Reading Other People’s Mail: 2 Peter – Day 5
Take a moment to read 2 Peter 3:10-18
The Last Words of the Last Words
Peter doesn’t have a lot of time left. Last words are important. When time is short, we make our words count, and Peter is making his count. His words are words of warning. But they are also words of instruction.
Because there will be a day when the Lord comes and because there will be a day of judgment, we should live good lives. Peter’s exact words are, since these things are true, “What kind of people ought you be?”
He tells his readers that they “ought to live holy and godly lives (v.12). We have the same responsibility. Remember, Peter is writing at the end of his life. He knows that life is short and that the way one lives matters. Even creation itself has a lifespan. But there is hope!
Life won’t just draw to a close in a fiery end. There will be a future full of the new. Peter describes it as a “new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (v.13). He described the process as fiery, but not the kind of fire that doesn’t have a purpose on the other side. Yes, there will be judgment, and yes the world as we know it will be gone. But what comes next is better. It is so good that it is simply described as “the home of righteousness.”
Revelation 21 has a fuller description of this new home. God’s people will be there. But death won’t be there. Crying will be gone. Pain is no longer present. There will be no more mourning. Everything will be new! We are told by John, that the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21:4).
The greatest promise of this new creation is that God is present with his people in this place and the gates of the new creation are always open.
Peter is referring to this day when we will be caught up by God into a glorious future. He challenges us to as we “look forward this” to “make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with Him” (v.14).
He even refers his readers to the testimony of Paul who says similar things. The last few paragraphs of his last letter are full of hope and exhortation. And he is speaking as one who has experienced the grace of God and who is looking forward to seeing Jesus again.
Application:
How does Peter encourage us to live given the return of Jesus and what can you do to pursue this kind of life?- What does the promise of a new creation do for the follower of Christ? Does it mean that life here doesn’t matter? How should it matter?
What would you say to God based on your reading today? Take some time to talk to God in prayer.
Consider writing down a key verse or verses from today on an index card or small piece of paper and carry it with you today. Look at it as often as you can as a reminder of what we learned today.
Possible Verses: 2 Peter 3:11; 2 Peter 3:14
