January is bushfire season in Australia. Each summer fire rages across the countryside, often with terrifying loss of property and even life. Brave firefighters battle leaping flames and intense heat in an effort to stamp out the fires.
So it may seem strange that in the lead up to the bushfire season you will see firefighters deliberately starting fires. They are "backburning", lighting ferocious yet controlled fires. Once spent, the burned ground serves as a buffer between raging bushfires and homes in which people live.
According the the gospel, Jesus is our backburner. He has absorbed the blaze of God's judgement, and has become the buffer between God's judgement and us.
Source: Scott Higgins
Application: Christ, Christ's death, cross, atonement