Dr. Lawrence Butler
The Bridge Church, Pembroke
Lesson 11 Chap. 3:5-9
Our previous lesson ended with the presentation of scoffers who mocked the prophecies of God’s Word. They never accepted the promise of the physical return of Christ to the earth. Their strongest argument was that no one rises from the dead, and after all the time that had passed, Christ still had not returned. This made the Apostles wrong in their teaching. Instead, “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (II Pet. 3:4) is their doctrine. Just because something has never happened does not mean it never will, but that is their justification.
Peter says these people are willingly ignorant, refusing to acknowledge that God raised the earth out of the water at the creation, then flooded it because of sin. The physical world that existed before the flood was changed, and the people that lived in that time were all destroyed except for Noah and his family. Peter then firmly states that the present world is reserved by God’s word until judgment is pronounced upon ungodly men. Man will not destroy the world upon which we live, that will be brought about by God. Be aware that neither will the world be destroyed by water, for God promised it would not happen. The next measure of judgment on the world will be that of fire.
Why has it taken so long for this promise of judgment to be fulfilled?
We see much wickedness among people with their lying, cheating, and abusive actions until we may question the Lord and wonder why this is permitted to continue. Verse 9 answers this question; God “… is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Pet.
3:9). Jesus came to this world “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). He died to save, not to condemn and send to hell. He loves with a love beyond our comprehension, and He wants us Christians to pursue the Great Commission with all that lies within us. Don’t quit, don’t get discouraged, just keep praying and working to win souls to Christ.
Be patient, my friends, and let God work in His own time frame. In reality, God doesn’t concern Himself with time. Verse 8 tells us that one day is like a thousand years in God’s presence. He doesn’t need to hurry, He is eternal and doesn’t live by man’s clock. In the past, the present or the future, God is always the great “I AM.” He will bring a conclusion to this current world in His time and call His children into His kingdom for eternity.