The Present Implications of the Future

The Present Implications of the Future

2 Peter 3:10-18

‘Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.”

                  There is a prevailing undercurrent of fear that our world is approaching a cataclysmic ending.  We recognize that there is something inherently wrong in the world and that we are descending towards a global abyss. In God’s movement of history, history is linear rather than cyclical.  In other words, there is a starting point of history, and there will be a concluding point of history. Just as life is a movement from birth to death, the earth moves from beginning to end.  But the end of time and history is not determined by man; it is determined by God. Yet, in God’s movement of time, there is both an end and a new beginning.  For those who reject Christ, the end brings the reality of judgment.  The coming of Christ will be a time of fear and destruction.  However, for those who embrace the salvation of Christ, the end is a time of rebirth.

                  In verse 10, we find that Christ, when he returns, will destroy the world as we know it.  Sin has so permeated all creation that it requires a whole new recreation. However, the destruction of the world is not the end.  God will create a new heaven and earth for his people. God takes us back to the Garden of Eden with his new creation, in which we now will be able to enjoy the purpose for which we were created.  We were made to enjoy him and have fellowship with him.  We were to explore his creation and spend eternity in fellowship with one another.   However, we rejected this purpose in the fall, but this purpose will be restored in the future when Christ creates a new heaven and new earth. In response to this reality, Peter asks, “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?”  The future brings clarity in the present, for it reorients our focus from the present world to the future world.  It should change our priority from a focus on the present to a focus on the eternal, and what is eternal is our relationship with him.

                  The greatest tragedy of life is being preoccupied with things that have no eternal value.  When life ends, and this world is destroyed, all the things that were so important to us in the present will be gone.  So what will remain?  If everything we see in the present will be destroyed in the future, what are the implications for us today?  Peter gives us the answer in verse 14.  The thing that is eternal is our relationship with Christ and our obedience to him.  Paul understood this priority when he wrote, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:8). The only thing that has eternal value is Christ; therefore, our ultimate goal is to know Christ and have a personal relationship with him.  

                  The older I get, the more aware I become that everything I have accomplished in life will soon be forgotten, and all the things I've created and possessions I once considered so important will only end up as fodder for the landfill. There is only one thing I will take into eternity: my relationship with Christ and the people I have influenced for Him. As we begin the new year, set your New Year's resolution to focus on that which has eternal value. Make it your goal this year to become more like Christ and share the hope of salvation with others, for these are the only two things that are truly eternal.