Focal Passage: II Peter 3:8-18
My family has an elderly friend who will soon be with Jesus. One thing is for sure — there will be no deathbed confession. Why? Ms. Jean has been confessing her faith in Jesus for decades. Whether you were family, friend, home health nurse, or total stranger, she would tell you about her faith in Christ, and that she was ready to go home.
Have you ever met someone who was banking on their deathbed confession? Several years ago, I witnessed to a young father and then asked him what he thought about the truths I had shared.
He said he knew that trusting Christ was the right thing to do … when he got ready to do it. Translation: “I want to do what I want to do for now. When I’m done having my fun, I’ll follow Jesus.” This kind of gambling with eternity assumes that an ideal day, or deathbed, will come.
Peter warned against such foolish thinking: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief” (II Peter 3:10). He had heard this warning in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse: “If the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into” (Matthew 24:43). Even a person in perfectly good health in the prime of life may suddenly face eternity unprepared!
Peter’s writing serves as both a warning to unbelievers and an encouragement to believers. Although scholars have long debated whether Peter described a literal or spiritual change in creation, his statement, “the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved” (II Peter 3:10) and the repeated references to dissolving in verses 11-12, seem to point to a literal event.
How could the elements dissolve and the planet remain intact? Peter seems to describe not a renovated creation, but a literal “new heavens and new earth” (I Peter 3:13).
While this new creation will certainly bring ecological perfection, God’s purpose is much greater. Peter declared, “Based on His promise, we wait for a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells”
(II Peter 3:13). Can you imagine a world where sin has been eradicated? The curse will be reversed! The finished work of the Second Adam will overturn the failure of the first Adam and the effects his sin he brought into the creation (Romans 5:17).
In light of this glorious future, Peter called believers to live in “holy conduct and godliness” (I Peter3:11). He further challenged his readers to “make every effort to be found without spot or blemish in His sight, at peace”
(I Peter3:14). How is this possible?
In 1 Peter 1:19 Peter explained that our redemption comes through “the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb.”
Therefore, we stand firm not on our works but on the perfect righteousness of Jesus. Yet we do not stand with our arms folded. We strive to hasten the day of the Lord (I Peter3:12) by taking the gospel to every nation (Matthew 24:14) as it overflows from holy lives that pray for God’s kingdom to come (Matthew 6:10). May God help us not to disregard His patience which brings salvation (I Peter 3:15). B&R — Rust is associational mission strategist for Holston Baptist Association.