and saying, "Where is this “coming” he promised? For, ever since the fathers died, everything goes on just as it has since the beginning of creation."
Truth to Learn
We will be ridiculed if we proclaim the soon return of Jesus.
Behind the Words
The word “coming” is translated from the Greek word parousia. This is made up of para, meaning “to be near” and a form of eimi, the verb of existence (I am, you are, he is). Hence, parousia refers to a physical presence here with us, not just a spiritual presence. It refers to Christ’s physical return.
Meaning Explained
In the last verse Peter introduced the notion that there will be scoffers in the last days. He now tells us what the subject of their mockery is. They scoff at the notion that Christ is coming back. In effect, they’re saying,
“Look, since you apostles started preaching, you have been saying that He is coming back soon. Even the prophets have been predicting a conquering Messiah for thousands of years. Nonetheless, things just continue on as they always have.”
And today it’s even worse!
“Look, even the apostles believed that Christ was coming back in their lifetime, and they have been dead for thousands of years. You religious fanatics are a bunch of radicals with antique ideas. Come on, join the 21st century and get out of the dark ages!”
You may not consider yourself to be a religious fanatic, but I’m sure that you catch my drift. The more loudly we proclaim the message of a lifestyle committed to the precepts taught in the Bible, the louder the opposition will proclaim us to be crazy. The more we proclaim His soon return, the more they will ridicule us. And, they will do all they can to separate us from the rest of society because they think that we are bad for them.
The world system today rejects the notion of a living God who is active in the affairs of mankind. Instead they believe in science and its theory of uniformitarianism, the belief that all existing natural processes we can observe today have been at work in the same manner ever since the beginning, which they believe was the “Big Bang.” Everything is explained in terms of these existing processes and evolution. Most people today believe these ideas so strongly that they refuse to believe even obvious evidence that points to a catastrophic world-wide flood.
Because of their faith in science, evolution, and uniformitarianism, they are blinded to the truth of the Gospel and all the Biblical references to the soon coming of our Lord in judgment. There are many references to His return in the New Testament including John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 1Corinthians 15:23; 2Corinthians 1:14; Philippians 1:6; 1Thessalonians 3:13; 1Thessalonians 4:14-18; 2Thessalonians 1:10; 2Thessalonians 2:1; 1Timothy 6:14; 2Timothy 4:8; Titus2:13; Hebrews 9:28; James 5:7. Check it out for yourself.
Application
Let us boldly proclaim the word of salvation by grace through faith unto all we meet, and let us proclaim His soon return! Sure, we will be ridiculed and attacked; so was our Savior! He died to save even those who attacked Him; the least we can do is to proclaim His message because He is alive and He is coming back soon!
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved