The Promised Wonder

Hope, Truth, Promise: A Study in Peter's Epistles  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Great is the promise that has been given to us. God will judge the brokenness and wickedness of our world. He will restore and make right that which has been lost. Peter moves our hearts to joy as we receive a glimpse of what is in store for the faithful of our Lord.

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What the Future Holds

2 Peter 3:9 NIV
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Since the very dawn of time, the Lord has been in the pursuit of His people. He has moved heaven and earth in the pursuit of His children. He has exhausted every avenue to shake awake His people. From flood to earthquake to increasing the number of hours in the day, God has been faithful to stop at nothing to win the hearts and lives of His people. In a final movement of pursuit and love, the Lord leaves heaven and takes on human flesh. He walks, talks and suffers as one of us to show the hope offered by the Lord. Then, our Lord goes to the cross and suffers and dies in our stead that we might have direct access to the Lord Almighty.
The Lord did all of this because He knows what lays ahead for His creation.
2 Peter 3:10–13 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. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
God’s judgment is certain. It is coming like a thief in the night.

How then Shall We Live

2 Peter 3:14–16 NIV
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
In light of the coming judgment, Peter points us to how we are to live our lives. Our focus becomes singular in emphasis. Our hearts desire the approval of only One. Our laser focus is to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with the Lord.
The Beauty of what Peter is pointing us toward is not our effort or current status. He is pointing us to Christ. Our aim is to be laser focused on Christ, because it is Him alone that makes us spotless, blameless, and at peace with God.
The Lord’s purpose for being patient is singular. There is only one path to walk. The Lord is not waiting patiently for a better leader, the true church, or any other man made creation. The Lord is patient for the sake of salvation. He is patient awaiting the work of Christ to be fully fulfilled.
The evidence of this is the continuity of the message of God from cover to cover.

The Promised Wonder

2 Peter 3:17–18 NIV
Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
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