THE FINAL DAY

Introduction

-{2 Peter}

-With the conflict that is going on in Israel, the world’s eyes focus in on the Middle East. No matter what someone’s religion or irreligion might be, there is a consensus that whatever happens in that small strip of land called Israel, it has global implications.

-Those who hold to a biblical Christianity are no different, and in fact we look at Israel with a more keen interest as Israel has such a prominent part in our history—it is Israel through whom the Savior of the world was born. If there was no Israel, there would be no Jesus, and we would still be in our sins. But God called a people to Himself through Abraham, and then through the lineage of King David God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us, died for our sins, rose again, and now rules and reigns at the Father’s right hand.

-But quite often, when anything happens in Israel, many minds turn to end time events. All biblical Christians know that Jesus Christ is going to return to earth physically and visibly, but there is not a consensus about what leads to that point. I personally always warn people to exercise caution in trying to read any world events as signs of the end times, because, as Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. I believe that we don’t take the news of the world and try to fit it into the Bible, rather we take the Bible and let it speak into the world.

-Now, while there is no unanimity among Christians or pastors or scholars about views of the millenium or the meaning of the book of Revelation, what we know to be the final day is given some clarity in other parts of Scripture. While no single passage gives every detail of what will happen on the final day (much to our chagrin), what it does give us is enough to encourage us and move us in how God wants us to live during our pilgrimage on earth.

-Now, when thinking of the final day we often go to John or Paul, but Peter gave us some insight into the time of Christ’s return as well. And what I want us to get from the passage we are looking at today is that the biblical teaching about Christ’s return in the final day should serve as a source of hope as well as a point of challenge for how we live out our time on earth.

2 Peter 3:8–13 NET 2nd ed.

8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. 9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare. 11 Since all these things are to melt away in this manner, what sort of people must you be, conducting your lives in holiness and godliness, 12 while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God? Because of this day, the heavens will be burned up and dissolve, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze! 13 But, according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness truly resides.

-{pray}

-To give us some context, we find Peter writing to Christians spread out over a wide area, touching upon several subjects of importance for them to live faithfully during their temporary stay on earth. In the verses that are just prior to our passage, Peter warns them that there are going to be false teachers that come along who will try to discourage the church by implying that if Christ hasn’t returned yet, He’s not going to return at all. So, Peter, through the passage we read, wants to set the record straight, explaining to the church the truth of the final day at Christ’s return. While there is a lot we might not know or agree about the final day, we do know these things for certain—and these truths should give us hope and they should challenge the way we think and act.

-What I want to do this morning is I want to ask 3 questions of this passage and hopefully the answers will deepen our understanding of the final day, give us hope, as well as challenge us while we wait for Christ’s return...

1) Why has God waited so long?

-When you read the Scriptures, there really is a sense in which the early church believed that Christ would return at some point during their lifetime. That is why they might be vulnerable to the false teachers who would question if Christ’s return would even happen—it hasn’t happened yet, so it might not happen at all. Here we are 2000 years later and the church is still waiting. How does Peter explain this wait? First, he tells us that...

a) God relates differently to time

-In Philippians 4:5 Paul said that the Lord is near. In Revelation 22:12 Jesus said He was coming soon. 2000 years later and still no Christ—that does not seem near or soon. How can we harmonize this idea of Christ’s return as being near or soon and all this time has already passed? Peter gives us one answer in that God relates to time differently than His creation.

-In v. 8 Peter quotes Psalm 90:4 in reminding people that God does not deal with time like we do. He uses the analogy that a thousand years is like a day for God. Now, this is not something literal—one thousand years is not literally like one day to God. Some people have tried to stretch this way beyond what context allows. They’ve said crazy things like the six days of creation mean 6000 years or crazy stuff like that. No, the biblical writers are saying that God relates to time differently than we do, so that means that His concept of near and soon are a lot different than ours.

-God is eternal, meaning that He is outside of space and time. God is not trapped in time. It is hard for our finite minds to grasp, but God looks at time from the outside. When God created the universe, He created time with it. So, when God says near and soon, He means near and soon from His perspective—in the perspective of eternity Christ’s return and the final day is very near and very soon. But for us humans who are stuck in time, not so much. So, the biblical writers are saying you have to consider the point of view from which these things are written.

