“Who Would You Be in the Lord?”

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:8-15

Jesus’ coming has always been misunderstood. And it doesn’t matter if we are talking about the first coming or the second – there have always been those who tried to make it out to be something completely different than God ever intended it to be. In Jesus’ day, there were those who had their own expectations of Messiah – that he would be an all-powerful Warrior King; that he would immediately destroy all of Israel’s enemies; that Israel would finally receive the glory and honor that had been promised. (1 Samuel 2:10). And in their ignorance, they completely missed the coming of God’s Truth.

And there is just as much misunderstanding over His second coming. Some claim that it is a fairy tale (even though it isn’t); others believe that they know the exact day and time (they don’t, of course!); still others believe that at His coming, everyone will be restored and welcomed into the grace and glory of the King (but they won’t); and even though there are a number of passages in scripture that address Christ’s Return, no one can possibly imagine what that day will actually be like.

Peter’s second letter to the Church was a warning about the false teachers of that day, and how their lies could only lead the people away from the truth of Christ. His advice was to look to the word of the true prophets for all they needed to know about the Lord, and to trust in nothing else.

Read 2 Peter 3:8-9

Some of the false teachers were claiming that the “coming” was a lie, because the time had passed them by. The general belief had been that Christ would come during that first generation of believers, and since most of them had already died, the lie that Christ would never come began to spread. The one truth that they had missed was that God’s “time” and God’s “soon” have nothing to do with our definitions of either word. Peter offers a clarification on the matter, but it is also one that makes little sense in worldly terms. How could a day and a thousand years possibly be the same?

The truth behind Peter’s explanation is this: God is timeless. The Lord was before time ever existed, and will be after time, along with every other aspect of creation, ceases to be. Time, quite simply, is a human measurement of change in the created order, but if aging, and renewing and birth and death don’t exist, neither can time. For the Lord God Almighty, time is completely irrelevant! So what could “soon” possibly mean to the Lord?

The word simply establishes a point of reference – that Christ’s return is on its way and will occur at some point in our future. It means that the first “day of arrival came at God’s initiating, not the world’s, and the second precious and long awaited “day” will arrive when all is ready for Christ to reappear. And what is the purpose of this delay? It means that God is being patient until all is ready, and so must we. He has a plan that we may not understand, but we must believe that it is for the opportunity of salvation for all - and not by our actions, but by faith. (Habakkuk 2:13-14)

Read 2 Peter 3:10-13

Scripture is full of hints as to the signs that Christ’s return is imminent. The entire 24th chapter of Matthew’s gospel addresses this issue, and apparently the “false teachers” – those in Peter’s day as well as those in ours - either never read it, or they choose to ignore it. Either way, the day of the Lord’s return is on its way, whether the people of earth wish to admit it or not! And Peter gives a few more clues for the doubters, and what does he tell them?

1. No one will ever know the day and time before it occurs. Jesus wants us to be ready now, and not to wait until the last minute. And why is that? Because we are to be involved in his ministry while we wait for that glorious day.

2. Everything that we know will be destroyed. No more sun or moon or stars. No more land or seas or planets. No more lies, or hatred or anything else, for that matter. The Lord’s rebuilding will be absolute and complete.

3. But until that day arrives, we wait – not with fear and inactivity, but in great anticipation and active ministry.

And Peter asks the question that we all have probably considered at some point and time in our lives – what do we do while we wait? And Peter’s answer is about as specific as Jesus’ would have been – “live holy and Godly lives”. Since creation is going to be destroyed, which in turn will open the way for the Judgment of imperfection to begin, we need to begin cleansing our own lives. Holy and Godly lives are incompatible with earthly life – they cannot exist side by side. So the one way that Peter calls us to live, is that which is not of this world. The Church has been called and set aside for Christian love and ministry, not for the world’s brand of social justice.

During this time of waiting, the Church is supposed to be spreading the word of Almighty God, and not the false ways of earth. And when we are faithful servants of the Lord Jesus, and when we share his gospel of salvation with the people of earth, eternal life will come sooner than later for the “full number of the Gentiles” that Romans 11:25 speaks about. And that will be the only thing that can hasten the Day of the Lord’s return. That day will be characterized by the destruction of the heavens and earth by the purifying, the cleansing fire of God, which will clear the way for the coming of righteousness and holiness for both our home and our lives. The hope of Christ’s return will become a reality.

The false teaching of earth cannot stop the Lord’s coming, but if we buy into those lies, it will, without question, put that glorious day off until all does come to fruition.

Read 2 Peter 2:14-15

In our faith and expectation, we work in an attempt to be “found”. This brings the opportunity for a choice on our part. Peter is telling us that we can either be found faithful by God on his return, or we can continue to be lost in the lies and ways of earth. It would seem that “free will” will fight against us right up until the last moment before Jesus. And the disciple lays it all out for us – the return of the Lord will be a complete surprise, so we need to be prepared for His return now. And how are we to be when he finds us? Spotless, blameless, and at peace with God.

And in case you are wondering just how you will ever get to that place in life, we can't! The truth is that, for now, committed faith in Christ, and showing the love that comes from following his commandments, will be sufficient – at least until the day of cleansing comes through the fire of God. And then we will discover the spotlessness, and blamelessness, and peacefulness that only God can provide.

Who and how must we be as we wait upon the day of Christ? Patiently faithful! No more and no less. Patient, because we believe in that day and all that it will bring. Faithful, because the lies that some tell can only lead us away from the glory that is on its way.

Can we be any different than the one God created us, and calls us, to be?