“But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (v7).
“Don’t go out if you don’t have to. Drink plenty of fluids. Wear light loose-fitting clothing.” Every summer, the local TV meteorologists warn us about triple-digit temps. Sometimes they’ll even pass along some sort of high heat advisory or warning. While he’s weatherman, The Apostle Peter is passing along the long-range weather forecast for judgment day. It’s gonna be hot. REALLY hot! We’re talking fire and destruction. In the words of the great Ghostbuster Ray Stanz, “Real wrath-of-God stuff! Fire and brimstone coming down form the sky!” Pete’s calling for the hottest day in history. It’s a VERY hot forecast.
There’s just one problem. The apostle says a certain group of people are completely ignoring what’s going to go down. Those would be the “scoffers” (v3:3), folks who make jokes about Jesus’ second coming and laugh at anyone who thinks it will really happen. Pete tells us they’re deliberately give a cold shoulder to the facts. The reject the idea of creation. They pooh-pooh the part about the flood. These trash talkers truly believe they’ll never face the music for their rejection of God.
A couple of verses back, Rocky reminds his readers that Yahweh created the entire universe out of nothing “by the word of God” (3:5). He talks about “the heavens…and the earth” (3:5). He used water power to form the earth (3:5). There’s going to be a LOT of similarities between creation and destruction. First of all, God continues to sustain His creation until that scalding day “by the same word” (v7). Remember, the Creator didn’t lift a finger to pull the trigger on the Big Bang. He simply spoke. He said it. It happened. That, my friends, is authority. And God is using that same command and control to make sure everything leads to its proper conclusion. Pete lets us know that the very same “heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire” (v7). Before we see how it all started with the cosmos and our very own planet. Now we see how it will all end. It began with water. It ends with fire.
The fiery forecast is for the “day of judgment” (v7). Pete used the very same phrase back in 2:9. He talked about how Jesus knows exactly what He’s doing in saving His people and punishing the bad guys. That all happens on the “day of judgment.” So just how hot is this fire of divine judgment? Nahum says it’s hot enough that “the hills melt…Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the heat of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire” (Nah 1:5-6). Melting mountains? Sheesh. I want no part of that!
The pages of the Bible smolder with high heat warnings. According to Malachi, God is preheating His blast furnace with His eye on those who reject Him. “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts” (Mal 4:1). King David describes God’s enemies as kindling. “You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The LORD will swallow them up in His wrath, and fire will consume them” (Ps 21:9). That’s just a short sample of warnings in both the Old and New Testaments about just how stinkin’ hot it will be on the day of judgment. Just how hot? Smoldering. Scorching. Searing. Incinerating. Not exactly the words you want to see on your five-day forecast. And the big difference here is that this isn’t an educated guess of a TV meteorologist. You can take this one to the bank. It’s gonna be hot. REALLY hot. Count on it.
Part of our call as followers of Jesus is to sound the alarm about the blast furnace of God’s judgment. Failing to warn our friends and family is the most unloving thing we can ever do. We can avoid His thermo-nuclear wrath by trusting in His Son. Christ lived the perfect life we completely failed to live. He died the death on the cross for our sin that we should have died. In doing so, Jesus took the full brunt of God’s searing fury on our behalf. He took the heat so that we wouldn’t have to.
Otherwise, it’s gonna be hot. REALLY hot. Count on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment