{"id":1018,"date":"2009-06-23T20:17:54","date_gmt":"2009-06-24T02:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=1018"},"modified":"2009-06-23T20:17:54","modified_gmt":"2009-06-24T02:17:54","slug":"2-peter-38-he-always-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/2-peter-38-he-always-is\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Peter 3:8 – He Always Is"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

2 Peter 3:8<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

God is always present \u2026 everywhere and at all times.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The word \u201cforget<\/span>\u201d is translated from lanthan\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which we looked at back in verse five. It means \u201cto lie hidden\u201d or \u201cto be unaware of.\u201d So, a better translation of the beginning of this verse would be, \u201cBut do not ignore this one thing \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s verse is one of those which people seem to delight in pulling out of context and using as a proof text for bizarre doctrines (like the earth wasn\u2019t really created in seven days but in seven eons). However, instead of talking about what this verse doesn\u2019t mean, let\u2019s talk about what it does mean.<\/p>\n

First of all, Peter is refuting those who claim that the Messiah (the Christ) is not coming because the message of His coming has been proclaimed for thousands of years, and there is no more evidence of it today than there was when it was first proclaimed. These scoffers claim that everything is continuing on without change for all this time, and there is no chance for a change any time soon.<\/p>\n

Peter first refuted this by saying that things have not continued in the same way always, and he cites the flood of Noah\u2019s day as an example. He also warns that there will be another judgment of the earth and its inhabitants, this time by fire.<\/p>\n

Now for Peter\u2019s second rebuttal of belief in uniformitarianism. First, though, he warns his readers, \u201cDo not ignore this one thing<\/span>.\u201d It is his way of saying that the following is a very important thing to learn: \u201cWith the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n

So what does this phrase really mean? Just this: God is not bound by time. It\u2019s as simple as that! He is right now in eternity past, He is also in eternity future, and He is everywhere in between. Christ, Himself, expressed it when He was arguing with the Jews:<\/p>\n

<\/span>Jesus said to them<\/span>, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”<\/span> (John 8:58<\/span><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

The expression \u201cI am\u201d means that in every point of time, God is there in the present. It is not just a matter that God has always existed and will always exist but that He simultaneously exists in all points of time and eternity. Therefore, to Him, a moment in time is the same as a thousand years, is the same as a day. That\u2019s what Peter is saying. And, since God is not bound by time, the argument (that it has been thousands of years since the message was first preached and He still hasn\u2019t come) has no bearing in the matter at all.<\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The next time you find yourself getting impatient with God, wondering why He hasn\u2019t answered your prayers yet, keep in mind that God knows the end from the beginning. He is already there and He knows precisely the right time to help you in your \u201chour\u201d of need.<\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"signature\"<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

<\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone \"\"(618) 614-3070<\/span><\/span><\/span> and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:\"e-mail<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 Peter 3:8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. Truth to Learn God is always present \u2026 everywhere and at all times. Behind the Words The word \u201cforget\u201d is translated from lanthan\u014d, which we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[368,369,193,370],"class_list":["post-1018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-always","tag-day","tag-eternal","tag-thousand-years"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-gq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}