How is fire a symbol of the Lord's presence when Hell is described as "lakes of fire"?

The other day, my friends and I were talking about some theological questions we had.  The one main question that grasped my attention was, "Why is Hell described as 'lakes of fire' when fire is a biblical symbol of the Lord's presence?"    After some analysis of how the word "fire" is used in biblical texts, we began to understand what exactly fire was used for, and how it could be used for punishment and the Lord's presence. We began to discover that in the Old Testament the word "fire" is used to describe anything that can be consumed by flame, such as a person, animal or thing.  This spurred me with a thought, that maybe God appears in fire to start a fire in our hearts-to consume our souls with a fire for Him.  I kept this in mind while we continued on.  We found that in the New Testament the word "fire" is symbolic of judgment.  We also found out that fire is used to purify-in biblical times they would first build their homes with straw, wood, and stone, but would later use fire to remove the wood and straw and leave only the stone-which means fire can be used for purification.

 After discussion, prayer, and study of the Bible I began to understand:  fire is a symbol of the Lord's presence but only when the Lord is present to deliver righteous judgment-which is essentially what Hell is, righteous judgment.  But does that mean because we are all sinners we will be sent to Hell-to receive the judgment we deserve? No, it most certainly does not mean that everyone will be sent to Hell.  Only the wicked must experience Hell.  Followers of Jesus are not wicked, they are righteous in their ways because they follow the Lord-when the righteous experience the fire of the Lord's judgment, it is used to purify them. Similar to the building we mentioned earlier, God will burn away our unnecessary elements and leave us with only the strong parts of our composition-which are where He resides in us.  Fire leaves the wicked with nothing and they have no joy, yet it provides the righteous with joy because they are able to see God more clearly than ever before.