2 Peter 3:7c — Smoke

… being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

Summary: Understanding the day of judgment is helpful to understanding our relationship with God. He is the creator, we are the created. If we do not function as we were created to, then we cannot be used. Like scrap wood at a construction site, such people end up in the fire.  

Is there any reason better than this passage to bow to Jesus Christ as Lord? One day, there will be a “day of judgment.” Immediately following there will be the “destruction of the ungodly.”

This is the ultimate Rorschach test!

Many people imagine that death is like turning off a light switch; everything goes dark. Some people like to fantasize that the light switch can be turned on again. They imagine everything repeats itself and that they will be given an infinite number of ‘do-overs.’ The reality is quite different.

The English word “destruction” struggles to convey Peter’s meaning. If “con-struction” is to build something, “de-struction” is to take it apart. The usual connotation is that destruction involves breakage beyond repair. An Old Testament example would be the destruction of the First Temple (Jeremiah 52). Physical destruction is something we can see. People saw the Babylonians breaking apart the bronze pillars, burning the cedar paneling and beams, and breaking apart the stones that had been the walls. We can see the damage done, and if we have the will and the means to rebuild, we can do that.

The spiritual realm is different.

We do not build our spirits. God gives them to us. We do not create our relationship with God. He offers that to us through Jesus Christ. If our spirit is destroyed, there is no one to help us put it back together again.

It is hard for us to understand, spiritually, what it means to be “destroyed.” God’s Word describes it as being thrown into a “lake of fire” (Revelation 20: 14-15). Burning something up is the ultimate form of physical destruction. Burning by fire involves deconstructing something on the atomic level. Fire converts physical objects to heat, gas, and ash. Eventually, the fire burns out, but that is not the case in the spiritual realm.

Our soul is eternal. It is not destroyed in the same sense that a piece of wood burns, but something similar happens.

When a building is destroyed, it no longer functions as a building. All of the materials that the building was made from are still there, but they can no longer be used for a building. The smoke from the fire can never be reconstituted into a functional structure.

Spiritually, we are the same. Our spirit has an intended function. We are created to be in a relationship with God. Paul writes, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). One of those good works we are to do is to worship God (Psalm 96:9). If we are not able or willing to do that, we cannot function spiritually. Our functionality has been destroyed.

Like smoke from a burning building can no longer be a building, the human spirit apart from God can no longer worship God. The ungodly become like the smoke from a fire.

The reason the Bible uses the imagery of a “lake of fire” is twofold. One is that fire is a proper metaphor for destruction. The other is a warning. Being burned does not feel good. God does not want us to be burned. He does not want us to suffer. That is why he came to us as a man, Jesus. He wants us to understand the truth and know that he loves us so much that he would do anything to ensure we are not destroyed in the fire.

Sadly, some people reject God’s offer of reconciliation and love. Some remain “ungodly.” Eventually, those people give an account of their lives before their maker. The criteria for continuing as a living being after the body expires is not how much money we made or how much fun we had, but whether we are born again spiritually by believing in Jesus Christ (John 3: 14-21). 

Application: If you don’t already know him, get to know Jesus now. Talk to him. Tell him you believe in him. 

Food for Thought: What is the danger for Christians who rush the ‘day of judgment’ for others?