A part of Genesis 8:22 states that “While the earth remains, cold and heat, shall not cease.” Cold and heat go hand in hand and one usually thinks of cold as the absence of heat. Here we see that these thermal states are infact a part of God’s promise to mankind, while we inhabit this earth. So if cold and heat are divine provisions, do they have any significance?

Cold preserves. At absolute zero (0 kelvin or -273.15 degrees Celsius), there is minimal molecular motion and at low temperatures, harmful agents cannot survive thus preserving items that are subject to the cold. Think of how the coolness in the refrigerator preserves the food items that we store in it. It is not the refrigerator itself, but the coolness within, that is the preservative. On the other hand, heat purges. Think of the dross that is purged by the heat of the fire when refining precious metals such as gold and silver (Malachi 3:2-3). It is the heat that purges.

Points to ponder:
Cold and heat are God’s promise to mankind. When we are cold in our Spirit to sin – the harmful and destructive elements of sin cannot survive in our lives, and we are preserved in God’s hands. When we are hot in our Spirit, he purges the sinful nature in us and makes us conform more toward the likeness of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. Cold preserves and Heat purges. We need to be both, but not in between i.e., lukewarm (Revelation 3:15), for if we are neither cold nor hot, we are distasteful to God and he will spit (vomit) us out. Are your Cold and Hot (for God)?

Genesis 8:22 (KJV)
22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Revelation 3:15-16 (KJV)
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.