Unusual Hope

Go ahead and open your Bibles to 2 Peter 3:3-14 page 1080 in the pew Bible).

Over the last month, we have taken the familiar story about Jesus’s birth and tried to remind ourselves just how unusual a king he is.

Along the way, we have drawn out unusual ways we should live in light of the unusual king we follow.

We saw the unusual promises God made about this king, and those fill us with unusual peace, knowing that God keeps his word.

We saw his unusual birth, which challenges us to live with the same kind of unusual humility he modeled.

Last week, we saw the unusual devotion of Simeon and Anna, two of the earliest people to recognize Jesus as king.

To wrap up our look at our unusual king, we want to spend a little bit of time today talking about his return.

You see, the Bible is clear that Jesus is coming back some day to finish what he started the first time.

Before we dive into our text today, I want to preface this by saying that I am not going to try to draw out all the nuances of the different aspects of his return.

There are godly, Jesus-loving people who disagree on the specifics of exactly what the timeline will look like when he returns.

Although we know more about his second coming than the Jews did about his first, we still need to approach this subject with humility, recognizing that none of us has everything exactly correct.

We are going to choose to focus on the core reality that unites the different views of those who truly follow Christ: Jesus is physically coming again.

We may disagree on some of the details, but we can all agree that the Bible is clear that Jesus is returning to earth, not as a humble baby, but as a victorious king.

Here’s how his return is described:

Revelation 19:11–16 CSB

Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

A little different than the baby in the manger, isn’t it?

The promise of Jesus’s second coming is that when he comes and finally sets everything right, he will come as the conquering king who will finally put a stop to evil in every form.

For those of us who follow Jesus today, we should be marked by an unusual hope that looks far beyond the events of today and into an eternity we will celebrate with our king.

Like we said last week, remember that hope in the Bible is not just wishful thinking.

Instead, biblical hope is the certainty that something will happen because God said it will—it is trusting in it as if it is good as done.

Now, as we look to 2 Peter 3, we find the Apostle Peter writing to a group of Christians who were already suffering persecution for their belief in Jesus.

False teachers had begun deceiving people and teaching them things that didn’t line up with what God said.

The true Christians knew Jesus had promised to return, but they hadn’t seen him yet.

In this section, Peter is encouraging them how to live life during this time where we are waiting for Jesus to come back.

We need the same encouragement.

As we walk in unusual hope, we want to make three observations about this time leading up to Jesus’s return.

First, Peter reminds us that...

1) People will doubt God’s Word.

Read verses 3-7 with me.

In the time period before Jesus returns as king, people will doubt the promises God made when he said Jesus would come back.

Does that sound about right? How many times have you seen a movie or TV show that shows “those crazy Christians” talking about how Jesus is coming back?

There are times when we don’t always represent Christ well in how we talk about his return, but the world around us largely disregards what God has said.

Think about it for a minute: I am not asking you to judge any individual’s soul, but just looking at how people live, how many people around you, how many people live with a daily awareness that Jesus is coming back?

Even among those who do, how many seem to understand what the Bible actually says will take place?

By the way, if you are here this morning, and you aren’t sure that you can trust what the Bible says, we are glad you are here and hope you will stick around.

We have a lot of reasons why we believe we can hold onto what God says in the Bible, and we would love to talk with you more about it if you are interested.

Peter makes an interesting assertion here: those who doubt God’s promises about Jesus’s return start with doubting what he has said from the very beginning.

To those who look at life through lenses that exclude God and what he has said, it does seem like life has gone on the same way forever.

However, God has told us that he is the one who created the universe.

He is the one who formed it and brought life into it, and he is even the one who judged it with a flood.

However, since our hearts are turned towards ourselves, we don’t want to acknowledge that there is a God out there who made everything.

Here’s how the Apostle Paul describes this:

Romans 1:20–23 CSB

For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse. For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.

Peter said that is just going to get worse—people will reject the fact that God made the world and has judged it before, which will cause them to reject the fact that he is coming again.

Look back at verse 7...

If you and I won’t believe that God made the world like he said he did, and that he judged it once like he said he did when he sent the flood and spared Noah, then it stands to reason that we would disregard the fact that he is going to bring another judgment on the world when Jesus returns as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

As we walk in hope, we have to understand that there will be a growing number of people who think we are fools for holding onto God’s promise.

However, our hope is built on what God has done in creation and carrying out his word in the past, which gives us certainty that he will keep his promise to send Jesus.

Our second observation makes our hope unusual as well:

2) God’s timing will seem slow, until it doesn’t.

Read verse 8-10...

Here, Peter gives us some incredibly helpful insight.

He begins with the acknowledgment that God doesn’t experience and interact with time the same way we do.

He isn’t giving us a technical formula to use for calculating how long certain things will take, which is clear because he makes two opposite statements back to back.

How can a day be 1000 years and then 1000 years be a day?

Because the God we serve is eternal and created time itself.

This is the kind of thing that keeps you awake at night, staring at the ceiling, making your brain melt.

Think about how he described himself to Moses. When Moses asked God what name he should give when people ask who sent him, God told him

Exodus 3:14 CSB

God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”

God is the only one who can call himself “I AM,” because at any point in eternity, in history, or in the future, God is there fully.

In Revelation, we see Jesus described as the Alpha and Omega, which is like saying the “A to Z,” the beginning and the end.

God is described as the one who “was and is and is to come” (Rev. 4:8).

That’s what Peter is getting at—God is not bound by time like we are, so the 2,000 years that have passed since Jesus ascended back to heaven are nothing to him.

At the same time, he has been working in every moment throughout history and even before history!

When we look at Jesus’s promise to return, then, we have to allow God to be God when it comes to time.

It seems to us that it has been forever since Jesus went to heaven.

That can cause our hope to waver, because in human terms, the longer you wait for someone to do something, the less likely it is to happen.

Not so with God, though. In fact, he has a very intentional purpose for delaying. Look back at verse 9.

One of the primary reasons Jesus hasn’t come back yet is because he is allowing time for more people to come into his kingdom.

This verse doesn’t mean that everyone is going to be saved and go to heaven; rather that God is extending the time so that you and I have an opportunity to know him.

Think about it this way: If Jesus had returned in Peter’s day, you and I would never have existed and wouldn’t have the privilege of joining him in his kingdom as he rules and reigns forever!

Because God has delayed, you and I can know him!

Who do you know around you that doesn’t have a relationship with Christ yet?

How often do you pray for Jesus to draw them into his kingdom before he returns?

How often do you expect to be the answer to your own prayer and talk with that person about their need for Jesus?

God hasn’t forgotten or delayed his return; he is simply being patient and allowing for more to come to him.

From this side of things, it seems like he is taking his time and Jesus may never come back.

However, look back at verse 10....

Just like a thief watches to see when you aren’t home or when you are asleep, when people least expect it, Jesus is going to come back.

His timing seems slow until it isn’t.

None of us knows when that moment is coming, and neither does anyone who is trying to get you to buy their book or send them money.

With the way the Bible talks about Jesus’s return, he could come before we finish this service.

He may delay for 10,000 more years, but when he is ready, he will come in an instant, and there will be no going back.

In other passages, the Bible describes Jesus’s return as “instant” and in “the twinkling of an eye”.

Do you live with the expectation that he really could come at any moment, and that he really will come in a moment?

Our unusual hope causes us to live in this paradox.

On the one hand, we know that God is in charge, and his timeline looks different than ours does.

On the other, we know that he could come at any moment and forever alter the course of human history.

In light of the fact that he could come at any moment, Peter gives us some clear instruction on how to live.

Our third observation, then, is that...

3) We should walk in holiness and expectation.

Shortly after 9/11, there was in increase in interest in Jesus’s return.

I remember Dr. Falwell making the statement that he wasn’t going to say that Jesus is coming soon, but he was recommending that we take out high interest, long-term loans, because he didn’t think we would be here to pay them back.

20 years later, we see that Jesus hasn’t come yet.

So, do we refinance those loans?

Do we sit in our houses and just wait for Jesus to come back?

How are we supposed to live?

Read verses 12-14...

If the world is going to end, and if Jesus is going to come back for his people and to judge the world, then I need to make sure that I am living a life of holiness and expectation.

Why? Because at any moment, at any day, Jesus could come back!

Think back to those lists we talked about last week, or to the Sermon on the Mount that we studied last year.

In all of those passages, Jesus outlined what he expects his kingdom citizens to be and do.

Isn’t that what you want to be doing when Jesus comes back? Honoring him and walking in holiness?

Look at verse 14 again— “without spot or blemish in his sight, at peace.”

We should make sure our lives are first cleansed by his blood in salvation and second that we are living out what he has already done in us.

We should live at peace with God, with others, and even in our own hearts.

Why? Because we are waiting on him to come and take away all the stains of sin from this world and, as Revelation 21-22 describe, reunite heaven and earth like it was supposed to be.

We live with an expectation, keeping an eye to the sky, looking for our king.

As we do, though, we strive to live holy lives in his strength, loving God and others and leading others to do the same, working up until the very moment he calls us home.

Remember, even if Jesus delays his return, every single one of us is going to die at some point and stand before him.

That could be today, so live like you are going to see him, whether through him coming back or taking you home.

Here’s my fear: The world is a frustrating place for those who are serious about following Jesus. People ridicule the Savior who died and lives for us and they reject him and what he stands for.

There are times when I fear that our focus on Jesus’s return is kinda like Jonah.

Do you remember his story? He was the prophet God told to go to Nineveh and tell them that God was going to overturn the city. He didn’t want to go, because he didn’t want God to save them. They didn’t deserve it in his eyes.

We usually focus on what happened on his trip there, but do you remember what happened when Jonah got to Nineveh?

He preached, the people repented, and God spared the city.

Jonah got mad at God for sparing their lives! Then, the Bible tells us that he sat down outside the city and waited to see whether or not God was going to judge them.

The book ends with Jonah still mad at God, sitting under the scorching sun, waiting for judgment to fall.

Can I challenge you, please don’t be like that. Don’t waste your time before Jesus comes back with sitting around thinking about how he is going to really stick it to that political leader you don’t like or the other party you don’t vote for.

We absolutely will rejoice when Jesus establishes his righteous reign in a fuller way on earth, but we don’t want to sit around and just wait for judgment to fall.

Yes, people will scoff, but he’s going to take care of that.

Why not make sure your own life looks like Jesus’s would so you are ready for him to return?

On top of that, why not join him in what he is doing in drawing people to himself? Give to missions, pray for missionaries, go to the ends of the earth or even across the street and talk with people about their need for Christ!

Unless God makes it clear that he wants you to, don’t necessarily lead off with Jesus’ return. Instead, care for and invest in folks and point them to Jesus with your actions and your words. Help them see who Jesus is through you.

If you and I will do that, by God’s grace, we can be excited to see the moment when the King of Kings comes back and takes his rightful throne.