A True View

2 Peter 3:3-7 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
 
WHAT would it look like if you were to paint a picture of God? Would your picture match God’s will and his attributes? Do you see God fulfilling your desires, answering your prayers with a, “Yes!” in the time you desire? Would your picture show God as uncaring or as deeply loving? Is he actively involved in his creation, or is he merely watching to see what happens?  How could you know if you were picturing God correctly?
   Our picture of God can be out of focus when we put God within the frame of our own mind. One picture the early church had of God is that Jesus would return within their lifetime. Acts tells us early Christians sold property and lived in community expecting the Lord’s quick return. And why not? The gospels record seven times Jesus prophesied his return as in Luke 21:27 “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Each generation since has had the same anticipation.  
   But he hasn’t come within the framework of our minds. In response, scoffers cast doubt into the church. “Where is Jesus? If he said he was coming, why hasn’t he come? How can you believe in him?” They looked at the world and believed that things had not changed since the beginning of creation. Their lives were the same as the generations of their ancestors.
   But they forgot that something had changed since the beginning of creation. That change is God creating the world and all things in it. In their statement of doubt, they actually revealed a great faith of the world’s existence.
   Once the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep. (Genesis 1:2b) Then God spoke. Everything changed. And Scripture tells us how God has been working in his world, giving us a clear view of who he is.
   If the scoffers of the first century would look back with faith into the early generations, they would have seen that God has acted in his will through centuries of human time. They would have remembered the 120 years of Noah’s work on the ark and how the waters deluged and destroyed the world. They would have remembered Israel’s 450 years in Egypt before the exodus and the 800 years between Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah and the Messiah’s appearance. If they looked back to what God has done, they will look forward to know Jesus’ return will ignite the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
   God is sovereign. He has his picture of the future framed into his good purpose for humanity. We must be faithful to gaze upon our Lord and trust he will complete his picture of the new heaven and earth in his time.