Christ Return

Christ Is Coming

Peter says that the heavens and the earth will pass away like a thief in the night. What he is saying is that it will come at a time that we don’t expect. Jesus puts it this way Matt. 24:35-41

Matthew 24:35–41 NASB95

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.

Life will will be carrying on as it always has. In a moment, like the twinkling of an eye everything that we know as a reality will be consumed with an intense heat and fire.

The danger in this is that people believe they have time to do what they want to do in life apart from Christ. They “sow their wild oats”. They engage in a lifestyle of sin while they are young because they believe that they have time to turn their life around when they get older.

Peter warns against doing this. The “later” that they believe in may never come. The appointed time for the Lord to consume the heavens in and the earth with fire could come at any time. Today is the day of salvation. Do not wait when the Lord calls you into salvation. You may not have another chance.

Another danger is some people simply don’t believe that the heavens and the earth will be destroyed and Christ will return. They simply don’t believe in a need for salvation. They live their lives as their own gods. When the moment of destruction comes, they too will be destroyed and judged. Only the fire that they face will be much hotter than the intense heat that consumes the heavens and the earth. The heat they will face will be a tortuous heat that lasts for all eternity in the lake of fire. Rev. 20:15

Revelation 20:15 NASB95

And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Friend, if the Lord is calling you into salvation, COME TODAY!

Anticipate His Coming

Peter instructs believers to not only look for the coming of Christ,but hasten the coming of Christ. This means that our desire should be that it comes quickly.

WE can do this because of His promise of a new heaven and a new earth. John describes it like this: Rev.21:1-8

Revelation 21:1–8 NASB95

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Revelation 21:27 NASB95

and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

The troubles of this world will be no more. Sin will not have a place in the new heavens and earth. It will be a place of perpetual joy that is untainted by the affects of sin. There will be no sorrow because feelings can’t be hurt in heaven. There will not be any death or mourning in heaven because your new body will not have any sin. There will not be any injuries or health issues in heaven. You will be given a perfect body that is free from disease or injury.

We will will worship like we have never worshipped before. There will not be any complaints about the music, the temperature, someone taking your seat, or any of the other things we have tendencies to complain about. We will be in the presence of King Jesus!

Be Prepared For His Coming

Peter calls us to be to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of the Lord. These three things are what happens when a person is following Christ

Be found by Him in peace

Apart from Christ we have no peace in our lives. We live in animosity towards God. Rom 8:6-8

Romans 8:6–8 (NASB95)

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

When we live according to our flesh, we do not please God because we do not obey His law. We obey our own law. This brings hostility towards God. This is why a lost person never really has peace.

True peace comes from a relationship with Christ. John14:27

John 14:27 NASB95

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

We will find that we enjoy obeying the commandments of God and that in doing so we find a sustaining peace. 1 John 5:3

1 John 5:3 NASB95

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

Be found spotless and blameless

This only happens through repentance. Acts 3:19 1 John 1:9

Acts 3:19 NASB95

“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

Repentance is the act of turning from a lifestyle of sin and turning to Christ to follow Him

1 John 1:9 NASB95

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Confession is the act of agreeing with God that our actions were sinful. There is also a implication of repentance as well.

A person can be made spotless through salvation and made blameless through confession.

Regard the patience of the Lord

The more time that passes the more opportunity we have to prepare for the coming of Christ. Though we should hasten the coming of Christ, we should also be thankful for His patience.

We should regard the patience of God as a means for further preparation for his return. We can continue to store up treasures in heaven.

Grow In Your Relationship With Christ

Peter concludes His letter with a reminder to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The way we do this is two fold. The first way is to understand Scripture. 2 Peter 3:16

2 Peter 3:16 NASB95

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.

The way people would distort the scripture was perverting the concept of grace through licentiousness, perverting the concept of grace by legalism, and false teachings about the second coming of Christ.

Licentiousness

Some people would say that because Christ died for our sin, we can do what we want because we are forgiven. This is a perversion of grace. When we are saved we are given a new heart that is inclined to righteousness and not evil. We should not use our freedom and forgiveness in Christ as an opportunity for sin. Gal. 5:13

Galatians 5:13 NASB95

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Our freedom in Christ is meant to serve others by making disciples.

Legalism

The Pharisees and Sadducee were promoting salvation by works. They were telling people that they had to be circumcised and live according to the Old Testament Law to be saved. This is another perversion of grace.

Salvation comes by faith alone in Christ alone. Rom. 1:17

Romans 1:17 NASB95

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

It is by faith that a person is saved and not works. We cannot be good enough or do enough good works to get into heaven.

Then how do we reconcile James 2:24

James 2:24 NASB95

You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

These are not in contradiction as some would believe. They are actually complementary. What I mean by this is when a person is saved by faith the result of that faith is works.

Christ has already come

No he hasn’t . 2 Cor. 5:6-10

2 Corinthians 5:6–10 (NASB95)

Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

We are still in our bodies and long for the coming of Christ. We are awaiting that blessed day when we stand before Him and hear the words “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into the reward of your Master.