Good Morning Friends,
“But do not forget this one thing, dear
friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are
like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with
a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in
it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind
of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look
forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the
destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.” (2
Peter 3:8-12)
Why doesn’t God just put an end to the world?
Christians have been looking for it to happen for 2,000 years. Almost every
generation has expected theirs to be the final one. Yet, life just goes on and
on as though there will never be an end. What is God waiting for?
Peter tells us what God is waiting for: He’s
waiting for as many to turn to Him for salvation as possible. There are still
unsaved people, many of them. There are still whole groups of people who have
never heard the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. There are countries where the
Gospel has not had the opportunity to be proclaimed. And God is patiently
waiting.
But – God’s patience will end. The world will
be destroyed. God has promised it and He will keep His promise. It will come
suddenly and unexpectantly -- like a thief in the night. We won’t be able to
precisely predict when it will happen, no one will. It will be the end of the
world. The whole world will be destroyed and refashioned.
In the meantime, Peter has three instructions
for those who are waiting:
·
Live holy lives that reflect our
commitment to the Lord.
·
Look forward to the Lord’s coming. It’s
not something we should dread, but anticipate.
·
Speed its coming. If God is waiting
for as many to be saved as possible, then the one way we can affect the timing
of the coming of the Lord is to diligently and faithfully spread the Gospel as
much as possible.
His, by Grace,
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment