SCOFFERS
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This is the last letter of Apostle Peter to churches. He knew that the day of his death was near, and so he wrote a letter of last words to the churches. He asks them to Remember the things foretold by the holy prophets, and the commands of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
2 Peter 3:3–4 (ESV)
knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
He warns the Church in advance, that in the future mockers will appear and say: "Where is the promise of his coming; is not everything the same as it has always been since the beginning of time, since our fathers fell asleep?" This attitude is what we call Uniformitarianism. It is said that the world must have always been in the same form from the beginning of time until now. But the Apostle Peter refutes this, saying,
5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
Contrary to what they say, he testifies that at creation the land was formed under water, came out of water, and was submerged again in a great flood that covered the whole world in the days of Noah. This is not the same as saying that the land has always been the same since the beginning of time, and that's not all.
7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
By the same word that created the heavens and earth, they are stored up until now, and by the same word they will be destroyed by fire.
About that day, Jesus said,
Matthew 24:37–39 (ESV)
For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. There interest was only on visible and tangible things. They did not listened to the Word of God. They did not care the warning of Noah , the righteous preacher. He prepared the ark for 120 years. He preached for 120 years but there were only 7 people who believed the warning of God. I want to show you a Chinese letter. This character means a ship. This letter is a combined letter from 3 individual letters, a vessel, eight and mouth. Mouth means in Chinese character number of people. Eight people were in a boat. Some descendants of Noah who moved to Far East Asia remembered the incident.
Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Almost 19 centuries have passed since the promise of Jesus’ coming. So it seems very slow but with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
God is waiting for your repentance. Jesus said,
And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Jesus waits for the gospel of the kingdom of God to be preached to every nation, to every people, every tribe and to the whole world.
2 Peter 3:10 (ESV)
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
‘Coming like a thief’ means that he will come when most people would not expect. Then the heavens will pass away. Can you imagine that the heavens will disappear? The heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved. Think about the time of Great Deluge. Until the coming of the flood no cared the warning from God. And the earth was destroyed by the reverse order of the Creation.
In the first day of the creation, the earth was without form and void. So God commanded “Let there be light.”
Genesis 1:2 (ESV)
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.
God separated the light from the darkness in the first day. In the 2nd day he separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse.
Genesis 1:6–7 (ESV)
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.
Genesis 1:9 (ESV)
And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.
He separated dry lands from water in the 3rd day. So He created orders from chaos during the first 3 days of His creation. And He filled the expanse, heaven, water and the surface of the earth during latter 3 days.
But at the time of the Deluge, the order of creation became reversed. It came back to the beginning of the 2nd day. The waters under and above the expanse became one. In the 7th day of the creation, all things were fine.
Genesis 1:31 (ESV)
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
The perfect state went back to chaos and demolition. The Great Deluge is a type and shadow of the final judgment. As the judgment of Sodom is a foretaste of the final judgment, the Deluge is also a foretaste of God’s final judgement. As God reversed the creation process, He will reverse it completely at the Lord’s day.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
2 Peter 3:12–13 (ESV)
waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
The heavens will disappear and all heavenly bodies will be dissolved. There will be new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Compared to North Korea, South Korea is a heaven. Many people are trying to get citizenships of countries such as United States, Canada, Australia etc. But they are not heavens. We find evil things in every country. We sigh whenever we see unrighteousness, deceitfulness, violence, war mongers and hatred. There is no heaven. The most important reason why I wait for the New Heavens and the the New Earth is that there dwells righteousness.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
We wait for the Kindom in which God reigns.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”