2 Peter 3:8-9

Our Weak Perception of Time

We need to think beyond our limitations when considering the Lord’s timing of His return

We are talking about a God who has always been compared to a person who perceives that everything began the day they were born

If you were to go back to the day of creation itself you would be no closer to the date that God began

It’s not just that God “doesn’t realize” how long it’s been -> it’s the fact that you don’t realize how short of a time it’s been

Much like as you get older, you don’t forget how long a year is, you begin to realize how short it is

We sound like a 4 year old saying “forever ago” to something that happened the year before when we get antsy about God “dragging His feet”

This “thousand years to one day” ratio is not literal, but meant for us to realize that there is simply a great disparity in our ability to perceive time and God’s perception of it

The solution is not to try to use this to map out His return or adjust our frail perception (literally impossible) -> it’s to trust God

God is Faithful

We can trust God, because God is faithful! -> there are three key aspects to this we need to consider

First, God will return because He said He would -> this is the simple faith we can live at peace with as a child of God (Jn. 14:1-3)

Second, God is not “slack” in that He is not arbitrarily delaying for no good reason

God is very intentional with His timing -> we will discuss this more later, but you can trust that there is good reason that the Lord has not yet come back!

Lastly, God is not “slack” in that it will not be an excessive amount of time -> He will not squeak by on a technicality

While our perception of “quickly” and God’s are not the same, He used the language He did on purpose and not to be deceptive (Rev. 22:10-15)

God is Merciful

God is not slack concerning His promise, but rather He is longsuffering -> this turns the interpretation of His delay all the way around!

Many think it a detriment to us that the Lord has not returned, but it is to the benefit of mankind that He does not

God wants to give enough time for us to get to work and bring the gospel to the world -> the most noble task we have to do (Rom. 10:9-17)

The word “willing” here means “desire” and does not refer to the sovereign will of God that will certainly come to pass

It is God’s unchangeable will that salvation is in Jesus Christ alone, but it is not His sovereign will that none should perish

It is God’s desire than none are eternally destroyed, signifying God’s willingness to save all who call upon Him (1 Tim. 2:4)

This means two things:

For the saved, we should live with this reasoning in mind (which we will discuss next study)

For the lost, you need to take advantage of the opportunity, time, and graciousness of God while you still can!