“Where is the promise of His coming” (2 Peter 3:4). This was the question that scoffers asked as time passed in the first century, and the world continued. Many in that time (both Christians and unbelievers) misunderstood the fact that the promise of Jesus’ second coming did not necessarily mean he would come within a few months or years of His leaving the earth after His resurrection from the dead.
The teaching of both Jesus and the apostles — that Jesus would come, that no one knows the exact time of His return, but that it was important to be prepared — is teaching that every generation needs to take to heart.
Consider that accepting that teaching will cause a child of God to live faithfully throughout his life, as he looks for and seeks to hasten “the coming of the day of God” (3:12).
But not everyone believes. Scoffers at that time made fun of the Christian’s focus on the second coming of Christ. Since 2,000 years have passed, such unbelief has grown. Too many are more concerned with some rogue asteroid, or climate change than they are the determined will of God and His promise to all mankind.
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the worlds that are in it will be burned up” (3:10).
How do you KNOW this day is coming? Because God said so! This is the same God who already destroyed the world once, through a flood on the earth (cf. Genesis 7). Though forgotten or denied, this is sufficient evidence in and of itself that Christ will come again. God doesn’t lie. He keeps His promises. Nothing can thwart His will. “For all the promises of God in Him [Christ] are Yes…” (2 Corinthians 1:20a).
Why has it not happened yet? Peter made it clear, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night….” (2 Peter 3:9-10a).
So, it’s going to happen. It will happen at the end of Jesus’ longsuffering. We don’t know when, so we need to prepare TODAY, and stay prepared throughout our lives (cf. Matthew 25:1-13). As Peter wrote, “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from you own steadfastness” (3:17).
