For this they
willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and
the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that
then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth,
which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against
the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, 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. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as
some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise.” This was the
answer that Peter offered the scoffers and the mockers. So, “Why does God not
return yet?” would be the question that was raised often, and Peter would look
to his followers and say “God is longsuffering, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance.” If God were to come back last
year, there would be countless thousands who would not yet have put their faith
in Him and would be lost for all eternity. God in His love desires that the unreached
be called to salvation before the scroll of time is closed. He is not willing that
any should perish, and so He sends His message with His messengers into the far
reaches of His globe - “The day of judgment is coming. The day of destruction
is coming, those who truly believe will be saved and set in the presence of the
gracious God who saved them, but those who do not believe by that day are
already condemned and will be cast into utter destruction and separation from
the presence of God.” We do not pack our bags and sit idly by, waiting like we
are at a bus station about to take a ride. Rather we are called to an active
waiting. We look for His coming, with anticipation and hope and excitement, and
work to build His kingdom of believers here until the day He appears. When will
that be? Only God knows. So we then with faith and hope draw men to Him
constantly. God has been merciful to continue to extend grace to all men for
the past two-thousand years, we must not get side-tracked by the scoffers who
do not understand the grace of God. We see the days not as days that we
laboriously wait, but rather days that God desires us to be the hands and
mouthpiece of His longsuffering grace to other men. Now see yourself with
purpose in these days of waiting for His coming.
Food for Thought:
According to Peter, why has God not come back yet?
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