Year 9, Day 222: 2 Peter 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This final chapter of 2 Peter gives us insight into the culture of the followers of Jesus at the time of the writing.  It shows us that humanity is always present, even among people who want righteousness and God’s peace.  We can’t help it; it’s impossible for us to know the future.

2 Peter is likely written several decades after Jesus’ death.  His promised return has seemed to take a lifetime.  He told His disciples He would come back, and many of the have died for Him and His Gospel.  You can’t fault the followers of Jesus for beginning to doubt.

Here we are, two millennia later.  Jesus still hasn’t come back.  His kingdom continues to be imminent, as it has been to every generation since Jesus called His first disciples.  Everyone has thought they lived in the final days of His return.  Yet, here we remain.

This is why Peter writes this.  He understands the frustration.  We need to put God’s work into perspective.  As Peter writes, a day to the Lord is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day.  God’s timing is not our timing.  We think our generation is the important one because our life is limited.

This is where wisdom comes into play.  Remember that the timespan from Abraham to Jesus was likely in the vicinity of two thousand years.  David to Jesus was a thousand years.  We have no idea how many generations it was from Adam and Eve to Jesus.  The point is that from the fall of creation to Jesus was hundreds of generations.  We should not be surprised if the time from Jesus to His return is also hundreds more generations.  It may not be what we want, but it isn’t our plan!

How do we respond?  We put our focus where we should.  Focus on God’s grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ.  If God is gracious, we can be saved whether we are the last generation or not.  If we have knowledge of God, then we know tat what He has called us to do is be His witness to the world regardless of whether we are the first or the last generation – or more likely, somewhere in between.

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