2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
My last message dealt with the beginning of a long section that Peter wrote on the promise of the Lord’s coming. So, you can make sense out of what God directs me to write today, I will repeat 2 PET 3: 3-4. Then, we can look at today’s passage, 2 PET 3: 5-7, in which the Lord reveals the fallacy of unrighteous argument. “First of all, you must understand that in the last days some people will appear whose lives are controlled by their own lusts. They will make fun of you and will ask, ‘He promised to come, didn’t He? Where is He? Our fathers have already died, but everything is still the same as it was since the creation of the world!’ They purposely ignore the fact that long ago God gave a command, and the heavens and earth were created. They earth was formed out of water and by water, and it was also by water, the water of the flood, that the old world was destroyed. But the heavens and the earth that now exist are being preserved by the same command of God, in order to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the day when godless people will be judged and destroyed.”
People controlled by their lusts lack insight into God’s ways and patience to wait for His time for things to happen. That is why they argue that if something hasn’t happened yet, it is unlikely to happen. Anyone who has lived in CA like I have knows an earthquake, maybe even the “big one,” can happen at any time. God directs this, not man. The questions that unbelieving scoffers ask above get to the very heart of the two parallel truths of the universe: God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility to it. I know I have written a lot about this, but it helps to examine it in many contexts. Today, we look at it in the context of the creation and the flood. A non-believer might deny that God intervenes in mankind’s history. When I wrote about those who believe in uniformitarianism and Darwin’s theory of evolution, these are the people who deny God’s intervention. That kind of humanism always looks to man rather than God as the source of everything observed. They deny the reality of the flood story, ignoring the record of it that geology has left behind, its presence in oral records of ancient cultures and written records of modern ones, and, of course, discussion of it in God’s word. “After all,” they boast, “we rely on science.”
The truth of God is a faith matter, and faith is what the unrighteous reject. HE 11: 3, “It is by faith that we understand that the universe was created by God’s Word, so that what can be seen was created out of what cannot be seen.” What is (or more accurately, Who is) this Word? John answers this question in JN 1: 1-4, “Before the world was created, the Word already existed; He was with God and He was the same as God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. Through Him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without Him. The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to mankind.” How much clearer can it be than that?
If there is one story that mankind is not equipped at present to fully understand with science alone, it is the story of the creation from Genesis. God makes it necessary for us to have faith to even grasp at any understanding of it. GN 1: 1-2, 6-8, “In the beginning, when God created the universe, the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the power of God was moving over the water….then God commanded, ‘Let there be a dome to divide the water and keep it in two separate places’-and it was done. So God made a dome, and it separated the water under it form the water above it. He named the dome, ‘sky’…” Later in GN 1: 9-10, the picture becomes more complete, “Then God commanded, ‘Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that land will appear’-and it was done. He named the land ‘Earth,’ and the water which had come together he named ‘sea.’ And, God was pleased with what He saw.” If there was ever any question of God’s position as Creator, David answers it eloquently in PS 24: 1-2, “The world and all that is in it belongs to the Lord; the Earth and all who live on it are His. He built it on the deep waters beneath the Earth and laid its foundations in the ocean depths.”
From its creation, the earth was stored with the means of its own destruction. There is enough subterranean water below and atmospheric water above that if the Lord chose to release it all at once, the world could be destroyed. That is exactly what He did in GN 7:11, “When Noah was six hundred years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month all the outlets of the vast body of water beneath the earth burst open, all the floodgates of the sky were opened.” The flood that ensued destroyed everybody on earth except the inhabitants of the ark, inundating the land completely.
Just as the earth has been fitted for destruction by water, it has also been fitted for destruction by fire. We live in the nuclear age and know that when an atom is split tremendous amounts of energy are given off in a fiery release. Peter tells us in 2 PET 3: 7, “But the heavens and the earth that now exist are being preserved by the same command of God, in order to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the day when godless people will be judged and destroyed.” COL 1: 17, “Christ existed before all things, and in union with Him all things have their proper place.” It is God, and not man, ho will determine when that Day of Judgment will take place, the day when He will issue that command of which Peter spoke. We cannot deny that there will be that final separation of sheep and goats [see MT 25: 32]. The real lesson inherent in all of this is the necessity for us to re-examine our own lives without delay and for us to answer two important questions: 1) Do I understand the extent of God’s sovereignty, respecting it? 2) Do I respond to it with trust, obedience, and faithful servanthood?
PRAYER: O Lord, You have inspired Peter to urge us to be mature in our faith. This maturity is necessary to equip us to answer the arguments of the unrighteous in a way which both pleases You and furthers our sanctification. We must understand the fallacy of their rejection of Your sovereignty and supremacy over all. We must understand the key role that Jesus Christ played in the creation and the one He will play in wresting dominion over the Earth from the adversary as His Kingdom is established. More than that, You equip us to understand that while science exists to help us understand some of what we observe, it is not the end all and be all. It is not an excuse to put man above You or to act immorally. You are the one and only true God. All that we have came from You and is under Your always righteous control. Because You love us so much, You sacrificed Your Son on the cross for us and gave us Your Spirit to dwell with us. When we trust and obey You, we demonstrate the love we have for You. We dedicate ourselves in humility to doing that, to opening ourselves to the enrichment, encouragement, guidance, and blessings of Your word. We offer You thanks, praise, adoration, worship, and honor. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at a most revealing passage on God’s time from 2 PET 3: 8-9. Our Lord’s love for us cannot be fully described by words. It is my sincerest hope that you are experiencing that love in your lives today and always. I can witness to its blessings in my own life and the confidence that He will never abandon those who live with courage of faith in Him. He loves us all equally and profoundly. My husband, Peter, and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn