Slices
Prepare
What pictures come to your mind as you contemplate ‘The day of the Lord’?
Bible passage
8 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. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 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 done 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. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever! Amen.
Explore
This faith of ours involves living with many mysteries. This must be so: otherwise, God would not be God. Our first mind-boggling truth for today is that our Lord constantly oversees the workings of the known universe – and beyond. The second is that he is intimately concerned with the progress of his children’s lives. We humans can never explain how all this works together. However, one clue must be that God dwells outside time, as Peter implies (v 8). Indeed, we might well understand space-time as a part of divine creation just as much as trees and animals, you and me.
Peter seems to find it natural to jump back and forth between apocalyptic prophecy and plain instructions for Christians. Are we expected to fully comprehend ideas such as ‘The heavens will disappear with a roar’ (v 10)? Perhaps not – because right now we do not need to. It’s exciting to read the dramatic accounts about the end times in Scripture. They should surely draw us to worship, even if what it’s all about is not yet clear. Meanwhile, the Bible provides ample and obvious guidance about our own right response today. Verse 14 alone lays out a pretty good basis for a life in Christ. Let’s not kid ourselves that we need to know more than this.
Respond
Spend some time meditating on the meaning, for you, of ‘spotless, blameless and at peace with him’ (v 14).
Deeper Bible study
‘Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King!’1 Lord, inspire us afresh today with the hope of your return.
Yesterday we explored the promise of Jesus’ return, yet unfulfilled for Peter’s audience and indeed for us. Here, Peter explains that, if the day of judgement and triumph has not yet appeared, it is because God has not finished his primary work, that of drawing people into relationship with himself. God is patient and doesn’t want anyone to be ignorant of his ways and face judgement, but rather to have time to repent and discover his grace.
Here, as in most places in the New Testament, a focus on the end times is used to inspire godliness in the present: ‘Eschatology leads to ethics.’2 As God is holding off the final consummation of creation in Christ, Peter encourages his audience and exhorts them to make sure they use the time they have effectively: ‘live holy and godly lives’ (v 11); ‘be found spotless, blameless and at peace’ with God (v 14). The injunction to do this is imperative because, although God has so far been patient, the return of Jesus could be imminent – and will, ‘like a thief’ (v 10), come without warning or expectation.
In addressing how we should live, Peter is, of course, returning to the theme with which he opened the letter – growth in grace and holiness. As we look forward in hope to Jesus’ final and glorious return, a time of a new heaven and new earth ‘where righteousness dwells’ (v 13), so we are to make every effort to cooperate with God in growing in our knowledge and love of Jesus (v 18) and so be transformed into God’s likeness. We are to take up the ‘means of grace’, as Wesley called them, or ‘spiritual disciplines’, for they ensure that our lives form the best environment for the spiritual growth Peter encourages and God longs to see.
‘May the mind of Christ my Saviour / live in me from day to day, / by his love and power controlling / all I do and say.’3
1 Andraé Crouch, 1942–2015 2 Douglas J Moo, 2 Peter, Jude (The NIV Application Commentary), Zondervan, 1996, p218 3 Kate B Wilkinson, 1859–1928
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Zephaniah 1–3; Revelation 15
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for churches across the country as they engage with their local communities over Christmas, using SU resources like God Became Like Me? and A 95 Christmas to help them share the real meaning of Christmas.
SU Christmas campaign: With the help of our supporters and partners, we’re hoping to help thousands of children engage with the real meaning of Christmas through the gift of God became like me?, a beautiful retelling of the real Christmas story. To find out more about the campaign and see how your gift could help us reach even more children with the good news this Christmas, click here.
