Scripture: 2 Peter 3:8-15
Peter was one of those “most unforgettable characters” who not only brought God’s truth through scripture, but who shows us how the Lord can use the most unusual of people to proclaim his word to this world. He would be the first to proclaim that Jesus was truly Messiah (Matthew 16:13-20), and after Jesus had been arrested, he would also deny that he even knew him (Matthew 26:69-74). And this is the man who would lead the early Church?
Peter, to a great degree, is very much like you and me. We have no doubt as to who Jesus is, and yet, how often do we deny “even knowing” him? Oh, we may not use the same words of denial that Peter did, but we still let our own words, and thoughts, and actions say very loudly that the world is still our way and that Jesus isn’t all that important to us.
.But praise the Lord, there is one more similarity that we have with Peter. Forgiveness! It isn’t something that either Peter or we have to earn, or be worthy of, or even understand– we just have to believe, down deep in our hearts, that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior of our soul.
Our passage for today is believed to be from the last letter that Peter wrote before his death by crucifixion. His primary purpose for these words is twofold – first, to warn us that the greatest threat to Christ’s people would be coming from within the Church, that there would be false teachers and prophets whose sole purpose would be to lead the faithful astray (2 Peter 2). And second, to encourage the Church to grow in true faith and trust of Jesus, as well as in all that he taught.
And both his warning, as well as his encouraging words, are for the Church of this day, too.
Read
2 Peter 3:8-10
One
of the concerns that the false teachers had created was that Christ’s return
and subsequent judgment weren’t going to happen. They believed that the
original promise had been given for the first generation of the Church, and
that it was never intended to occur in the years following the death of the
early Church leaders. Since it never happened when they thought
it should have, it was, in their estimation, a false understanding.
So
Peter begins to explain why the false teaching is wrong, and he begins with the
issue of time. He writes “With the Lord, a day is like a thousand
years, and a thousand years is like a day”. For us, that doesn’t make
much sense – after all, how can a long period of time be the same length as a
short period of time? His point is, that for us, time is relative, that
it is the basis for the schedule that manages our life! Are we going to
be on time for our job? What time does worship start? How old am I
and when is my husband or wife’s birthday? Wedding anniversary?
High school and college graduation dates? How old am I? How long
have I been retired? And on and on. Everything we do or need to
remember is related through time.
Our
human time is finite – it began at birth, and will, one day, come to an
end. But for God, he has no beginning, and he has no end. Time
becomes meaningless when you are infinite and eternal, and we have no reference
or understanding of what this means.
So
if time holds no meaning for you, how can you be fast, or slow, or even on
time? The truth is that you can’t – or at least not in our
understanding. When the Lord Jesus told us that “this generation will
not pass away” before all that he has prophesied has happened (Luke 21:32-33), I believe that the
“generation” that he was referring to was very possibly his generation,
not ours. His generation would, therefore, be the time between his human
birth and the day of his return to earth, which is an unknown amount of time
for everyone except for the Father (Matthew 24:36).
And
why would God do it this way? So that people would have time to give up
our worldly ways, and give our lives to the Lord’s way. Our
repentance and our salvation is that important to the Lord – so important that
Jesus came to be born and live a life like we do, and to die in death like we
do, just so we could live eternally, like he does!
That
day will come in the Lord’s time, not ours. And just because we do not
know when that day will be, it definitely does not mean that
the promise has been broken. As a matter of fact, it reinforces the truth
that God’s ways are not our ways, and that his ways are far greater than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). And that is a reason
for great rejoicing, and not for doubt and denial!
Read 2 Peter 3:11-13
Last
week, we considered the need to patiently wait for the Day of Christ, not only
with faith, but with a true, unshakable, and involved faith. Peter
reinforces this command when he writes that we should be waiting for Christ’s
return by living “holy and Godly” lives. We know that the Holy
Spirit continues to be involved in the lives of all who believe in Jesus, but
we have also been called to be active in all human lives,
especially for those lives who have yet to come to the Lord’s way.
But
the best part of this passage tells us that as more and more people come to
Jesus, and begin living that “holy and Godly” life, it will actually shorten
our waiting time for the Lord’s Day. That alone should be reason enough
to live in a Godly way!
And
we also have to remember what will be happening when the Day of Jesus
arrives. Peter reminds us – the planets, the stars, the moons, the
earth and moon – all will reach the end of their useful existence and will pass
away – not just disappear, but will burn and melt and become nothing, just as
it was before God created something beautiful out of the original nothingness. But
this time, it will remain just that – nothing.
Read 2 Peter 3:14-15
And
to think, that some folks want us to believe that God made a mistake when he
made this promise to us. It’s almost a repeat of the Noah story (Genesis 6:9-Genesis 8:22), when he was
ridiculed by his friends and neighbors for listening to the Lord, but he
continued to build a watercraft that was large enough to hold him, his family,
and representatives of every specie of animal in the world. And we all
know what happened to the scoffers! There was no room for any of them.
When
creation ends, this story will be repeated, except that water will be replaced
with fire. A remnant will still be saved – those who believe and trust in
the word that God sent to us through his precious Son, but many will be lost to
condemnation, to the same fate that the old created order will succumb
to. Doesn’t your heart just break over those who will be lost, over their
refusal to see the truth that is of and in Jesus Christ?
And
the worse part of it all is that some of these will be our family and
friends! Sharing Jesus with others is the responsibility of all
believers, and quite honestly, family and friends will be the most difficult,
because they know us the best – and usually it is the part of us that we left
behind when we first called Jesus Lord! And while it may be a bit scary
to take that risky step in faith, when we begin introducing others to the truth
of Jesus, we will never have to do it alone. The Church Universal will
never be defined as a bunch of solitary evangelists! And when it begins
to appear to be this way, something is drastically wrong. Divisiveness,
barriers, fighting and opposition are all signs of a broken church, and nothing
good will ever come from it.
Faith
will always be ours through unity in the Spirit of God. Others will come
along side of us, to encourage, to help, to teach, to lead us, but the most
important Person to help will be the Holy Spirit Himself. In 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Romans 12:4-8, and Ephesians 4:11-13, we read of the help
that we all will receive through the grace of our Almighty God. The Lord
will never tell us to “get busy” without enabling us to do
exactly what he has planned for us. And part of the evidence that the
Spirit is at work within us will be peace (Galatians 5:22-25) – not only within the
broader church, but with the Spirit of God.
Never
let the Lord’s timing be seen as his indifference, or even worse, as
failure! God is at work in his way and on his schedule and never on
ours. Rejoice that his way is higher and better and perfect, and that he
truly is on his way to receive his faithful in eternity.
Hasten
his day through your life and testimony, and don’t let it be delayed any longer
than it absolutely has to be.
