Staying on Target... (8)

Why is God taking so long?

Last week, we looked at mockers and scoffers. In 2 Peter 3:4

2 Peter 3:4 NLT

They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”

So Peter gives two reasons in verses 8-10.

2 Peter 3:8–10 NLT

But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.

This morning, I would like to look at Peter’s explanation on why God is taking so long to come back, and also look at Jesus’ Second Coming.

Two Reasons

1. A day is like a thousand years

Psalm 90:4 NLT

For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.

As humans, it can be difficult to think outside of time, because we live inside of time.

Every year has 365 days, except leap year which is 366. Every day has 24 hours. Every hour has 60 minutes, and every minute has 60 seconds.

We know that the sun comes up every morning and sets every evening. This can be different depending where you live and what season it is. This all seems so simple to us.

Each of one of us has a birthday, and we will all have an expiration date or a time of death if Jesus doesn’t come back before we die.

In Canada, we use the alphabet for the years of our Purebred cattle. We use 22 of the letters in the alphabet. We skip past I, O,Q, and V, so it takes 22 years to go through the alphabet. This year the letter is L. Personally, this is my 2nd time going through L, but in my pre-teen years, I remember having a 1L and a 72L. That is a reflection on time, and time waits for nobody.

Because we are bound to time and we keep years and dates, when Jesus said that He was coming quickly, that would make us want to put a date on it.

This what Jesus said about the time of His coming.

Matthew 24:36 NLT

“However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.

Do you have a hard time waiting?

Waiting can be hard. We know that something is supposed to happen and yet it just doesn’t seem to come.

Disappointment can come when somebody makes a promise and they don’t keep it. This can make us want to compare God to humans.

Numbers 23:19 NLT

God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

Here is when we run into trouble, when we try to make God like us. We run into trouble when we try to squeeze Him into who we are.

Jesus became a human so that He could empathize with our weaknesses. He was 33 when He died on the cross, but Jesus, God the Son has always existed.

Genesis 1:1 says,

In the beginning God...

created the heavens and the earth.

Psalm 90:2 NIV

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Before the beginning of creation when God spoke the worlds into existence, God was there.

Maybe as a child you asked the question, “Who created or made God?” That’s an honest question.

The only answer that I have is that I believe that God has always existed. He is completely sufficient within Himself: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but out of His majesty and omnipotence, His decided to create the universe, and set universal laws in order.

I believe that there is no one greater. I believe that He created all things by His will. I believe that He will have no end.

Because God existed before time existed, He is not bound to time and because He is omniscient, meaning that He knows everything, He knows everything that has ever happened or will ever happen.

Isaiah 55:6–9 NLT

Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

We can’t even begin to fathom who God is in all His fullness.

Isaiah tried to give us a glimpse of how great God is in measurements that we can understand.

Isaiah 40:12–16 NLT

Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice? No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand. All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.

Before we move to the next point, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day. God transcends time...

Peter’s second reason:

2. God is patient...

2 Peter 3:9 NLT

The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

Because God is merciful, because He loves humanity, He longs to give everyone an opportunity for everyone to be saved.

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 5:8 NIV

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 Timothy 2:1–4 NLT

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

Does God believe in universalism?

This means that because God is a merciful gracious God eventually everyone will get to heaven.

If God was going to allow everyone into heaven, why did Jesus have to suffer on the cross? Wouldn’t that be unnecessary agony if there is ultimately no penalty for sin.

Here’s the sad reality, not everyone is going to accept God’s offer of salvation.

John 3:18–19 NLT

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.

Even though not everybody will come to believe that Jesus died for our sins, God calls us to pray for everyone. My prayer is that God would give us a great desire to pray for people that don’t know Jesus.

My prayer is that we would find a place in the harvest field.

Jesus said this to His disciples,

John 4:35 NLT

You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.

What about the Lord’s coming?

2 Peter 3:10 NLT

But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.

It will come

As unexpectedly as a thief...

Here’s what Jesus had to say about His return in

Matthew 24:42–44 NLT

“So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

We need to be ready...

1 Thessalonians 5:1–8 NLT

Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you. For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape. But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.

Does Jesus return bring hope or does it bring fear?

If it brings fear, we haven’t fully experienced God’s love.

1 John 4:13–18 NLT

And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

God has not given us a spirit of fear. Satan wants us to think that God wants to punish us, but God’s love casts out fear.

There is no question that it is going to be a fearful day for all who have rejected Jesus. It’s going to be a fearful and dreadful day for anyone who isn’t ready.

The heavens will disappear...

2 Peter 3:10 NIV

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 done in it will be laid bare.

In Genesis 6, God destroyed the world with a flood, on the Day He returns, He will destroy the heavens and the earth with fire. Some think that this world will last forever, but Jesus said in

Matthew 24:35 NIV

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Just because this earth is going to pass away, doesn’t give us a license to mistreat it and do whatever we want to it. We have been called to take care of this earth, not to worship it.

God’s patience will not last forever...

The day of the Lord will come when people least expect it, so we need to be found in Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:8–11 NLT

But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

Let’s encourage each other as we prepare for Jesus’ return.

In closing, Paul said this to Titus,

Titus 2:11–14 NIV

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Amen!

Let’s pray.