Earlier today, I was at a church preaching on the subject of the second coming of Christ. In this post I just want to share one important point from that message. I was preaching from 2 Peter, chapter 3. In that chapter, Peter warns the believers that in the last days, there will be mockers saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:4).
So it seems that one of the main arguments of the mockers will be that such a long duration of time has elapsed, thousands of years to be exact, and Christians keep saying Christ will return, but all things continue as they have since the creation. And just dating back to when Jesus was here and said He would return, it’s been nearly 2000 years.
But note how God inspires Peter to respond to the mockery about the issue of time: “Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (verse 8). I don’t know about you, but I have serious difficulty grasping this truth. That is, that to the eternal God, there is no difference between a day and a thousand years!
Believe it or not, ever since the day of Pentecost, as recorded in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, we have been living in the last days. How do I know? Because on that day Peter stood up and said, regarding their Pentecostal experience, “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy….” (Acts 2:16-17).
Since the Pentecostal experience was the fulfillment of something God promised would happen in the last days, we have been living in the last days for nearly two thousand years. But remember that to God, a thousand years is like a day. Hence, even though to us, it feels as if it has been like forever since Jesus left and said He would return, to God it’s as if Christ just left us a couple of days ago!
Peter wrote his epistle to prepare the believers for the mockers and naysayers who would come and try to make light of the message of the second coming of Christ and to give believers a biblical perspective on the issue of the time that has elapsed. I believe those mockers will abound as we near the return of Christ and the end of the world, but Christ’s return is settled in the heavens. So let us stay focused on being about the Father’s business.
Copyright ©2011 by Frank King. All rights reserved.
So it seems that one of the main arguments of the mockers will be that such a long duration of time has elapsed, thousands of years to be exact, and Christians keep saying Christ will return, but all things continue as they have since the creation. And just dating back to when Jesus was here and said He would return, it’s been nearly 2000 years.
But note how God inspires Peter to respond to the mockery about the issue of time: “Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (verse 8). I don’t know about you, but I have serious difficulty grasping this truth. That is, that to the eternal God, there is no difference between a day and a thousand years!
Believe it or not, ever since the day of Pentecost, as recorded in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, we have been living in the last days. How do I know? Because on that day Peter stood up and said, regarding their Pentecostal experience, “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy….” (Acts 2:16-17).
Since the Pentecostal experience was the fulfillment of something God promised would happen in the last days, we have been living in the last days for nearly two thousand years. But remember that to God, a thousand years is like a day. Hence, even though to us, it feels as if it has been like forever since Jesus left and said He would return, to God it’s as if Christ just left us a couple of days ago!
Peter wrote his epistle to prepare the believers for the mockers and naysayers who would come and try to make light of the message of the second coming of Christ and to give believers a biblical perspective on the issue of the time that has elapsed. I believe those mockers will abound as we near the return of Christ and the end of the world, but Christ’s return is settled in the heavens. So let us stay focused on being about the Father’s business.
Copyright ©2011 by Frank King. All rights reserved.
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Bible Prophecy Creates a Financial Solution Securing the Second Coming of Christ
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/3/prweb9343539.htm
http://second-coming-of-christ.com
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