-In the Star Wars franchise, Ben Kenobi tells Luke Skywalker that Darth Vader killed his father, but then it comes out in later movies that Darth Vader actually is Luke’s father. So Luke confronts Ben about what he said, and Ben says that from a certain point of view Darth Vader did kill Anakin Skywalker, as the Vader persona completely consumed him and choked out the Anakin persona. It is all from a certain point of view.

-Well, from God’s certain point of view, Christ’s return is near. And so we don’t give in to the doubt that the false teachers try and plant in our minds, we know that Christ will come when God deems it to be the right time according to His perspective and will and purpose. There is that answer, but Peter also gives another answer to why God has waited so long, and he says that...

b) God is patiently waiting

-In v. 9 Peter says that God is not slow in fulfilling the promise of Christ’s return, again from the human perspective of slowness. And He says that the reason that God is waiting to send Christ back for His church is because He is patiently waiting for people to repent.

-Because, here’s the thing—once Christ returns, that is it…it’s over. There will no longer be a chance for people to come to Christ. They will face judgment and receive the just punishment for their sins. And so, the Father’s waiting to send Christ back is actually a great mercy for the unbeliever because He is giving the unbeliever time to repent and believe upon Jesus.

-The gospel message is that Jesus is God the Son who became human, who fulfilled the law that humanity broke, who died as a substitute, taking the punishment for sin, and rose again defeating sin and death. Any who repent, turning from living for self to living for Christ, and believe that He died and rose for them, are granted eternal life. And it doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done, you can receive eternal life from God through Christ.

-And God in His grace and mercy is giving all of humanity time to receive this precious gift. It doesn’t matter if you have been a serial killer or if you have been the model citizen, everyone is a sinner who needs this gift of salvation, and God is mercifully waiting to send Christ back so more people will come to Him…so that you will come to Him.

-I think of the days of Noah when the intent of men’s hearts were constantly evil. God told Noah to build the ark to save a remnant from the judgment. If I’m reading Scripture correctly, Noah took 120 years to build it and Noah pleaded with others to join them in the ark to escape the judgment. But once the door on the ark was shut and the rain began, that was it. But God had given them time to repent.

-And that’s how great our God is—He wants people to come to Him. God is waiting to give people a chance to hear the gospel and believe. This is why God has waited so long. But I want to move to the next question:

2) What do we know about the final day?

-Yes, there’s a lot of speculation about what Revelation means and other passages, but what does Peter tell us about the final day? First, he tells us that...

a) It is certain, but will be sudden

-In v. 9 and v. 13 Peter says that it is a promise from God that Jesus will return. And in v. 10 he says WHEN IT COMES…not if, but when. So, from Peter’s perspective the return of Christ is a done deal. When God makes a promise, He never backs out of that promise. God will fulfill His Word. Christ’s return is as certain as all the rest of Scripture. What a source of hope and joy. Sure, God is not bringing it about in our timing, but God rarely ever does anything in our timing. God does it in His timing, and that is always the perfect time.

-So, it is certain. But Peter also tells us that it will be sudden. He says in v. 10 that it is going to come like a thief. When a thief is going to break into your house, he doesn’t advertise the fact that he is going to break into your house, otherwise he’ll probably be met with some gunfire or other violent resistance. No, when a thief is going to break in he comes at a time when the homeowner is unaware. He comes in the dark, late at night, when the homeowner is sleeping, and he goes about everything very stealthily. From the homeowner’s perspective, boom, all of a sudden the thief is there, without warning.

-The return of Christ on the final day will be just like that—life is happening and then all of a sudden, here comes Christ. I believe that the testimony of Scripture, including our passage, teaches the imminence of Christ’s return. That word imminent means that it could happen at any moment—there is nothing preventing it from happening right now. Jesus told us:

Mark 13:32–33 NET 2nd ed.

32 “But as for that day or hour no one knows it—neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son—except the Father. 33 Watch out! Stay alert! For you do not know when the time will come.

-And Jesus also said:

Matthew 24:37–39 NET 2nd ed.

37 For just like the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 38 For in those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. 39 And they knew nothing until the flood came and took them all away. It will be the same at the coming of the Son of Man.

-Life is just going to be happening like it always does, and then all of a sudden here’s Jesus. I do not agree with some theologians who think this event or that event has to happen before Christ comes. There is nothing stopping Him from coming right now—it is imminent.

