"Hope
in the Day of the Lord"
International
Sunday School Lesson for May 26, 2013
Scripture
Text: 2 Peter 3: 1-15
Purpose:
To look forward to the day of the Lord with eager and effective hope
2
Peter 3:1-15 (CEB)
1
My dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written
both letters to stir up your sincere understanding with a reminder. 2
I want you to recall what the holy prophets foretold as well as what
the Lord and savior commanded through your apostles. 3 Most
important, know this: in the last days scoffers will come, jeering,
living by their own cravings, 4 and saying, "Where is the
promise of his coming? After all, nothing has changed—not since the
beginning of creation, nor even since the ancestors died."
5
But they fail to notice that, by God’s word, heaven and earth were
formed long ago out of water and by means of water. 6 And it was
through these that the world of that time was flooded and
destroyed. 7 But by the same word, heaven and earth are now held
in reserve for fire, kept for the Judgment Day and destruction of
ungodly people.
8
Don’t let it escape your notice, dear friends, that with the Lord a
single day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a
single day. 9 The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise, as some
think of slowness, but he is patient toward you, not wanting anyone
to perish but all to change their hearts and lives. 10 But the
day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will
pass away with a dreadful noise, the elements will be consumed by
fire, and the earth and all the works done on it will be exposed.
11
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what sort of people
ought you to be? You must live holy and godly lives, 12 waiting
for and hastening the coming day of God. Because of that day, the
heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt away in
the flames. 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for a
new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
14
Therefore, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to
happen, make every effort to be found by him in peace—pure and
faultless. 15 Consider the patience of our Lord to be salvation,
just as our dear friend and brother Paul wrote to you according to
the wisdom given to him,
My
Thoughts by Burgess Walter
This
is our final lesson for this quarter, and for the past 13 weeks we
have talked about “Hope”
beyond the present time.
Peter's second letter seems to be a letter of hope sent
to those addressed in his first letter, (northern Asia Minor,
[present day Turkey].) Both letters were written as a reminder of
what they had been taught not only by Peter but also by Paul and
other legitimate apostles. Just as it is today there were many
skeptics and false teachers.
Today there are many within, as well as outside, the
church that are scoffing at our belief that Jesus will return and
create a new heaven and a new earth. This doctrine of the “last
days” or “day of the Lord” should not be confused with the
doctrine taught by some of the “rapture of the church.”
Peter's message is clearly about the end of the age, or
the complete destruction (by fire) of the earth as we know it, and a
new creation that consist of a new heaven and a new earth.
Since Peter references the Old Testament as well as the
New Testament prophets, we can assume this was written to those who
were former Jews, now converted to Christ followers.
The essence of Peter's letter is to be patient, not an
easy request for any generation of believers. Peter assures them
that God works outside of our normal reckoning of time. Peter suggest
along with most modern day geologist that the earth has been around
for millions or maybe billions of years. No one knows for sure when
God first spoke the world into existence. Verse eight puts it pretty
plain, 8 Don’t let it
escape your notice, dear friends, that with the Lord a single day is
like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a single day.
If we take that as fact and multiply it out, then it has
been 29,934,745 days since Adam and Eve. 299.3 years in God time. Now
my math may be off but I hope you see the point, what seems long to
us, is not necessarily long in God's time.
Verse nine offers the hope that we long for. “9
The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise, as some think of slowness,
but he is patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to
change their hearts and lives.” It
is God's patience that has allowed for our salvation. God has
determined that His day will not come until as many as possible have
been given the opportunity, “to
change their hearts and lives.”
Until that day
comes, Peter encourages them, and us, to live as pure and faultless
as they/we can.
Peter's
call for holy living is not a popular message for today's church. We
are told it is too hard, but I will remind you of what God told Sara
in Genesis 18:14 “Is
anything too difficult for the Lord? When I return to you about this
time next year, Sarah will have a son." or
the words Jesus used in Matthew 19:26 “Jesus
looked at them carefully and said, "It’s impossible for human
beings. But all things are possible for God."
I
think without God in our lives in the person of the Holy Spirit, it
is impossible, but with God, as Paul says in Philippians 4:13 (KJV)
“I can do all
things through Christ who strengthens me.” Outside
of Christ holy living is impossible.
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