DEVOTION
THE 2ND LETTER OF PETER
NO SCOFFERS PLEASE
2 Peter 3:3-7
3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will
come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say,
"Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died,
everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5 But they
deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the
earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of
that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and
earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction
of ungodly men.
NIV
Isn’t it true! There are still scoffers today. There must have been
scoffers throughout the time of history, always thinking life is just life and
that you only go around once and you need to grab all the gusto you can. That would
seem to be the philosophy of the world, but it appears Peter is talking about
scoffers in the community of faith because they are scoffing at the timing of
the coming of the Lord. He is making the point that there are believers who
have deliberately forgotten about long ago when God formed the earth out of the water
and by water. That would mean there are believers who have bought into evolution
as the method of creation, rather than by the word of God. If they are
deliberately forgetting creation was by God speaking everything into existence,
then they deliberately choose another method. We like the way the Greek puts it
as it says they are willingly ignorant that it was by God’s word everything
existed. Peter has reminded them and us that God did speak the heaven and earth
into existence and the earth was formed from water and it is by that same water
he flooded the earth because of the wickedness his creation had turned to. They
had become so wicked that God was saddened he even created mankind, but praise
His Holy Name, there was one man who He found righteous, and through Noah
mankind was saved. What a wonderful picture of Jesus. Noah was a foreshadow of
Christ. It is not much different today, the world has gone crazy in its
wickedness. There are people engaged in every form of wickedness, just as in
the days of Noah. However, Peter tells us God will never flood the earth again
wiping out all mankind, except for one man and his family. However, the earth
is reserved for fire, as well as this current heaven. This means, according to
the revelation given to John, that a whole new creation will take place. Although
we live in a new creation already, in a spiritual sense, we will one day live
in the new city of Jerusalem with Christ on a new earth and a new heaven. Fire
will consume this present earth. Everything will be destroyed by fire, just as
it was by water in the days of Noah. It is also the same as in the days of Noah
that mankind was saved by one righteous man, we who are in Christ will be saved
because we are in the one true righteous man who is also fully God. Mankind can
be saved through the cross of Jesus, as it was in the ark of Noah. Both the ark
and the cross were constructed of wood, fashioned by the hand of God, formed by
the hand of man. Both served to be a safe haven for those who are in them in
the time of destruction and judgment. We do notice that Peter makes sure we
know that it is the wicked, the ungodly are judged and destroyed. We are in no
need of worry, for we know we are in Christ and he is in us. We are saved and
safe, so we keep on keeping on, our faith is strong and we wait for the day we will see our Lord appear in
the sky, calling us home, whenever that will be. Until then we will just have
to endure those scoffers, but not join them.
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