What sort of people ought you to be?

2 Peter 3 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, ² that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.

³ Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, ⁶ through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. ⁷ But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

⁸ But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

¹¹ Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, ¹² looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! ¹³ But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, ¹⁵ and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, ¹⁶ as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. ¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, ¹⁸ but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

In today’s text, in verses 1-13 Peter says:  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.   Let’s begin with the last thing first because that is a foundational part of our faith and should also be a foundation part of the message we declare and portray to people. The day of the Lord, the coming again of Christ is not about the end of earth. It’s about His promise of a new and better heaven and earth, in which righteousness dwells. It is about the fulfillment of what Jesus said and what He taught us to pray: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand - The kingdom of heaven is in your midst- Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  That is the promise, the fulfillment of the restoration of all of the earth to the perfection of heaven, just as God intended from the beginning. Peter asks:  What sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day?  

First then we should be people who do look for, who look forward to the coming of the Lord. We should desire His coming, not that we escape this world, through the rapture as some look forward to His return. While that may happen, what we should look forward to is the fulfillment of the restoration of creation. People have a tendency to focus on the timeline of the events, trying to predict when things will happen and what the order will be. The text says:  Do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.   God’s time is not like our finite time. He is eternal. We should focus not so much on the time of things in our finite measure of them, but rather on the end result, the promise of the fulfillment of the restoration of earth to be like heaven. Just as God created man in His image and likeness, (Genesis 1:26-27) so too, was earth created to be like heaven. Jesus came the first time to restore man to that original condition, through the cross. When He comes again it will be to restore all of creation. The timeline is not what we should concern ourselves with, but rather the result, the promise.  

So again, if we look at the question Peter asks, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day. How should we answer?  The second thing we should do or be, along with those who look for and look forward to Christ’s return, is answered by Peter within the question. We should be people who conduct ourselves in holiness and godliness.  The text says:  But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.   Peter believed in the judgment of God against sin. He was with Jesus when He said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-20)   He was there when Jesus said:   “Then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:23) He was with Him when Jesus said:  “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me. Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41-46)  So if we are looking for and forward to the coming day of the Lord, we should be holy and godly people.

Finally, what kind of people should we be? Peter says:  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.    If God does not wish that any would perish, but all to come to repentance, then we too should have that desire. We should be people who desire to see all, everyone come to repentance. That is after all what Jesus asked or rather commanded us to do. In Matthew 28:18-20 He says:   “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Mark 16:15-16 it says:   “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”   In Acts 1:7-8 Jesus says:  “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”      We should be people who seek the fulfillment of Jesus work on the cross. We should be His witnesses. We should preach the gospel. We should make disciples in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Peter ends saying:  Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation (both for ourselves and for others) grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Revelation 22:12-21 says:   “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Blessed are those who do His commandments,  that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.  “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely…“Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Amen.