-And when Jesus comes like a thief, what is going to happen? Peter gives an answer about what will happen to the universe in the final day. He says that it will a time of:

b) Out with the old, in with the new

-Peter uses a lot of language here about the heavens and the earth being burned up (and by heavens it is talking about what we would call the universe—the place where the sun and moon and stars are located). In our passage it says things like the heavens disappearing with a horrific noise / roar; the celestial bodies / elements will melt away in a blaze; the heavens will be burned up and dissolved; and the like. In fact, right before our passage, in v. 7, Peter says:

2 Peter 3:7 NET 2nd ed.

7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

-Now, there is debate amongst scholars if Peter meant that a fire like a refining fire would come to the heavens and the earth to refine the current universe, or if it is a fire of destruction. I don’t think it matters much because either way, what it is saying is that the universe as we know it will no longer exist. This old universe where there is death and decay and destruction is on its way out. This world of pain and suffering and tears is going to be gone forever. We want that, and the universe itself wants that. Paul says:

Romans 8:20–22 NET 2nd ed.

20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God who subjected it—in hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now.

-All of creation knows that things are not the way it was originally intended, and it longs to get rid of its current existence. What’s so funny is that science itself demonstrates that the universe is dying and decaying, and yet so many scientists don’t think through the implications of this fact. The laws of thermodynamics demonstrate that this universe is moving toward entropy—everything is declining and degrading until it will just peter out.

-But before that happens, Christ will get rid of this old universe, and it says in v. 13 that we are waiting for a new heaven and new earth that will last for eternity. That means there will be a new universe where we will have new bodies and a whole different science is going to be at play. Peter says righteousness will reside there—meaning everything will be right according to God’s sense of right. As John describes it:

Revelation 21:1–4 NET 2nd ed.

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more. 2 And I saw the holy city—the new Jerusalem—descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more—or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.”

-The old universe and our old bodies will be no more—behold, all things will become new. That’s what’s going to happen in the final day. But with that truth, we come to the final question:

3) How should we respond to these truths?

-We have these truths, what do we do with them. First, Peter tells us to...

a) Be prepared with a holy life

-Peter asks in v. 11, since all of these things are going to melt away, what sort of people should we be? And he gives the answer: we are to be people who conduct our lives in holiness and godliness. We are to be people who live out our days as pilgrims who have been made new in Jesus Christ.

-We are not to be people who live for fleshly desires. We are not to be people who invest all of our time and energy in gaining the pleasures of the world. We have to ask ourselves, if we know that this world is going to get burned up one day, why would we bank all our time, money, and resources into something that is going to be destroyed? Wouldn’t it be better to invest our lives in the things of eternity?

-This was the warning that Jesus constantly gave at the end of Matthew 24 into Matthew 25. He gave parable after parable about being prepared for His coming because you don’t know when that day is happening. I think Peter used vocabulary in our passage that he had heard from Jesus Himself, because Jesus said:

Matthew 24:42–44 NET 2nd ed.

42 “Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

-If the owner knew when the thief was coming, he would have been ready. But since he doesn’t know when the thief will come, the owner needs to always be ready. We ready ourselves for Christ’s coming with a holy and godly life. And another response...

b) Pray for the day to come quickly

-Peter says in v. 12 that you live holy and godly while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God. Scholars debate what it means to hasten the day—is there a way for us to make it happen quicker than it has happened? I’m not sure, but I believe a good response is for us to pray. We pray that God would save so many more people than are currently saved before that day comes. But I also think it is right and good to pray that the day of the Lord’s return would come quickly. That is the ultimate cry of our hearts.

-In fact, we could say that the Bible concludes with such a prayer. In Revelation 22:20 Jesus says YES, I AM COMING SOON. And then John gives this little prayer: AMEN! COME, LORD JESUS! I think it is good and right for us to pray the same.

Conclusion

-So, Christian, I pray that this is a source of hope for you. Things may be bad for you, but they will not always be that way. Jesus is coming and everything is going to be made new. You will not suffer forever. He will wipe away your tears and bring peace to your heart. But also be challenged on how you approach life—living for the world or living in holiness and godliness?

~If you need some encouragement, come to the altar and ask God to encourage you through the hope of Christ’s imminent return.

~Maybe you want to come to the altar and just pray COME, LORD JESUS!

-But if you have never trusted in Christ, the Father may be delaying Christ’s coming for you so that today you would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive the promise of heaven. Know this, God may be delaying the final day for a time, but He will not delay it forever. Today is the day for you to repent, today is the day for your salvation...