Peter wrote this letter near the end of his life. Scoffers were mocking the promise of Christ’s return. Where is this coming? they asked. Everything carries on as it always has. We hear similar voices today. Many people treat the second coming as an old story. Peter answers the scoffers with truth about God’s view of time, His patience and the certain day of the Lord. Then he turns to us with a searching question. If all this will happen, what kind of people should we be right now?
God Is Patient, Not Slow
Peter reminds us that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8). God is not bound by our clocks. What feels like a long delay to us is not a delay to Him. Moses said something similar in his prayer (Psalm 90:4). Then Peter explains why Christ has not yet returned. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise. He is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Every day that passes is a day of mercy. God desires all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4). His patience is an open door for your family, neighbors and friends.
Who are two people you will pray for by name every day this week, asking God to bring them to repentance?
The Day Will Come
God’s patience must not be mistaken for forgetfulness. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night (2 Peter 3:10). A thief does not send a warning text. Peter describes the heavens passing away with a great noise and the earth and its works being burned up. Everything this world treasures will be tested. Jesus used the same picture of a thief to urge His followers to watch and be ready (Matthew 24:42-44). Paul told the Thessalonians that this day will surprise those who are not ready, but believers are children of the light (1 Thessalonians 5:2-5). We do not need to fear that day if we belong to Christ, but we must not live as if it will never come.
What earthly thing are you holding too tightly, and how will you loosen your grip on it this week?
Holy, Hopeful and at Peace
Since everything will be dissolved, Peter asks, what manner of persons ought ye to be (2 Peter 3:11)? His answer is people of holy living and godliness. We are not only waiting for this world to end. We look for and hasten the coming of the day of God, and we look for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:12-13). So Peter urges us to be diligent, so that Christ may find us in peace, without spot and blameless (2 Peter 3:14). John says that everyone who has this hope purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure (1 John 3:3). Our hope for the future shapes how we live on Monday morning, at work, at school and at home.
What one area of your life needs more holiness, and what practical step will you take toward it before Sunday?
Conclusion
Peter shows us that God’s apparent delay is really His patience, that the day of the Lord will surely come, and that this hope should make us holy and peaceful people. We are not saved by being spotless. Jesus, the spotless Lamb, washed us clean by His blood. Now we live in a way that matches that gift. Pray for the lost while the door is open, hold this world loosely and look forward with joy to the new home God has promised.
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