2 Peter 3:10-12 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 in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 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.
 
IT is difficult to imagine such sudden, complete change in the world prophesied for the day of God. But we have glimpses of it, don’t we? Fires have raged through forests and towns too fast for people to escape. Floods have come so quickly no one has time to flee to safety. Earthquakes shatter homes and lives. A tsunami suddenly destroys all in its path. These events come as a thief in the night. Without warning all is taken away.
   How do we prepare for the day of God? Do we ignore the warning, believing it will happen beyond our lifetime? Or do we live with anticipation it could be today? Jesus urged us to be ready: Matthew 24:38-39 “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”
   Peter urges the church to be prepared for that day by living holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.
   Is there an urgency to your faith? Is walking in step with the Good Shepherd your priority? Are you willing to attend church weekly, participate in church events, learn from the Bible and help others do the same? We don’t need to be “professional Christians” – members of a church staff or ministry – to be constant Christians. All of us have opportunities in the workplace, the marketplace and our neighborhoods to live holy and godly lives. Such lives recognize there is a limited time to make God known. He has given us a new life to be his ambassadors to the world that will one day be destroyed and made new.
   That was the prophets’ and Jesus’ mission. God set apart the prophets to warn Israel of destruction if they refused to repent and to promise blessing if they obeyed God. Jesus has warned of the earth’s destruction and judgment on those who do not repent. He promised salvation to  the faithful. God has fulfilled the prophecies on Israel. He will complete his prophecy for the world on the day God.
   Believe the Lord’s Word. Be a constant Christian. Be prepared for the new heaven and earth. Help others be prepared.
   

2 Peter 3:8-9 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
 
PETER continued to assure the church Jesus will return. This may be one the apostle’s most quoted teachings.
   We need assurance, don’t we? Even though we believe God’s timetable is much different than ours, we may not be pleased about that. Why should God wait to come back? We need to be free of this world’s trouble. Why does he wait to heal? Why does he wait to resolve broken emotions? What is his purpose to linger while we struggle through persecution, sorrow and despair? To the suffering mind a day can seem like a thousand years. Is he slow to keep his promise? Or is he patiently awaiting the time when his will is fulfilled on earth?
   This is Peter’s great assurance to the persecuted church. They may be suffering, impatient that Jesus has not returned. But then Peter teaches something very important they should know and even celebrate with joy! God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
   Why is God waiting to send Jesus? Recall 1 Peter 1:1-2 To God's elect…2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood. God has elected all who are to be in his church. If he had come any time before your birth, you would not exist to spend eternity in heaven. God has elected people to be born and to be born again. His will is to bring each elected person into the world, so each will be saved into heaven. His patience to allow the world to suffer in evil is for the greater purpose to save his elect into heaven.
   Remember, we pray “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is to be a prayer of submission and obedience. And when we petition the Lord for our desires and needs, we faithfully submit to his answers in his time and in his will.
   Be assured. God will bring his church into heaven’s glory when his ordained time is completed. Jesus’ teachings n the gospels and Peter’s, Paul’s and John’s epistles give us a picture of this new creation God has planned.  
   God has ordained it, and it will be. How are we to respond? Peter tells us next.
 

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.