Every spirituality has it’s opinion about how it all began and how it will all end. Secular humanism (which is the spirituality that dominates our own culture) can’t quite make its mind up about how it will all end, and true to relativistic form, holds two completely contradictory ideas in place. On the one hand is the myth of inevitable progress towards a Utopia, a world where we have beaten disease, and perhaps even death (www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/the-immortalists-can-science-defeat-death/). In such a vision of the future, we live in perfect balance with nature, and everyone is free to be who they ‘really’ are without fear of judgment. But running alongside that is the a much more dysoptian fear rooted in environmental and ecenomic collapse, population overload, and perhaps through that some kind of planetary re-set. Our hopes and fears for the future tend ot be played out in science fiction (often set in the future), so having a look at that genre can be quite instructive about where our culture is at!
Against all this, the Bible has a much more Christ-centred vision of both origin and destiny. And it turns out the two a deeply interconnected. Tragically, even in the Church not everyone is prepared to accept the Bible’s teaching on how this age will end. It’s surprising how many Christians functionally believe our culture’s narrative(s), and how many Churches never preach or teach about Christ’s return - in spite of it being embedded in our Creeds and plainly taught in our Scriptures. It’s a compelling observation that most of what we know about the end of the age is from Jesus Himself - yet even that isn’t seemingly conclusive! When it is referred to, it is often in a context of apology, and qualification. I have heard the idea mocked in Churches. The idea that ‘no-one really believes in these things any more’ is regularly peddled, though I find the whole thing tends more often to be ignored. Which is both unBiblical and catastrophic for authentic Christian discipleship. A Christian who does not have a rigorously-informed vision of Christ’s return held at the front of their thinking, will simply be unable to live faithfully for Christ.
There is nothing new under the sun. The Apostles raged against the same short-sightedness, and against the chaos it introduced into the Church. Theology has consequences. And bad (i.e. unBiblical) theology has toxic consequences. Eternal ones. And so without apology, we celebrate and eagerly anticipate the Day of the Lord. We long for His return, and the exposure of all that has been done in the earth. Without any hint of embarrasment we await the destruction of all that is cruel, barabaric, unjust, and evil. We look forward to the New Creation where righteousness dwells. If others ignore it or mock it, or dismiss it with sophisticated contempt, no matter. For us it our bedrock, the foundation on which we build ‘holy and godly lives’. We gladly suffer and sacrifice everything now in the cause of the Gospel, knowing that ‘our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us’ (Rom.8:18). We meditate on that Day, and live each ‘today’ knowing we will give account, and orienting every decision to elicit from Christ His commendation: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ (Matt.25:21). And throughout this age and the age to come, the fact of Christ coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and to renew all things (Matt.19:28), will be the reason for our delight in, and our worship of our Living God. ‘Halleljuah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are His judgments…’ (Rev.19:1-2). Don’t we?
Questions:
Why do you think that the Bible’s teaching about the return of Jesus is so widely disregarded in the Church?
How can we encourage each other that this teaching is Good News (in Rom.2:16, Paul speaks of Judgment as part of the Gospel)? …that it should be celebrated and enjoyed, and that it should form the basis of our worship, when (let’s be honest) for many it is the cause of spiritual angst, and all-in-all, we’re not sure we think it’s ‘good news’ at all!
What do we lose when we either consciously or unconsciously displace the Bible’s vision of the return of Christ and the renewal of all things?
Read II Peter 3
Has Peter succeeded in stimulating you to ‘wholesome thinking … to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Saviour through your Apostles’ (3:1-2)? If this hasn’t been the effect of reading and studying II Peter over the last few weeks, can you identify why it hasn’t had its desired impact?
Does considering the end of the age, the day of judgement, and the destruction of the ungodly (see3:7) cause you to worship? … to puruse holy and godly lives (3:11)? …to eagerly anticiapte and look forward to that Day (3:12)? Are you reassured by a sense of God’s justice, or does it make you feel uneasy?
Have you ever heard the ‘Return of Christ’ mocked, or dismissed by other Christians or Chruch leaders? Can you remember the arguments used? How would you respond to them?
Peter seems to be suggesting that the only reason there is history, is so that people can hear the Gospel and be saved (3:9, 15). Do you agree with that? What then do you make of Christians who shy away from talking about Jesus, or who don’t think we need to? Do you think Peter would accept the idea that we can do ‘outreach’ without proclaiming Christ? Wouldn’t that put us at odds with God’s purpose for history?
How do you feel about living in a New Creation where righteousness dwells? What would you say to someone who struggled to see how they could enjoy the New Creation knowing that people had been eternally destroyed in the Day of Judgment (3:7)?
Does the idea of Christ renewing all things in this way inspire you in your faith, and in your pursuit of holiness? How would you counsel someone for whom it didn’t have this effect?
What does it mean to ‘grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’? How can we support one another as we do this?
