fits the definition of this symbol. But for God, our relationships with Him and with each other are important. Only these we can take with us to the eternal world. And the value of these relationships is determined by the presence of love.

God is Love. And God's love represents the highest significance for us, for only by having it inside myself can I truly love my neighbor and relate correctly to God.

Job 22:25: "And the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver."

Love is not just a principle or feeling, but God Himself, who is Love within me. It is easy to say, but difficult to imagine, and even harder to explain.

None of us has seen God, and without seeing Him, we can comprehend and understand Him only by faith.

Galatians 5:6: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value, but faith working through love."

Faith and love are two inseparable sisters who live for each other, and together with their brother, God's Word, they constitute the fullness called Agape. It is impossible to tear out something one from this union and be content with it. Then you get a disabled person on the crutches of personal judgments and delusions.

The fire that refines gold is the trials through which love and faith pass, in which all correct foundations are established. Fire melts everything, destroying the secondary and separating the valuable from the empty. We read in 1 Peter 4:12: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you." 1 Peter 1:7: "So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

When I mold items from clay, they are so soft and pliable in my hands. I will make a vase. I'll put it down, look at it from the side, and then decide to turn it into a jug, attaching handles and changing shapes. And if something doesn't please me, I can crumple my work and redo it. But when I have created a masterpiece of my creativity, then I decide to preserve it in this form and put it in the sun, which dries my little masterpiece from all sides and strengthens its structure. But if I wish, I can mix everything with water and remake it. When the item has dried, I heat the oven and send it into the fire, leaving it there for the prescribed time. After the fiery trial, I check for cracks. Now I have a strong vessel, ready for daily use.

Heavenly gold has been tested in Jesus' life, revealing all foreign impurities of lies that tried to bring something into God's love, interpreting it in their own way. Christ's death showed the entire world and the entire Universe the purity of Agape love, its value and enduring influence. In love, there is no evil. It has nothing to do with sin. It proved to everyone who God is and how strong and unshakable His Love is for His creation. If anyone doubted God's character when He was accused of dictatorship and selfishness, attributing something alien to Him, then Christ's life and death put an end to all these attacks, and God's Agape Love appeared to the whole world in all its purity and magnificence.

And now the Owner of this love wants to sell it to me, granting faith and knowledge of how to use it all. And this means that, mixed with my nature, gold will lead me through the fire of trials to cleanse my soul and mind to Heavenly holiness, making me suitable for Eternity and for the final battle with the forces of evil in this world.

This process makes me truly rich in Heaven's eyes and carries all accompanying blessings for life on this Earth. I receive unlimited access to the arsenals of God's love and can take as much as necessary to victory over every kind of fleshly lust and to pay for various services at any time. I can adorn myself, my life, and my dwelling with this gold, receiving only God's approval and blessing.

But most of all, it will be needed for the last time in the battle of Armageddon, where I will have to meet the storm and win the final victory in love, truth, and obedience to God's will and law.

Jesus is waiting for me to decide. I'm going to buy the Heavenly goods.

The Seller smiles and hands me a certificate of ownership of this treasure, placing a special mark of His approval on my forehead, and warns that He will come to me for dinner and tell me how to use it now. It turns out this is an entire science. And it must be comprehended. But the main thing is that it is no longer somewhere in prophecy, but in my heart and consciousness.

Reflection Questions for this Chapter

1. What did you understand from this chapter?

2. How did you previously understand the symbol of gold refined by fire?

3. Why did the Lord define love and faith specifically for the church of the last time?

4. What does "buying gold" mean in real life? What does it signify?

5. How do love and faith enrich me?

6. Why do I look poor in God's eyes, even though I live in obedience to the truth, without these heavenly goods?

7. Please read Daniel 12:10; Isaiah 1:25; Job 23:10; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:2-3 in light of this chapter.